Matthew 1:16
Footnote:
| 1b | Who or Whoever? In addition to the compound ὅστις (ὅσ-τις) "whoever/anyone who" which stresses an indefinite or general subject, the particles ἂν and ἐὰν are often used with the relative pronoun ὃς in conditional or indefinite clauses, with subtle distinctions in their usage:
"Factual" Usage of the Relative Pronoun: A phrase like ὃ δέδωκέν can be understood as expressing a factual meaning, and it differs from a conditional clause in that it does not require ἂν or ἐὰν.
In this case, ἂν and ἐὰν are not needed because you're not expressing a condition or indefiniteness in the same way as you would with a subjunctive verb. The perfect tense already conveys a sense of completed action with continuing relevance:
What saith the translator? Thus, When we read ἧς ἐγεννήθη, an aorist past tense verb with a feminine singular relative pronoun, it simply refers to the fact of someone that has been born and can be translated as "of whom he was born" or, "of whomever he was born" in a non-conditional or non-hypothetical sense. Neither translation is incorrect. So which one is right? Context/bias dictates. |