[petemo]

John 15:1 seems to contain an exception to one of Colwell's corollaries--that preverbal predicate nominatives preceding the copulative verb are anarthrous. It reads, kai o pater mou o georgos esti. Wouldn't georgos typically be anarthrous?

petemo

[Josiah Helsel]

petemo

Yeah, I think you're right. This is an exception to the rule. However, even Colwell himself admitted that "Definite predicate nouns which precede the verb usually lack the article..." [emphasis mine] (from Wallace page 257).

So it's weird, but it works.

Kerrek

[JordanD]

Can Colwell's "construction" even technically be called a "RULE". It should be called Colwell's "Possibility". Definite Predicate nominatives that precede the copula MAY be anarthrous.....what is the point of such a "rule"? It has only confused most people (including some scholars) into thinking that the "Rule" is something that it is not.
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