And the Word was God "Qualitatively"?: Torturing Language and Grammar to Preserve a Preconceived View (Part 2)

Below is a list of nouns that Paul Dixon tags as "qualitative" or "probably qualitative" in the appendix of his thesis, but which are actually either indefinite or definite.  

"Qualitative" and "Probably Qualitative" Nouns that are Actually Indefinite

1.  John 4:19
Greek:            προφήτης εἶ σύ 
B-Greek:        PROFHTHS EI SU
Interlinear:   a prophet are you

"The woman said to him, 'Sir, I see that you are a prophet.'" (NRSV)

2.  John 6:70           
Greek:            διάβολός ἐστιν
B-Greek:        DIABOLOS ESTIN
Interlinear:   a devil is

"Jesus answered them, 'Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.'" (NRSV)

3.  John 8:34           
Greek:            διάβολός ἐστιν 
B-Greek:        DIABOLOS ESTIN
Interlinear:   a slave is

"Jesus answered them, 'Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.'"  (NRSV)

4.  John 8:44           
Greek:            ανθρωποκτονος ην
B-Greek:        ANQRWPOKTONOS HN
Interlinear:   a manslayer was

"He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him." (NRSV)


5.  John 8:44           
Greek:            ψεύστης ἐστὶν
B-Greek:        YEUSTHS ESTIN
Interlinear:   a liar he is

"When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."  (NRSV)

6.  John 8:48           
Greek:            Σαμαρίτης εἶ σὺ
B-Greek:        SAMARITHS EI SU
Interlinear:   a Samaritan are you

"The Jews answered him, 'Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?'" (NRSV)

7.  John 9:8            
 Greek:           προσαίτης ἦν
B-Greek:        PROSAITHS HN
Interlinear:   a beggar was

"The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, 'Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?'" (NRSV)

8.  John 9:17           
Greek:            προφήτης ἐστίν 
B-Greek:       PROFTHS ESTIN
Interlinear:   a prophet he is

"So they said again to the blind man, 'What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.' He said, 'He is a prophet.'" (NRSV)

9.  John 9:24           
Greek:            ἁμαρτωλός ἐστιν
B-Greek:        hAMARTWLOS ESTIN
Interlinear:   a sinner is

"So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, 'Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.'"  (NRSV)

10.  John 9:25         
Greek:            ἁμαρτωλός ἐστιν 
B-Greek:        hAMARTWLOS ESTIN
Interlinear:   a sinner he is

"He answered, 'I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.'" (NRSV)

11.  John 10:1         
Greek:            κλέπτης ἐστὶν 
B-Greek:       KLEPTHS ESTIN
Interlinear:   a thief is

"Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit." (NRSV)

12.  John 10:13       
Greek:            μισθωτός ἐστιν
B-Greek:        MISQWTOS ESTIN
Interlinear:   a hired hand he is

"He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep." (NASB)

13.  John 12:6         
Greek:            κλέπτης ἦν
B-Greek:       KLEPTHS HN
Interlinear:   a thief he was

"Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it." (NASB)

14.  John 18:35       
Greek:            Μήτι ἐγὼ Ἰουδαῖός εἰμι
B-Greek:        MHTI EGO IOUDAIOS EIMI
Interlinear:   Not I a Jew am

"Pilate replied, 'I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?'" (NRSV)

15.  John 18:37a     
Greek:            βασιλεὺς εἶ σύ
B-Greek:        BASILEUS EI SU
Interlinear:   a king are you?

"Pilate asked him, 'So you are a king?'"  (NRSV)

16.  John 18:37b     
Greek:            βασιλεύς εἰμι ἐγὼ
B-Greek:        BASILEUS EIMI EGW
Interlinear:   a king am I

"Jesus answered, 'You say that I am a king.'" (NRSV)

"Qualitative" and "Probably Qualitative" Nouns that are Actually Probably Definite

1.   John 1:49
Greek:            σὺ Βασιλεὺς εἶ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ
B-Greek:        SU BASILEUS EI TOU ISRAHL
Interlinear:   you the king are of the Israel

"Nathanael replied, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!'" (NRSV)

2.  John 3:29
Greek:            νυμφίος ἐστίν
B-Greek:        NUMFIOS ESTIN
Interlinear:   the bridegroom is

"He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled." (NRSV)

3.  John 5:27
Greek:            Υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν
B-Greek:        hUIOS ANQRWPOU ESTIN
Interlinear:   the Son of Man he is

"[A]nd he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man." (NRSV)

4.  John 8:33
Greek:            Σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν
B-Greek:        SPERMA ABRAAM ESMEN
Interlinear:   the seed of Abraham we are

"They answered him: We are the seed of Abraham, and we have never been slaves to any man: how sayest thou: you shall be free?" (Rheims)

5.  John 8:37
Greek:            σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐστε
B-Greek:        SPERMA ABRAAM ESTE
Interlinear:   the seed of Abraham you are

"I know that you are the children of Abraham: but you seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you." (Rheims)

6.  John 8:54
Greek:            Θεὸς ἡμῶν ἐστιν
B-Greek:        QEOS HMWN ESTIN
Interlinear:   God of us He is

"Jesus answered, 'If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God'" (NRSV)

7.  John 10:2
Greek:            ποιμήν ἐστιν
B-Greek         POIMHN ESTIN
Interlinear:   the shepherd is

"The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep." (NRSV)

8.  John 10:36
Greek:            Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰμι
B-Greek:        hUIOS TOU QEOU EIMI
Interlinear:   the Son of the God I am

"[D]o you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?" (NASB)

9.  John 19:21
Greek:            Βασιλεύς εἰμι τῶν Ἰουδαίων
B-Greek:        BASILEUS EIMI TWN IOUDAIWN
Interlinear:   the King of the Jews I am

"Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am the King of the Jews." (Rheims)

As you can see, Dixon's list of "qualitative" and "probably qualitative" nouns doesn't actually contain a single count noun that is not logically inferred to be either definite or indefinite.  In my next entry in this series I'll address a couple problems with P.B. Harner's contribution to the "qualitative" theory.