New Testament Greek for Beginners

(Based on the book with the same title by Gresham Machen, The MacMillan Company, 1923)

LESSON XXV

More Nouns of the Third Declension
Adjectives of the Third Declension in -ης, -ες

345. Vocabulary

346. Before studying the present lesson, the student should review the paradigms in Lesson XVII.

347. The declension of χάρις, χάριτος, ἡ, grace, is as follows:

348. This noun differs from those in §211, in that the accusative singular ending is -ν instead of -α. The final τ of the stem (χαριτ-) drops out before the -ν. If χάρις were declined like ἐλπίς the accusative singular would be χάριτα.

349. The declension of πόλις, πόλεως (stem πολι-), ἡ, a city, is as follows:

350. The final ι of the stem is changed to ε except in the nominative, accusative and vocative singular. πόλει in the dative singular is contracted from πόλε-ι, and πόλεις in the nominative plural from πόλε-ες, in accordance with the rules of contraction given in Lesson XXIII. The accusative plural has -εις, instead of -εας or (as the rules of contraction would require) -ης. The accusative singular has instead of -α the -ν ending which appears in certain other third declension nouns such as χάρις. The genitive singular ending is -ως instead of -ος. The accent in the genitive singular and plural of this class of nouns is the only exception to the rule that if the ultima is long the antepenult cannot be accented (see §11).

351. These third-declension nouns in -ις with genitives in -εως, of which πόλις is an example, form a very important class of nouns in the New Testament. The nouns of this class are declined alike and are all of feminine gender.

352. The declension of γένος, γένους (stem γενεσ-), τό, a race, is as follows:

353. The final σ of the stem (γενεσ-) is dropped except in the nominative singular. The ε which is then left at the end of the stem is contracted with the vowels of the regular third-declension endings, in accordance with the rules of contraction given in Lesson XXIII.

354. These third-declension nouns in -ος, -ους, are declined alike, and are all of neuter gender.

355. The declension of βασιλεύς, βασιλέως (stem βασιλευ-), ὁ , is as follows:

356. The final υ of the stem is dropped before those endings which begin with a vowel. Contraction takes place in the dative singular and nominative plural. The genitive singular has -ως instead of -ος (compare πόλις). But the accusative singular has the -α-ending, not the -ν-ending.

357. These nouns in -ευς, εως are masculine.

358. Observe the declension of πατήρ and of ἀνήρ in §565.

359. The declension of other third-declension nouns will give little difficulty when once the genitive singular and the gender are known. Only the dative plural is sometimes troublesome, but the forms can at least be easily recognized when they occur.

360. The declension of ἀληθής, -ές (stem ἀληθες-), true, is as follows:

361. The final σ of the stem is dropped in most of the forms, and contraction then takes place. Compare πόλις, γένος and βασιλεύς.

362. This is the first adjective studied thus far which is declined according to the third declension in the feminine as well as in the masculine and neuter.

363. Exercises

I.

1. ἀληθῆ ἐστι τὰ λαλούμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ ἱερέως τούτου.
2. συνελθόντων τῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ γραμματέων ἵνα ἀποκτείνωσι τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον, προσηύξαντο οἱ μαθηταὶ ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ.
3. ἀπεκρίθη ὁ βασιλεὺς ὁ ἀγαθὸς λέγων ὅτι οὐ θέλει ἀποκτεῖναι τοῦτον.
4. χάριτι δὲ ἐσώθησαν ἐκεῖνοι οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ καὶ ἠγέρθησαν ἐν δόξῃ.
5. τῇ γὰρ χάριτι σωζόμεθα διὰ πίστεως ἵνα δοξάζωμεν τὸν θεόν.
6. ἰδὼν τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ πόλει ἔμεινεν σὺν αὐτοῖς.
7. εἰς τὰ ἔθνη ἀποστελεῖς τοὺς ἀποστόλους σου, ἵνα κηρύσσωσιν αὐτοῖς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς χάριτός σου.
8. ἀγαθὸς ἦν οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ καὶ πλήρης πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ πίστεως.
9. ἰδόντες δὲ τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ παρεκάλεσαν τὰ ἔθνη μένειν ἐν τῇ χάριτι σὺν χαρᾷ καὶ ἐλπίδι.
10. καταβαινόντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους ἐλάλει ταῦτα ὁ Ἰησοῦς.
11. ἀγαπήσωμεν τοὺς πατέρας καὶ τὰς μητέρας ἡμῶν, ἵνα τηρήσωμεν τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ.
12. τῶν ἀρχιερέων ἰδόντων τοὺς συνερχομένους εἰς τὸ ἀκούειν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς εἶπον πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς οἱ ἄρχοντες ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν ἀποθανεῖν.
13. οἱ βασιλεῖς οἱ πονηροὶ ἀπέκτειναν καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας καὶ τὰ τέκνα.
14. ὁ δὲ θεὸς ἤγειρεν αὐτούς, ἵνα δοξάζωσιν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
15. ἐὰν μὴ χάριν ἔχωμεν καὶ πίστιν καὶ ἐλπίδα, οὐ μετανοήσουσι τὰ ἔθνη ἐπὶ τῷ λόγῳ ἡμῶν.
16. τοῖς ἀνδράσι τοῖς πεμφθεῖσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως προσηνέγκαμεν τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα ἡμῶν.
17. ἐλθῶν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ταύτης τῆς χώρας παρεκάλεσας αὐτὸν μὴ ἀποκτεῖναι τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον.
18. εἰ ἀληθῆ ἐστι τὰ λεγόμενα ὑπὸ τῶν ἀκολουθησάντων τῷ ἀνδρὶ ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ ἀποκτενοῦσιν αὐτὸν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς.
19. διὰ πίστεως σώζει τοὺς πιστεύοντας εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ.
20. ἐδέξαντο δὲ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὸ ἀληθές.

Answer Key

II.

1. This is the race that killed those who believe on Jesus.
2. When the scribes had entered into that city, the disciples went away to the mountains.
3. We saw that the word which was being spoken by the man was true.
4. When the Lord had said this to the chief priests, the ruler marvelled.
5. The father of him who killed the men will kill also the children.
6. God will raise up from the dead those who have been saved by His grace.
7. Ye shall be saved by God through faith.
8. On account of the faith of the fathers and of the mothers the children will die in the evil city.
9. The city being itself full of sin has also a wicked king.
10. If we enter into those cities having our hearts full of grace and faith and hope, those who repent at our word will see the King in His glory.
11. Jesus said to the scribes who were following that He was going into the holy city.
12. If we love the brethren we shall bless also the One who sent them into the nations.
13. The king said to my father that the chief priests and Pharisees wished to kill those who were following Jesus.
14. While Jesus was speaking these things in that wicked city, the chief priests were gathering together the soldiers in order that they might kill Him.
15. Those who have not the grace of God in their hearts have neither life nor hope.
16. If ye go into those cities and villages, ye shall see the king who killed your fathers and your mothers.

Answer Key