The Greek Case System

The idea of a case is foreign to English, but it is an essential part of Greek grammar, as well as German and Latin. For instance, if I were to say in English, "God loves me," and "I love God," I would spell the word "God" the same way in both instances. In the first example, "God" is the subject of the verb "loves," and in the second example, "God" is the object of the verb "love." If I were to express these same thoughts in Greek, I would write them as follows: "God loves me" = θεὸς ἀγαπᾷ με (theos agapą me); "I love God" = ἐγὼ ἀγαπῶ θεόν (egō agapō theon). Now θεὸς (theos) and θεόν (theon) are the exact same word, "God," but when used as a different part of speech (e.g., subject versus object of verb), then the ending will reflect that difference; e.g., θεὸς (theos) is the subject case, and θεόν (theon) id the object case, but both mean "God."

The following are the different cases and, their forms in the second declension, masculine, singular, noun paradigm, with θεὸς (theos) as the example (although the plural form is written differently, the meaning of the cases and their application is the same; thus, we will only need to use the singular form):

As you can see, there are eight different case functions in New Testament Greek, with the genitive and ablative having the same form, and the dative, locative and instrumental also having the same form. Later on, if you begin to use the Analytical Greek Lexicon, you will discover that the ablative is not listed as a separate case with the genitive form, and neither are the locative and instrumental listed as separate cases with the dative form. Thus, you will make that distinction yourself; i.e., when you find a word listed as a genitive, you will then decide, based on how it is used in the text, whether or not it is a genitive or ablative, and what kind (we will be looking at the variety of usages on the following pages), and the same will be true for the dative (i.e., when a word is listed as a dative, you will then decide, based on how it is used in the text, whether or not it is a dative, locative or instrumental–and what kind). Each of these cases have important significance, and using θεὸς (theos) as our example, we will now look at each of these cases in a sentence structure to see how they are used and how they are to be interpreted.

In addition, you will notice that for the dative, locative, and instrumental cases, the form is θεῷ (theǭ). The little mark ͅ under the ω is called an iota subscript, and it is used to mark all forms of the dative, locative and instrumental cases in every noun declension, and it is also used in some verb forms. Therefore, whenever you see a letter in a word with an iota subscript under it (e.g., ῳ, ᾳ and ῃ), then the transliterated form will be ǭ, ą, and ę̄ respectively. It is also important to note that an adjective will agree with the noun it is modifying in case, number (singular or plural) and gender.

In the following examples, the word in the English translation referred to will be underlined. In the Greek and transliterated translations will have a rounded parentheses () around that same word in the Greek, and box parenthesis [] around the same word in the transliteration.

1. Nominative Case

   Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

   ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ (θεὸς) τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν
   (en archę̄ epoiēsen ho [theos] ton ouranon kai tēn gēn)

   The nominative or subject case also indicates that the noun is producing the action of the verb. Thus, "God" (θεὸς - theos) is the one who "created the heaven and the earth."

2. Genitive Case

   Romans 8:16: "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."
   
   

   αὐτὸ τὸ πνεῦμασυμμαρτυρεῖ τῷ πνεύματι ἡμῶν ὅτιἐσμὲν τέκνα (θεοῦ).
   (auto to pneuma summarturei tǭ pneumati hēmōn hoti esmen tekna [theou])

   In the phrase, "children of God" (τέκνα θεοῦ - tekna theou), the word "God" (θεοῦ - theou) is in the genitive, thus describing the kind of children, as well as whose children we are; i.e., we are God's children.

3. Ablative Case

   John 1:6: "There came a man sent from God, whose name was John."

   Έγένετο ἄνθρωποςἀπεσταλμένος (παρὰ θεοῦ) ὄνομααὐτῷ Ἰωάννης
   (egeneto anthrōpos, apestalmenos [para theou], onoma autǭ Iōannēs)

   The phrase, "from God" (παρὰ θεοῦ - para theou) denotes separation in and of itself, with the inclusion of the preposition παρα (para-from). However, for our purposes, this is an excellent example of the ablative case that denotes separation; thus, the man was sent "from God" as an act of God separating him and sending him apart from others.

   The other thing to note is that both the genitive and ablative cases have the same form. Therefore, the only way to distinguish between the two is the context of the sentence. That is why it is so very important to understand the context of a passage so that one can rightly interpret what is being said.

4. Dative Case

   Luke 2:14: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

   δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις(θεῷ) καὶ ἐπὶ γῆςεἰρήνη ἐνἀνθρώποιςεὐδοκίας
   (doxa en hupsistois [theǭ] kai epi gēs eirēnē en anthrōpois eudokias)

   The phrase, "to God" (θεῷ - theǭ), is in the dative case as it expresses "God" as being the focus of interest of the nominal clause, "Glory in the highest" (a nominal clause is one in which there is no verb, but only nouns - e.g., "Joy to Mom the homemaker"; here, there is no verb in the clause, and it would be considered a nominal clause).

5. Locative Case

   John 3:21: "But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

   ὁ δὲ ποιῶν τὴνἀλήθειαν ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἵνα φανερωθῇ αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔργα ὅτι (ἐν θεῷ) ἐστιν εἰργασμένα
   (ho de poiōn tēn alētheian erchetai pros to phōs, hina phanerōthē| autou ta erga hoti [en theǭ] estin eirgasmena)

   The phrase, "in God" (ἐν θεῷ - en theǭ), is in the locative case because it is emphasizing just where these "works" have their origin - "in God." Thus, the sphere of origin is located "in God."

6. Instrumental Case

   Mark 10:27: "Looking upon them, Jesus said, 'With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.'"

   ἐμβλέψας αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει (παρὰ ἀνθρώποις) ἀδύνατον ἀλλ᾽ οὐ (παρὰ θεῷ) πάντα γὰρ δυνατὰ (παρὰ τῷ θεῷ)
   (emblepsas autois ho Iēsous legei, [Para anthrōpois] adunaton all ou [para theǭ], panta gar dunata [para tǭ theǭ])

   In this section of Mark, Jesus had just finished conversing with the rich young ruler, and Jesus had told him that he would be able to follow Him if he sold everything he had and gave it to the poor. Upon hearing this, the young man walked away sorrowfully because he was quite wealthy. Jesus in turn told His disciples that it would be very difficult for wealthy people to enter into the Kingdom of God. His disciples then asked, "Then who can be saved?" (Mark 10:26b). Jesus responded with the above statement in verse 27.
   
   The phrases underlined are all in the instrumental, case; i.e., they describe the means by which something can or cannot be done. Thus, men in and of themselves, do not have the means to turn from trusting in their riches for their security to trusting in God, but God, on the other hand, does have the means, by His Spirit, to cause men to turn from trusting in their wealth to trusting in Him (παρὰ θεῷ; παρὰ τῷ θεῷ - para theǭ; para tǭ theǭ).

7. Accusative Case

   Romans 15:6: "that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

   ἵνα ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐν ἑνὶ στόματι δοξάζητε (τὸν θεὸν) καὶ πατέρα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
   (hina homothumadon en heni stomati doxadzēte [ton theon] kai patera tou kuriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou)

   Here in this instance, God is the direct object of the glorification given by believers, and NO ONE ELSE (τὸν θεὸν - ton theon)!

8. Vocative Case

   Matthew 27:46: "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, `Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' that is, `My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"'

   περὶ δὲ τὴν ἐνάτην ὥραν ἀνεβόησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς φωνῇ μεγάλῃ λέγων· ηλι ηλι λεμα σαβαχθανι; τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν· (Θεέ μου Θεέ μου) ἱνατί με ἐγκατέλιπες;
   (peri de tēn enatēn hōran aneboēsen ho Iēsous phoenę̄ megalę̄ legōn, Ēli Ēli lema sabachthani? Tout estin, [thee mou thee mou], hinati me egkatelipes?)

   Here, the underlined words, "My God, My God," are in the case of address; i.e., "God" is in the vocative case of address (Θεέ).