Anarthrous nouns

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Revision as of 11:37, 19 March 2016

Anarthrous nouns, an- +‎ arthrous, from Ancient Greek ἄρθρον ‎(árthron, “joint; grammatical article”). In Greek, when a noun is not immediately preceded by the definite article it is called an Anarthrous Noun and is generally translated into English with the indefinite article ("a, an"). There are some anarthrous nouns which are qualitative and are often translated without an article. "Anarthrous," in grammar, simply means without the article. In English we have both the definite article (‘the’) and the indefinite article (‘a’), but in Greek there is no indefinite article. In Greek, when a noun is not immediately preceded by the definite article. In Greek the absence of the article is just as important as the presence of the article, and its absence emphasizes the quality or character of the person or thing designated in the context.

Examples

Romans 3:21

"but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested".

Paul did not place the definite article with "nomas" (law). This means he is not speaking specifically of "the Old Testament Law", but rather "apart from the law method, the righteousness of God has now been manifested". All through this context, Paul uses the definite article to speak of "the" old testament law itself, and the lack of the article to speak of the "law method" of attempting to be righteous.