Mark 5:18 αὐτοῦ

[uberdwayne]

καὶ ἐμβαίνοντος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ πλοῖον παρεκάλει αὐτὸν ὁ δαιμονισθεὶς ἵνα μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ ᾖ

I have a question about the use of αὐτοῦ in this verse, it may seem arbitrary, but I think "knowing the answer" will help me understand some of the syntax here. So, here's my question:

Should we see αὐτοῦ with the participle in a "Genitive absolute" construction or does it go with πλοῖον? The difference would be...

Genitive absolute: "And he stepped into the boat. The demoniac earnestly desired to go with Him."
or
Possessive αὐτοῦ: "And stepping into his boat, the demoniac earnestly desired to go with Him."

Its funny, because I get what the second part of the sentence is saying, but my translation is a little awkward, I just couldn't find the english words to express the idea. My translation makes it seem like the demoniac is entering the boat, but contextually, Jesus is the one entering into the boat, Either way.

Τι νομιζετε;

[anphph]

Μιχαὴλ τῷ uberdwayne χαίρειν.

ὣς εμοὶ δοκεῖ, ουδαμῶς δυνατόν εστι τὸ 'αυτοῦ' σὺν τῷ 'πλοῖον' δέχεσθαι, τὸ γὰρ 'εμβαίνοντος', ἡμῖν τοῦτο ποιοῦσιν, ανεῦ ονόματος ελλείπει (νόμιζε καὶ ὅτι ὅποτε μετοχή τις μόνη εὕρεται, απόλυτος είωθε εῖναι). δεῖ οῦν την μετοχὴν καὶ ενθαῦτα ὣς τῷ 'αυτοῦ' συναπτομένην αἵρεσθαι.

It seems to me that it can't really be taken to be possessive. if you do that, you're left with a hanging participle, which reads very awkward, not to mention the fact that said participles are, very often, combined with pronouns to make a genitiv absolute. I don't really think you have a choice here but to read it as a regular genitive absolute.

If you want full proof, just think how convoluted the sentence would be if you had to read the possessive genitive backwards up to 3 words (including the εις!). regular Greek would just add αυτοῦ after εις τὸ πλοῖον, and there's no reaso to think otherwise here.

[C. S. Bartholomew]

. I don't really think you have a choice here but to read it as a regular genitive absolute.

Agree with Miguel. There is transition here from local men who are asking Jesus to head out. To the now delivered former demoniac asking to leave with Jesus. Lenvinsohn (Discourse Features 2000:180-183) talks about transitions like this and how genitive absolutes are often associated with a switch in the subject/agent between the GA and the nuclear clause. The pre-nuclear participle clause provides background information. I prefer to call it a contextualizer. It sets the scene for the following action.

[uberdwayne]

Ευχαριστω υμιν!

This was very helpful... Funny how we can miss simple syntax even though we've been studying for a while.

Thanks again.