i’ve been reading Matthew lately, and repeatedly i find the phrase:
o ἔχων ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω.
(hmm… i hope that will show up alright…)
i keep wondering whether this is grammatically good Greek. I’m very much a novice still, but i wonder whether there shouldn’t be an article between w)=ta and a)kou/ein, particularly the genitive ‘tou=’.
I’ve checked my dutch bible which has “oren om te horen”, and seems to confirm my suspicion. Similarly in the Vulgate, it reads “qui habet aures audiendi audiat”, and i gather from ‘audiendi’ that the genitive does seem to have a place here.
I really need to buy me a grammar in English! Urgh!
Anyway, it’s just fine. The infinitive of purpose (?) (that’s how I always viewed it at least) doesn’t need an article.
See the following examples (from this site in Greek)
The “om” from the Dutch is not really similar to a genitive article but just indicates purpose. Compare; waarom? daarom! The Greek the infinitive does that on its own (like Irene said.)
In English you don’t really need anything in addition to the infinitive; ears to hear, but some indication of purpose can be added; ears in order to hear.