Double Accusative

Some verbs may require two or more objects to complete their meaning. These verbs will require two or more objects, a person (or persons) and/or a thing (or things) in the accusative case to complete their thought. In this case, the translator may wish to use an implied preposition in his (or her) translation in order to make a smoother translation.

Matthew 1:21

καὶ	καλέσεις	τὸ	ὄνομα	αὐτοῦ	Ἰησοῦν
kai	kaleseis	to	onoma	autou	Iēsoun
and	you will call	the	name	of him	Jesus

Word details: ὄνομα · Ἰησοῦν

and you will call his name Jesus

[In this instance the two objects are ὄνομα and Ἰησοῦν]

Example: John 14:26

ἐκεῖνος	ὑμᾶς	διδάξει	πάντα
ekeinos	hymas	didaxei	panta
That one	you	he will teach	all things

he will teach you everything

[This could be translated with the implied preposition; “He will teach to you everything.”

Another example of a double accusative is the accusative that is used with an oath. The preposition “by” may be used to assist in the translation.

Example: Mark 5:7

ὁρκίζω	σε	τὸν	Θεόν	μή	με	βασανίσῃς
horkizō	se	ton	Theon	mē	me	basanisēs
I implore/beg	you	by	God	not	me	torment

Word details: Θεόν

I beg you by God, do not torment me

Note: In this example, σε and με are Accusative Direct Objects.

Object of Certain Prepositions

Certain prepositions take their object in the accusative case, such as είς, δία, πρός, and ὑπό. Caution: Use the lexicon to determine the meaning of a preposition when it is followed by a word in a particular case.

Often the meaning of the preposition is specific first to the preposition itself and then to the case of the noun it is used with. Therefore, to grasp the meaning of the proposition one can not rely on the normal meaning associated with a particular case and a lexicon must be consulted. In some cases the meaning of the preposition will conform to the basic meaning of the case such as ἀπό with the Genitive case (from, out from) but in other situations such as when ὑπό is used with the accusative case it has the basic meaning of “below” or “under” and when used with the genitive case AND AN ACTIVE VERB ὑπό has the basic meaning of “with” or “by” .

Therefore, a lexicon must be consulted to arrive at the meaning of the preposition. [See - Preposition _.]

"Object-Subject" of Infinitives

Properly speaking infinitives do not have a subject, but rather an object. However the object of the infintive is often thought of as the "subject" of the infinitive. The object of an infinitive may also be the subject of the sentence. If this is the case, the subject of the sentence (which is also the object of the infinitive) will be in the nominative case. If the "Object-subject" of the infinitive is not the subject of the sentence, it will almost always be in the accusative case. Therefore, the accusative case is considered to be the case for the Object of an infinitive.

An Infinitive can have both an "Object-subject" and a Direct object. If this is the case both the "Object-subject" and the direct object of the infinitive will be in the accusative case. In this instance usually word order and context will clarify which word is the "Object-subject" and which word is the direct object of the infinitive.

If there are two words in the accusative case, and context by itself does make clear (1) which word is the "object-subject" of the infinitive and (2) which word is the direct object of the infinitive, then the reader may use the following rule as a helpful guideline.

If one of the two words is a 1) pronoun, or 2) a proper noun (or name), or 3) has the definite article, then it will probably be the "object-subject" of the infinitive.

This same basic principle may also be used to help identify the subject from the predicate nominative. [see Nominative-Predicate ].

Example: John 1:12

ἔδωκεν	αὐτοῖς	ἐξουσίαν	τέκνα	Θεοῦ	γενέσθαι
edōken	autois	exousian	tekna	Theou	genesthai
He gave	to them	authority	children	of God	to be

Word details: τέκνα

he gave them the right to become children of God.

[Note: The subject of the infinitive γενέσθαι is τέκνα.]

In the following example a single word serves as the object of a participle and at the same time as the subject of the infinitive. με serves as the object of the participle clause ὁ πέμψας με , and at the same time serves as the subject of the infinitive βαπτίζειν.

Example: John 1:33

ὁ	πέμψας	με	βαπτίζειν	ἐν	ὕδατι
ho	pempsas	me	baptizein	en	hydati
he	who sent	me	to baptize	in	water

Word details: μέ

he who sent me to baptize in water

Example: Luke 9:2

καὶ	ἀπέστειλεν	αὐτοὺς	κηρύσσειν	τὴν	Βασιλείαν	τοῦ	Θεοῦ
kai	apesteilen	autous	kēryssein	tēn	Basileian	tou	Theou
and	he sent	them	to preach	the	kingdom	of	God

Word details: αὐτούς

he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God

[Note: αὐτοὺς is the subject of the infinitive (κηρύσσειν) and the accusative-direct object for the verb ἀπέστειλεν. Note also that τὴν Βασιλείαν is the object of the infinitive (κηρύσσειν).]

Example: John 5:18

μᾶλλον	ἐζήτουν	αὐτὸν	οἱ	Ἰουδαῖοι	ἀποκτεῖναι
mallon	ezētoun	auton	hoi	Ioudaioi	apokteinai
even more	they were seeking	him	the	Jews	to kill

Word details: Ἰουδαῖοι

the Jews sought even more to kill him

[Note: οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι is the subject of the sentence and serves at the subject of the infinitive. It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence.]

Adverbial Accusative

An Adverbial Accusative occurs when an adjective or number in the accusative case is used to quantify (or limit) the action of a verb. Some words such as μᾶλλον and σχεδόν have become adverbs because of their exclusive use in this manner. An adverbial accusative may be used to express a limitation by indicating:

• the measure or distance of an action (How long? or How far?)
• the time of an action
• the manner of an action
• to indicate a reference point for the action.

Example: Mark 12:34 Adverbial Accusative of Measure

εἶπεν	αὐτῷ	οὐ	μακρὰν	εἶ	ἀπὸ	τῆς	Βασιλείας	τοῦ	Θεοῦ
eipen	autō	ou	makran	ei	apo	tēs	Basileias	tou	Theou
he said	to him	not	far	you are	from	the	Kingdom	of	God

Word details: μακράν

he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Example: Matthew 20:6 Adverbial Accusative of time

τί	ὧδε	ἑστήκατε	ὅλην	τὴν	ἡμέραν	ἀργοί?
ti	hōde	hestēkate	holēn	tēn	hēmeran	argoi?
Why	here	are you standing	whole	the	day	idle?

Word details: ὅλην

‘Why do you stand here idle all the day long?’

Example: Matt 10:8 Adverbial Accusative of Manner

δωρεὰν	ἐλάβετε	δωρεὰν	δότε
dōrean	elabete	dōrean	dote
freely	you received	freely	you give

Freely you have received, freely give.

Example: Romans 10:5 Adverbial Accusative of Reference

Μωϋσῆς	γὰρ	γράφει	τὴν	δικαιοσύνην	τὴν	ἐκ	νόμου
Mōusēs	gar	graphei	tēn	dikaiosynēn	tēn	ek	nomou
Moses	for	he writes	the	with reference to righteousness	the	from	law

Word details: δικαιοσύνην

For Moses writes about the righteousness that comes from the law: