The Continuative Relative Clause in the Greek New Testament

Abstract

A scrutiny of the literature on the continuative relative clause (CRC) in the Greek New Testament indicated that several of its characteristics are not discussed, or in need of further examination. Drawing on insights in general linguistics, as well as literature on the relative clause in modern languages, a number of characteristics of the CRC are discussed in this article. These include the CRC’s characteristics as a member of the appositive group of relative clauses; the internal structure of the CRC’s antecedent; the position of the CRC vis-à-vis its antecedent; the CRC’s function to increase coherence within a sentence and paragraph; and the CRC’s function to denote foreground in narrative discourse.