Talk:Gospel of Matthew

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Greek name

There's a bit of a problem with the Greek name for this Gospel - the way it is now, with the acute inflection, makes the word mean 'against', rather than the accent going the other way, meaning 'according to'. Any easy solutions? — edited by Pιsτévο talk complaints at 15:24, November 16, 2006 (PST)

Well, you don't say! I just copied it over from wikipedia, and that's how they had it. I think the normal formatting here only supports alphas with acute accents; I tried everything, but I couldn't make the grave one show up as anything but a box. Someone with much more technical expertise than myself is obviously needed. Gabriela 20:59, November 16, 2006 (PST)
It's possible to make à come up, but of course, that isn't the Greek letter. Personally, I think that κατα (i.e. without accent) may be the best way - that's the way it's pronounced (i.e. uninflected), and it preserves the differentiation. $0.02, anyway. — edited by Pιsτévο talk complaints at 05:46, November 17, 2006 (PST)
Done. Still, I wish there were a way to make it completely correct. Gabriela 06:41, November 17, 2006 (PST)

Actually, if I remember my classes in Ancient Greek correctly, the translation of the preposition would depend more on how Μαθθαίος is declined. According to Smyth's "Greek Grammar," when Κατά is associated with a noun in the genitive (or in some cases, the dative in the Boeotian dialect), it means against. However, when Κατά is the preposition for an accusative noun, it is means along, over, or according to. Therefore, Κατά Μαθθαίον is acceptable since Μαθθαίον is the accusative form of Μαθθαίος. The translation is not contingent on the accent acute, or lack thereof, over the last alpha of Κατά.I have seen some Bibles which have it, some don't even bother to accent it (like Nestle-Aland's Novvm Testamentvm Graece). As long as Matthew is in the accusative, I think the translation is understood as "According to Matthew." Mike 11:20, November 17, 2006 (PST)