Question
Hi Dennis,
Is a question ever an independent clause in Koine Greek?
Response
Clauses are headed by finite verbs. Relative clauses and clauses with subordinators like ὁτι are not usually interrogative. Interrogative clauses have a question mark (:) at the end and may be dependent or independent. They often start with interrogative words such as “why” or “where.” There are also interrogative relative clauses such as “he asked what he could do”, but these are dependent and lack the question mark. About 6% of GNT main clauses are interrogative. About a third of those are dependent clauses governed by a discourse control verb in the independent clause, and about two thirds are independent.
All of the independent interrogative clauses are in letters (epistles) or in extended discourse that have a discourse control word (usually a verb) in a previous independent clause. For example, in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:13, Jesus says
“If the salt loses its flavor, with what will it be salted?”
The discourse control verb is λέγων back in Matthew 5:2. In addition to interrogative clauses, elliptical interrogative fragments occur, and these are usually independent. For example in Matthew 11:7, Jesus asks
“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?"