πνεῦμα as Spirit or spirit?

Semantic Range, Lexicography, and other approaches to word meaning - in general, or for particular words.
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: πνεῦμα as Spirit or spirit?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

I wonder if this is the sort of thing that can only be resolved by a broader appeal to context with a view toward the author's usage in general, from the perspective of "What is the author most likely to mean here?" With Acts 18:25, we have a nice parallel in Rom 12:11, τῷ πνεύματι ζέοντες, but I think the grammatical ambiguity is precisely the same here as there, and doesn't really help us resolve the issue. Both Luke and Paul have a well developed theology of the Spirit, and from that general usage I would lean toward the references as τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα. What weighs against this is that ζέω with a dative complement sounds like it ought to be idiomatic for "fervent in..." though in the lexical references (BDAG and LSJ) I couldn't really find a parallel usage. Similarly in Eph 4:3. Reading τοῦ πνεύματος of the Holy Spirit is quite theologically satisfying, but would a first century reader following the context of this letter come up with that interpretation apart from the rest of the Pauline corpus? I have always read all these references as of the Holy Spirit, and especially Paul (with attitude that if Paul uses the word πνεῦμα that's normally what he means, and the burden of proof is on the one seeing it differently), but I'm willing to admit that's my theological bias at work.

These are excellent examples, but I wouldn't call either translation wrong, but translations arguably justifiable based on what we've got.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
cwconrad
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Re: πνεῦμα as Spirit or spirit?

Post by cwconrad »

Barry Hofstetter wrote:I wonder if this is the sort of thing that can only be resolved by a broader appeal to context with a view toward the author's usage in general, from the perspective of "What is the author most likely to mean here?" With Acts 18:25, we have a nice parallel in Rom 12:11, τῷ πνεύματι ζέοντες, but I think the grammatical ambiguity is precisely the same here as there, and doesn't really help us resolve the issue. Both Luke and Paul have a well developed theology of the Spirit, and from that general usage I would lean toward the references as τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα. What weighs against this is that ζέω with a dative complement sounds like it ought to be idiomatic for "fervent in..." though in the lexical references (BDAG and LSJ) I couldn't really find a parallel usage. Similarly in Eph 4:3. Reading τοῦ πνεύματος of the Holy Spirit is quite theologically satisfying, but would a first century reader following the context of this letter come up with that interpretation apart from the rest of the Pauline corpus? I have always read all these references as of the Holy Spirit, and especially Paul (with attitude that if Paul uses the word πνεῦμα that's normally what he means, and the burden of proof is on the one seeing it differently), but I'm willing to admit that's my theological bias at work.

These are excellent examples, but I wouldn't call either translation wrong, but translations arguably justifiable based on what we've got.
The "iffiness" of authorship (a question not open to discussion here) is another of the "iffy"factors involved in ascertaining the sense of τοῦ πνεύματος in Eph 4:3.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Andrew Chapman
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Re: πνεῦμα as Spirit or spirit?

Post by Andrew Chapman »

9) Ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκὶ ἀλλ’ ἐν πνεύματι, εἴπερ πνεῦμα θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. εἰ δέ τις πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ οὐκ ἔχει, οὗτος οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ. (10) εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν, τὸ μὲν σῶμα νεκρὸν διὰ ἁμαρτίαν τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ζωὴ διὰ δικαιοσύνην. [Romans 8.9-10]

How to understand τὸ πνεῦμα in verse 10? It seems to me that there is a real condition - εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν - even if the condition is assumed to be fulfilled - since Paul has just considered the person who does not have the Spirit of Christ. Obviously, what the Spirit is in Himself does not depend on what we are, so I was thinking that this must be the human spirit. Also the contrast with σῶμα tends in the same direction. But perhaps it could be 'the Spirit is life (to you)'.

Schreiner, Romans, p.410, gives the sense as: 'But if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, though the Spirit is life because of righteousness.'

That 'though' is troublesome to me. Any thoughts? Andrew
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