KTISIS

Lemuel G. Abarte lemuel at bcd.weblinq.com
Wed Nov 11 20:13:05 EST 1998


Carl,

This is interesting and I did notice this in BAGD.  But looking at this, I seem to notice that the cosmological viewpoint in the lexicon using the word "creation" has a Christian presupposition.  Don't you think Paul argued from a technical perspective?

Would you think this will clarify the meaning of PRWTOTOKOS PASHS KTISEWS in Colossians 1:15?  It seems that the previous thread was barking at the wrong tree.

Regards,

Lemuel   

-----Original Message-----
From:	Carl W. Conrad [SMTP:cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu]
Sent:	Wednesday, November 11, 1998 10:48 PM
To:	Biblical Greek
Cc:	b-greek at franklin.oit.unc.edu
Subject:	Re: KTISIS

I think this may be of sufficient interest to the list that I am forwarding 
my response there.

At 12:19 AM -0800 11/11/98, Byron P. Knutson wrote:
>Carl:
>
>I was hesitant to post this question because of the recent problem with
>PRWTOTOKOS.
>
>My question is related only in that in looking at Col. 1:15 I noticed that
>in 1 Pet. 2:13 KTISIS is used of a governmental authority.  Is this word
>used in this way outside of the Bible?

Yes, it is. And I think it's interesting to note the etymological elements 
at play here: KTIZW and its cognates seem to have been used originally and 
most fundamentally of the process of establishing a colony and its 
fundamental sacral and administrative structures, beginning back in the 7th 
century period in which colonies were being sent out in great numbers by 
mainland Greek as far as the Crimea on the Black Sea, the Orontes in Syria, 
the Nile valley in Egypt, the coast of North Africa, and even the French 
Riviera. Applied to the process of world-creation this is a metaphor. There 
is in fact a fascinating passage at the very beginning of Philo's treatise 
on Genesis 1-3 (DE OPIFICIO MUNDI) wherein he lays out a grand analogy of 
the establishment of a new city such as Alexandria and the creation of the 
world and legislating for it.

KTISIS is therefore a political term in origin, and only by metaphorical 
extension does it become a cosmological term.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu OR cconrad at yancey.main.nc.us
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

---
B-Greek home page: http://sunsite.unc.edu/bgreek
You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: lemuel at bcd.weblinq.com
To unsubscribe, forward this message to $subst('Email.Unsub')
To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek at franklin.oit.unc.edu






More information about the B-Greek mailing list