ANAGNWSEI

Cindy Smith cms at dragon.com
Fri Sep 4 23:00:36 EDT 1998


>From:	MX%"cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu"  "Carl W. Conrad"  4-SEP-1998 19:06:41.37
>To:	MX%"cms at dragon.com",MX%"b-greek at franklin.oit.unc.edu"
>Subj:	Re:  anagnwsei

>At 5:42 PM -0500 9/04/98, Cindy Smith wrote:
>>I'm curious about the meaning of ANAGNWSEI.  For example,
>>
>>1 Timothy 4:13 hEWS ERXOMAI, PROSEXE TH AVAGNWSEI,
>>		TH PARAKLHSEI, TH DIDASKALIA.
>>
>>NRSV translates this, "Until I arrive, give attention to the public
>>reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching."
>>
>>Query:  Does ANAGNWSEI always mean "public reading of scripture" or
>>can it mean simply "public reading" ?  Certainly, many of the letters
>>read in the New Testament churches did _not_ later become scripture.
>
>I'm not going to cite all the voluminous instances cited in the original.
>Rather I'm simply going to note that from quite early on ANAGIGNWSKW was
>the verb for "read aloud." What it is that is read in any one instance may
>be stated explicitly or may have to be inferred from the context; I don't
>think there's usually much question, however.

I meant does ANAGNWSEI always mean the public reading of scripture or 
simply public reading in the sense of "reading scripture" or just 
"reading" ?  In other words, in the Bible, when one reads, one is 
almost always reading scripture as opposed to letters or whatnot which 
are not scripture per se.  Sorry for the confusion.  It's just that 
the NRSV translated the word "reading of scripture" when the word 
"scripture" does not appear in the Greek text.


>Compare 2 Maccabees 2:25 which uses the word ANAGINWSKEIN "to read"
>apparently but what is the word for reader?  Here is the full passage:
>
>EFRNTISAMEN TOIS MEN BOULOMENOIS ANAGINWKSEIN PSUXAGWGIAN TOIS DE
>FILOFRONOUSIN EIS TO DIA MNHMHS ANALABEIN EUKOPIAN TASIN DE TOIS
>ENTUGXANOUSIN WFELEIAN.  NRSV:  "we have aimed to please thos who wish
>to read, to make it wasy for those who are inclined to memorie, and to
>profit all readers."

In this instance the word translated "readers" is TOIS ENTUGCANOUSIN a
substantival participle in the dative plural that literally means "those
who come upon it"--yet it is clear from the context that this does mean
"those who by whatever chance encounter may happen to read these words."

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/


Cindy Smith
					  Spawn of a Jewish Carpenter
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