Titus 2:11

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Sep 19 08:03:09 EDT 1999


At 10:23 AM +0200 9/19/99, Kevin Smith wrote:
>Dear friends,
>
>Titus 2:11-12a in NA27 reads:
>EPEFANH GAR hH CARIS TOU QEOU SWTHRIOS PASIN ANQRWPOIS PAIDEUOUSA hHMAS....
>
>I am trying to figure out the logical function of SWTHRIOS. Grammatically
>it must be predicate adjective modifying CARIS. But what is its logical
>function? Is it wrong to see it as logically co-ordinate with PAIDEUOUSA
>hHMAS..., with both SWTHRIOS PASIN ANQRWPOIS and PAIDEUOUSA hHMAS...
>conveying results of the appearing of God's grace? The logic would then be
>as follows: The grace of God has appeared. It brings salvation to all men
>[Result 1]. It teaches us... [Result 2]. Would someone please correct me
>if necessary.


The distinction I want to make here is so subtle that I pause before
writing and sending this note--the distinction may be so subtle as not to
be worth making, and yet I really think there is one. I don't really
disagree (I think) with what has been said here so much as I am a bit
troubled by the way it has been expressed. It may very well be that the way
I'd put this is more or less equivalent to the way Kevin has put it. But
let me try to spell out a difference.

While I would agree with this understanding of the way the elements
SWTHRIOS ... and PAIDEUOUSA ... relate to each other and to EPEFANH hH
CARIS, I don't think I would speak of "salvation-bringing" and
"instructing" so much as RESULTS, but perhaps more as CHARACTERIZATIONS of
what the grace of God, now manifest, EFFECTS. My own Englished paraphrase
would be thus: "God's grace has become manifest, now bringing salvation to
all humanity and educating us ..."

Are the "salvation-bringing" and "educational" characterizations of this
grace CONSEQUENCES of the grace's "manifestation"? I think that one COULD
understand what is here said that way, BUT I think that perspective would
more likely be expressed in a formulation of the idea thus: EPEFANH GAR hH
CARIS TOU QEOU hWSTE SWZEIN PANTAS ANQRWPOUS, PAIDEUEIN TE hHMAS  or
EPEFANH GAR hH CARIS TOU QEOU EIS TO SWZESQAI PANTAS ANQRWPOUS KAI EIS TO
PAIDEUESQAI hHMAS or EPEFANH GAR hH CARIS TOU QEOU hINA SWZHi PANTAS
ANQRWPOUS KAI PAIDEUHi hHMAS ...

I really don't doubt that the author might concur with the notion that the
salvation and education that come along with the dawning of God's grace are
INTENDED (i.e. purpose) and are CONSEQUENT (i.e. result) of the dawning.
And yet, I really do think that the author would have phrased these
elements differently if that's what he'd meant to communicate.

Perhaps it will be useful if I call attention to a construction that does
not get taught very effectively if it gets taught at all: indirect
discourse with participle and verb of perception. For instance:

	EIDON TOUS TOU IHSOU MAQHTAS DIDASKONTAS ALLOUS. While this is
commonly enough understood and converted into English as "I saw Jesus'
disciples teaching others," it would be more accurately understood and
converted as "I saw THAT Jesus' disciples were teaching others"--i.e it's
not simply a matter of my seeing the disciples WHILE they were teaching
others, but rather of my observation regarding the disciples THAT they were
engaged in the process of teaching others. This sentence can easily be
converted into a passive formulation as follows: EFANHSAN hOI TOU IHSOU
MAQHTAI DIDASKONTES ALLOUS, and this sentence too might readily be
understood and Englished as "The disciples of Jesus were revealed as
teaching others," but the meaning would be conveyed more clearly if phrased
thus: "It became public knowledge that the disciples of Jesus were teaching
others."

Now let's turn back to the construction in Titus 2:11. It reads: EPEFANH
GAR hH CARIS TOU QEOU SWTHRIOS PASIN ANQRWPOIS PAIDEUOUSA hHMAS ... I would
say that this too is really an instance of the same construction, and that
it could be Englished thus: "For God's grace became manifest as saving to
all humanity and instructing us ..." OR "For it became manifest that God's
grace saves all humanity and instructs us ..."

I don't have ready at hand the NT Greek grammars to give references for
this item of syntax, but I'll try to get them and indicate them in another
message when I get to my office; in the meantime, anyone interested can
consult the Perseus Smyth grammar, ##2106-2115.


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
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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