Lk 18:13; TWi hAMARTWLWi

Steven Lo Vullo doulos at merr.com
Sun Dec 2 01:14:19 EST 2001



On Saturday, December 1, 2001, at 09:11  PM, Harry W. Jones wrote:

> Dear Steven,
>
> After looking up hAMARTWLWi in BAGD 2000 3ed it seems more likely
> to me that TWi hAMARTWLWi is attributive to MOI and is in the
> third attributive position.

Well, I guess we can add this to the long list of conclusions you have 
already reached. I can only hope for your sake you run out of reference 
works soon, before your tree runs out of limbs. :-)

Seriously, though, let's deal with this latest revision:

(1) hAMARTWLOS is used 47 times in the NT. According to Accordance, in 
38 of these instances, it is substantival, and in only 9 cases is it 
adjectival (in those 38 instances Accordance actually tags hAMARTWLOS as 
a noun). I think 9 is high, but I'm trying to be as fair as possible. So 
hAMARTWLOS in the NT is far more likely to be a substantive than an 
adjective.

(2) Note the construction personal pronoun-article-noun (13 times not 
counting Luke 18.13, which Accordance also tags as a noun: Mark 7.6; 
Luke 11.39,42-43,46,52; 12.4; Acts 4.11; 1 Cor 4.9; Eph 2.11; 3.1; 4.1; 
2 Tim. 1.8). By the very nature of things, the article-noun 
constructions in these verses cannot be attributive. They must be 
appositive. This is important to remember as we move to the next point.

(3) As far as I can tell, the construction personal 
pronoun-article-adjective occurs 5 times in the NT (Luke 6.24; John 
6.70; Rom 15.1; Gal 6.1; Eph 3.8; as I said, Accordance tags hAMARTWLWi 
in Luke 18.13 as a noun). Keeping in mind the analogy of personal 
pronoun-article-noun above, I think we can see that understanding the 
adjectives  in these cases as substantival is not only perfectly 
natural, but preferable. And, again keeping in mind the analogy, I think 
taking them attributively involves thinking in English rather than 
Greek. I can't think of one good reason why we should understand any of 
these as attributive, especially with the analogy afforded us by the 
construction with nouns above.

(4) Taking TWi hAMARTWLWi (and all the above adjectives) as attributive 
is, in my opinion, just plain awkward compared to taking it as an 
appositive. "To the sinful me" seems to me just as awkward in Greek as 
it is in English. When you apply this to the above examples it is 
equally awkward ("the twelve yous," John 6.70; "to the least of all 
saints me," Eph 3.8). It seems much more natural to take these as 
substantival adjectives in apposition. And that this involves thinking 
in Greek (I can hear the objection already) is supported, as I have 
already said, by the analogy of the personal pronouns with the 
appositive nouns.
=============

Steven Lo Vullo
Madison, WI




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