Punctuation query

Mark DelCogliano cassian at dellepro.com
Mon Dec 10 17:57:19 EST 2001


Punctuation queryAugustine notes several punctuation-ambiguities in De Doctrina Christiana III.2-5, one of which involves John 1:1-2:

The so-called 'heretics' punctuate it thus: 

In principio erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat. Verbum hoc erat in principio apud Deum.

while the 'orthodox' thus: 

In principio erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum.

Augustine says the 'heretical' punctuation denies that the Word is God, whereas the 'orthodox' confesses the equality of the three divine persons.

I suppose a similar ambiguity could be ascribed to the Greek text as well, i.e. KAI QEOS. HN hO LOGOS hOUTOS... vs. KAI QEOS HN hO LOGOS. hOUTOS...

I dont know if this ambiguity is transferrable to English but the other examples Augustine cites may be so...check them out.

Hope this is helpful,

Mark DelCogliano
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Decker, Rodney 
  To: Biblical Greek 
  Sent: Monday, December 10, 2001 4:26 PM
  Subject: [b-greek] Punctuation query


   Could anyone offer an example (or a few such) in which the *punctuation* of a NT text (i.e., a punctuation variant) changes the meaning? I'm looking for clear examples in which the text could be read (legitimately, not humorously!) in at least two different ways depending on the way the text is punctuated--and which readings clearly result in a different meaning (not just a different emphasis or two different way to say essentially the same thing).

  The primary impetus for this query is an English teacher's query for such an example as she teaches punctuation. I've run across such examples before (often involving questions, as I recall--though I'd prefer exs. which hinge on a colon vs coma vs period), but I can't pull up any off the top of my head at the moment--and I don't have the time to do a lot of work tracking it down. Who better to ask, I thought, than the b-greek community where such knowledge is readily available?!

  ============================================ 
  Rodney J. Decker, Th.D. 
  Associate Prof./NT 
  Baptist Bible Seminary 
  Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania 
  http://faculty.bbc.edu/rdecker/ 
  ============================================ 

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