Ignatius to the Ephesians, Greeting
Richard Ghilardi
qodeshlayhvh at juno.com
Wed Jul 25 18:46:18 EDT 2001
Dear Richard, Eric and B-greekers,
Both of you have begun your translations of Ignatius' salutation with
<< Ignatius and Theophorus, >>
as if "Ignatius" and "Theophoros" were two distinct individuals.
QEOFOROS is, in fact, a nickname which IGNATIOS has given himself. That
this is the case is made clear by the structure of the Greek:
IGNATIOS, hO KAI QEOFOROS
The presence of the definite article shows that QEOFOROS is in apposition
to IGNATIOS. It should be rendered into English as follows:
"Ignatius, who is also called God-bearer..."
Compare the greetings in Paul's letters where he mentions a co-sender ( I
Cor, II Cor, Phil, Col, I Thes, II Thes, Phm). The form of the sender in
I Cor, II Cor, Col, and Phm is:
pr noun-app-conj-pr noun-art-app
In I Thes and II Thes it's:
pr noun-conj-pr noun-conj-pr noun
And in Phil it's:
pr noun-conj-pr noun-app
Whereas in IgEph (and all his letters) it's:
pr noun-art-conj-app
The presence of the article in the Pauline examples always indicates a
noun in apposition to the second sender, never an additional sender. And
so it is with Ignatius. The KAI does not join an additional sender to
IGNATIOS but serves to intensify or emphasize the appositional
constituent, as the translation above demonstrates. If Ignatius had meant
to indicate and additional sender, he would have omitted the article
altogether, thus:
IGNATIOS KAI QEOFOROS
Cf. BDAG, KAI 2h and Lake's translation in Loeb.
Yours in His grace,
Richard Ghilardi -- qodeshlayhvh at juno.com
New Haven, CT USA
Nibai kaurno hwaiteis gadriusando in airtha gaswiltith,
silbo ainata aflifnith: ith jabai gaswiltith, manag akran bairith.
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