ANHR, TIS, Bauer/Danker lexicon, and NET

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Jun 7 08:40:05 EDT 2002


A message from Wayne Leman originally posted to BT:

After some preliminary discussion, Carlton and I have agreed to forward to
B-Greek the following message originally sent to his own Bible-Translation
List. There has already been considerable discussion of it there and you
can access that correspondence, if you choose, at:

	https://mail.kastanet.org/lists/
	Then click on "Bible-Translation"

but be forewarned that it's a very difficult interface for reading a whole
thread beyond what's on the index of messages offered on the initial
screen. Wayne has also posted there what I personally thought was a good
discussion of the question by Dan Wallace.

Some "CAVEAT"s (I would have written "caveamus", but General Haig has
apparently successfully turned the Latin 3d sg. subjunctive into a verb,
noun and whatnot):

This is pretty clearly a very legitimate question for B-Greek,although it
may seem difficult to keep the focus upon matters of pure Greek
lexicography. The focus of discussion on B-Greek must remain on evidence
for the meaning of the
Gree: we are NOT concerned in our discussion here with critiquing English
translations.

I have a question for the discussion list that has to do with what kind of
evidence is required to justify different meaning senses in lexical
reference materials. Specifically, I want to draw attention to meaning entry
#2 under ANHR in the Bauer/Danker lexicon (I'm using the latest edition,
published in 2000), page 79, where it says that ANHR is:

"equiv[alent] to TIS, someone, a person"

Then it cites some extrabiblical references and biblical references. I have
looked at each of the biblical references cited for this entry, as Wayne
Grudem has, and I do not yet find enough linguistic evidence in these verses
to convince me that ANHR is equivalent to TIS. In some of the verses (Luke
19:2, Acts 10:1), the context makes it clear that ANHR is referring to adult
males. In other verses (Luke 5:18, 9:38, Acts 6:11), given what we know of
Jewish culture at that time, it is most likely men that were being referred
do. In other verses (John 1:30, Rom. 4:8, James 1:12), biblical scholars do
differ on whether the focus is on maleness or individual humanness, the
latter which could be translated as "person" or "someone" as the lexicon
states. Can any of you see evidence here that would be compelling enough to
justify this meaning entry and gloss ("definition") in Danker for ANHR being
equivalent to TIS?


This question is important because it goes to the root of what kind of
lexicographical evidence is required to posit a different meaning sense in a
lexicon. In terms of English versions this question is important because the
NET Bible team uses this entry from the Bauer/Danker lexicon as evidence to
support its translating ANHR sometimes as "someone," specifically in the
book of James. The NET specifically footnotes these translations quoting
this meaning entry from the Bauer/Danker lexicon. In your estimation, is
there enough evidence to justify the Bauer/Danker gloss of "equiv[alent] to
TIS" to support the NET translation of ANHR in the book of James?

Following are each of the verses cited as purported examples in Bauer/Danker
for ANHR being "equivalent to TIS". For each verse I will quote from both
the RSV and NET translations:

Luke 9:38 (possibly could be a woman, but more likely a man in this context;
were this a woman, I think the Greek would have had GUNH)
RSV: And behold, a man from the crowd cried, "Teacher, I beg you to look
upon my son, for he is my only child;
NET: Then a man from the crowd cried out, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my
son-he is my only child!

Luke 19:2
RSV: And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and
rich.
NET: Now a man named Zacchaeus was there; he was a chief tax collector and
was rich.

John 1:30
RSV: This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me,
for he was before me.'
NET: This is the one about whom I said, 'After me comes a man who is greater
than I am, because he existed before me.'

Rom. 4:8 (quote from Ps 32:2)
RSV: blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not reckon his sin.
NET: blessed is the one against whom the Lord will never count sin. (no
footnote for "the one")

Luke 5:18 (culturally and physically, not likely to be women)
RSV: And behold, men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and
they sought to bring him in and lay him before Jesus;
NET: Then some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher.

Acts 6:11 (theoretically could be women, but culturally, not likely in this
legal context)
RSV: Then they secretly instigated men, who said, "We have heard him speak
blasphemous words against Moses and God."
NET: Then they secretly instigated some men to say, "We have heard this man
speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God."

Luke 8:27 (I know this was a man, because I've seen the Luke video of this
scene!! <big grin>)
RSV: And as he stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who
had demons; for a long time he had worn no clothes, and he lived not in a
house but among the tombs.
NET: As Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man from the town met him who was
possessed by demons.

Acts 10:1
RSV: At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was
known as the Italian Cohort,
NET: Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what
was called the Italian Cohort.

James 1:12
RSV: Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he
will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.
NET: Happy is the one13 who endures testing, because when he has proven to
be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who
love him. (footnote 13: The word for "man" or "individual" here is ajnhvr
(anhr), which often means "male" or "man (as opposed to woman)." But as BAGD
67 s.v. 6 says, "equivalent to tiV" someone.")

NET translates the other instances of ANHR in James as:

James 1:8: since he is a double-minded man,6 unstable in all his ways.
(footnote 6: Grk "a man of two minds," continuing the description of the
person in v. 7, giving the reason that he cannot expect to receive anything.
The word for "man" or "individual" is ajnhvr (anhr), which often means
 "male" or "man (as opposed to woman)." But it sometimes is used generically
to mean "anyone," "a person," as here (cf. BAGD 66 s.v. 1, 6).)

James 1:20: For human22 anger does not accomplish God's righteousness.
(footnote 22: The word translated "human" here is ajnhvr (anhr), which often
means "male" or "man (as opposed to woman)." But it sometimes is used
generically to mean "anyone," "a person," (cf. BAGD 67 s.v. 6), and in this
context, contrasted with "God's righteousness," the point is "human" anger
(not "male" anger). )

James 1:23: For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live
it out, he is like someone25 who gazes at his own face in a mirror.
(footnote 25: The word for "man" or "individual" is ajnhvr (anhr), which
often means "male" or "man (as opposed to woman)." But as BAGD 67 s.v. 6
says, "equivalent to tiV" someone." )

I have chosen to quote from the NET Bible, rather than other versions which
translate ANHR gender-inclusively in James because the NET team is so
careful to footnote its translation decisions, and this is often not done in
other versions.

It seems to me that the NET Bible translates ANHR with "man" where the
context clearly indicates reference to male adults. In other contexts, where
the context is not absolutely clear that there is reference to a male adult
or to a semantic focus on masculinity, the NET sometimes translates as an
equivalent of TIS, following Bauer/Danker. This seems reasonable to me, but
I would like to know if there is any further evidence we can draw on in
these less certain cases, other than from one's chosen systematic theology
and other exegetical considerations, from which I think Wayne Grudem draws
much of his evidence (and that is also a reasonable form of evidence; it is
just different from straight linguistic, contextual evidence).

So, what do you think? Has Bauer/Danker proven its case that ANHR can be
equivalent to TIS and be translated as "someone" or "a person"?


Wayne Leman



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