On 1 Corinthians 14:2

Steven Lo Vullo slovullo at mac.com
Sun Sep 22 15:49:13 EDT 2002


On Sunday, September 22, 2002, at 10:49 AM, Richard A. Stauch wrote:

> It seems to me that we have glossed over an important point, that the
> "definite article" in Greek is not the same as it is in English. Forms
> of hO, hH and TO (the article in Greek) do not usually make their
> subjects definite in the way that "the" does in English. They underline
> their subjects, or highlight them, adding emphasis. Smyth talks about
> this in sections 1099-ff. See particularly sections 1126-1130 with
> respect to this question. In section 1126, Smyth writes, "The article 
> is
> often omitted ... when a word is sufficiently definite by itself."
> Remember that QEOS is a common, not a proper noun, so it is not the 
> name
> of the deity (which would usually take the article). In context,
> therefore, QEWi does not need the article to make it definite in verse
> 2.

Yes, all that is true. But just saying that QEWi does not *need* the 
article (which both Iver and I said) to make it definite, doesn't in 
itself determine whether QEWi in 1 Cor 14.2 should be understood as 
indefinite or definite, "a god," or "God." Contextual indicators are 
necessary for that, which is why I offered the parallel from v. 28. Of 
course, there are closer contextual indicators, but I chose v. 28 
because of the verbal parallels.
============

Steven R. Lo Vullo
Madison, WI




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