[B-Greek] PRWTOS vs. PROTEROS
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Apr 11 12:06:27 EDT 2003
At 8:47 AM -0700 4/11/03, Robert Creech wrote:
>Sir William Ramsay makes the point on more than one occasion that when the
>word PRWTOS is used, it means the first among many - examples are Luke
>2:2, "This was the first census (among the many that came later) that took
>place while Quirinius was governor of Syria." and Acts 1:1 "In my first
>book" - i.e., implying that Luke expected to write volume 3? Now, Ramsay
>is quite adamant that PRWTOS means this, as opposed to PROTEROS.
>
>
>
>Now, BAG is just as adamant that PRWTOS need not imply first among many.
>Liddell and Scott does not make a strong distinction.
This question has been discussed frequently (one might almost say "ad
nauseam") on this list and you're free to search the archives; here are a
few of the threads:
1995 9/6-7 PRWTH in Lk2:2; BAGD (was Re: PRWTH in Lk2:2)
1998 9/25-10/6 Re: PRWTH in Lk 2:2
2001 6/26-29 The text of Luke 2:2 and word order
2002 9/18-20 Lk 2:2 hAUTH EGENETO APOGRAFH PRWTH (D05)
Although list-members are welcome to renew this discussion, they may do
well to review previous discussions of the questions involved here. I think
it may be sufficient to say that there has been no single definitive stance
on this matter that has satisfied all who have considered it--although it
is also quite true that you'll find more than one who's quite sure that
he/she has found the right answer.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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