[B-Greek] word meaning

Eric S. Weiss eweiss at gte.net
Fri May 23 12:49:39 EDT 2003


In my reply, I inadvertantly reversed the meanings of the objective and 
subjective genitive. It should read:

 > Dan Wallace gives, I believe, 33 uses, the subjective (Christ's own 
faith/faithfulness) and objective (faith in Christ) genitives being only 
two of these many.

Also, a phrase I repeat ad nauseum(!) to my Greek students: "A word 
means what the author intended it to mean in the context in which he 
used it."

Eric S. Weiss wrote:

> With all due respect to your friend, he does NOT "interpret the NT 
> Greek very literally." He interprets the NT Greek very ignorantly -- 
> ignorantly with respect to Greek, and ignorantly with respect to what 
> language is and how language works.
>
> Yes, Koine Greek has idioms. If you can find a copy of Goodrick's DO 
> IT YOURSELF HEBREW AND GREEK, read the chapter (I think it's chapter 
> 22) on Idioms. You will either laugh at Goodrick's dry humor in this 
> passage or cry when you suddenly realize that language is SO IDIOMATIC 
> that you realize that it will take years of reading the Bible in its 
> original language to be sure that one is not accidentally "literally" 
> understanding or translating idiomatic speech, and that recourse to 
> learned and scholarly commentaries and grammars/grammarians is 
> something one should always check oneself with before making claims of 
> what the Greek or Hebrew "REALLY says."
>
> As far as "of the faith of Christ," you need to learn about how the 
> genitive case functions in Greek. Dan Wallace gives, I believe, 33 
> uses, the objective (Christ's own faith/faithfulness) and subjective 
> (faith in Christ) genitives being only two of these many. This phrase 
> raises multiple issues: what kind of genitive is it? is PISTIS to be 
> translated as "faith" or as "faithfulness"? etc. There is MUCH MUCH 
> MUCH written about this. Check your local seminary and look in the 
> commentaries on Galatians and the periodicals.
>
> Good luck!
>
>

-- 
Eric S. Weiss
http://home1.gte.net/vzn05pnm/index.htm
S.D.G.






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