[B-Greek] DIDASKALIA and Titus 2:1
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Sep 9 07:35:52 EDT 2003
At 10:21 PM -0500 9/8/03, Jon Boyd wrote:
>Dear friends,
>
>I have a question on the following passage:
>
>Titus 2:1-2a
>SU DE LALEI hA PREPEI THi hUGIANOUSHi DIDASKALIAi. PRESBUTAS NHFALIOUS
>EINAI, SEMNOUS, SWFRONAS . . .
>
>I've always taken it to mean something like the New Living Translation
>translates it: "But as for you, promote the kind of living that reflects
>right teaching."
>
>But I'm starting to wonder if the rendering of the NASB might catch the
>meaning of the Greek better: "But as for you, speak the things which are
>fitting for sound doctrine." And if this is the case, perhaps "doctrine"
>may have a narrower semantic domain than DIDASKALIA, so a better rendering
>might be "teaching." In English, when I hear "doctrine" I think of
>theology, but perhaps for the first century Christian DIDASKALIA would have
>included both what we would consider theology and ethics. What do you
>think?
>
>In other words, do the verses that follow (vv. 2-10) explain what is meant
>by THi hUGIANOUSHi DIDASKALIAi, or are they explaining conduct that befits
>THi hUGIANOUSHi DIDASKALIAi?
I think this is a very good question; I wouldn't be surprised if
respondents disagree over the matter. It may be that one's judgment of the
probable dating of the letter (Titus) has a bearing on whether DIDASKALIAi
here means "doctrine" or "teaching," but I am inclined to agree with you
here, that "teaching" is preferable to "doctrine" for DIDASKALIAi in this
text. Literally the Greek says, "Speak what is appropriate to sound
teaching/doctrine, that elders should be sober, serious, self-controlled
..." To me, at least, it seems that the author is asserting that
instruction that hasn't been watered-down or weakened might allow for a
less rigorous review of the character of potential elders, and this isn't a
matter of "doctrine" theological in nature but rather of procedures and
standards of behavior that have been handed down tradition. I guess it
depends very much on what one deems to be a matter of codified doctrines
and/or procedures established with authority at the time this letter is
written and promulgated.
--
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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