[B-Greek] QEOS masc or fem

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Thu Apr 8 00:47:33 EDT 2004


> In Acts 19:37 we find THN QEON, where QEON is a
> masculine form, although used with the feminine
> article THN QEON. I seem to recall there being
> feminine forms for QEOS. Didn't Greek have both
> masculine and feminine forms for QEOS?
>
> =====
> Eddie Mishoe
> Pastor

Since you are reading through Acts, you probably recall the word QEA from
19:27. QEA is specifically feminine, a goddess. QEOS is in itself not gender
specific, but normally used to refer to a masculine god. When THN QEON is
used here I suspect that the focus is on the semantic feature of "god"
(someone to be worshipped) over and above the feature of gender.

Most English translations render THN QEON in 19:37 as "goddess", but I think
it would be in order to translate "god" here, since the gender is not in
focus. Unless "god" in English always refer to a masculine entity?

Iver Larsen




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