[B-Greek] 1 Tim. 3:16 and Greek poetry
CWestf5155 at aol.com
CWestf5155 at aol.com
Fri Apr 23 14:03:49 EDT 2004
Ted,
The poetic element that stands out is the repetition of QH in every line.
Cindy Westfall
Adjunct Faculty, Denver Seminary
In a message dated 4/23/2004 10:54:53 AM Mountain Standard Time,
tedsmath at yahoo.com writes:
Hello,
1 Timothy 3:16 reads, in part:
hOS EFANERWQH EN SARKI
EDIKAIWQH EN PNEUMATI
WFQH AGGELOIS
EKHRUCQH EN EQNESIN
EPISTEUQH EN KOSMW
ANELHMFQH EN DOXH
We are told that the above-quoted parts of 1 Tim. 3:16 are poetry.
How so? I could not discern any *regular* cadence in this passage,
and I'm told that Greek poetry depends heavily on meter. The lines
come *close* to having a meter, but it appears that they closely miss
it. Or else, quite likely, I've misunderstood.
I can see that the phrases are somewhat parallel, but not in the same
way that the Psalms display parallel *clauses*. And parallelism is
more Semitic than Greek, anyway, isn't it?
So my questions are:
* What devices are used to distinguish ancient Greek poetry from
prose?
* Can you direct me to some examples of ancient Greek poetry,
whether in the NT or elsewhere, that are accessible to the beginner?
Thank you very much!
=====
Ted Shoemaker
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list