[B-Greek] Titus 1:12

Harold R. Holmyard III hholmyard at ont.com
Wed Jan 28 06:24:03 EST 2004


Dear Byron,

You write:

>Your commentary doesn't address my question, which is why the idios is
>singular.  You translate it as though it were plural. [1:12 One of
>themselves, a prophet of their own, said, ] It modifies TIS or PROFHTHS,
>i.e., a CERTAIN PROPHET HIS OWN SELF (I guess), rather than AUTWN (Cretans).
>The fact that it is singular is what is stumbling me, if it were plural, it
>wouldn't. Doesn't it normally refer back to the subject of the verb, in this
>case EIPEN/ he (a certain prophet)?  It looks to me something like this:  "A
>certain man out from among them (the Cretans) himself (or his own self) a
>prophet of them said...."

HH: One reason for the singular might be that a plural could be confusing,
inasmuch as the plural of IDIOS seems to have its own set of meanings as a
substantive. With a plural, one might understand Titus 1:12 to mean: "A
certain one of them, a prophet of their own things [or: "own proprerty"],
said . . . ." So perhaps this idiomatic form of expression has something to
do with that. BAG says that IDIOS means "private, one's own, perculiar to
oneself" in contrast to what belongs to another. IDIOS brings out that
contrast, and BAG puts Titus 1:12 under that idea. With this background, it
seems easier in Tit 1:12 to put IDIOS with PROFHTHS than with TIS. One
could literally have: "a one's own prophet of theirs." In English we would
express that as "a prophet of their own."

				Yours,
				Harold Holmyard






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