[B-Greek] QEOS a proper name?
ann nyland
accuratebibles at ozemail.com.au
Tue Jul 27 02:23:09 EDT 2004
I am not sure on what grounds Mr Marshall claimed that Christos was a name
and not a title, and the Catholic Encylopedia is popular rather than
academic, and at any rate, a work of 1910 is well before all the documentary
evidence for the NT we have today. There has been quite some work on double
names and titles. Tim Farrell has a paper in the Wycliffe/SIL "Notes on
Translation" 1988: "Christos-Mr. Christ or the anointed one of God" (in
which he argues against "Mr Christ").
The evidence suggests that the word always appears as a title of Jesus, in
the way titles were applied to pagan deities. There is abundant evidence for
double names as they are attested in the papyri and inscriptions (both
commonly, for example P.Coll.Youtie 67; CPR 14; BGU 2251.7; AE 419; BGU
2223), in specifically Jewish papyri and inscriptions (for example, CIJ
1.14, 30; CPJ I.126; CPJ II.178; CPJ III.462f; CPJ III.459) and in Josephus
(Ant. 1.240; 5.85; 12.43; 12.157; 13.188; 13.131; 13. 320; 13.383; 13.385;
13.420; 18.35).
There are several types of double names mentioned in the N.T. (1) The Jewish
name plus name which was originally patronymic but developed into a proper
name (Joseph + Barsabbas; Judas + Barsabbas; Joseph + Barnabas; Elymas +
Barjesus). (2) Jewish name plus place of origin used as a name (Mary +
Magdalene; Judas Iscariot). (3) Jewish name (graecised) plus descriptive
name or nickname (Simon + zealot, Simeon + Canaanite). (4) Jewish name plus
Roman name (Saul + Paul, John + Mark, Jesus + Justus, Simon + Niger, Joseph
+ Justus). (5) Jewish names with Greek/Roman substitute names:
Symeon/Simon, Silas/Silvanus. Priska is the diminutive substitute of the
Roman name Priscilla.
(6) Jewish names with Greek translation names: Cephas/Peter; Thomas/Didymos,
Tabitha/Dorcas. (7) Jewish name + title (Christos is put in this category.)
Example of double names: note Acts 5:1: "Joseph HO EPIKLEQEIS Barnabas".
Contrast Joseph TON KALOUMENON Barsabbas of Acts 1:23. Note the expressions
in Acts for John Mark: TOU EPIKALOUMENON (12:12); TON EPIKLEQENTA , (12:25)
and TON KALOUMENON (15:37). These are more typical. Note Col. 4:11, Jesus HO
LEGOMENOS Justus. This is an unusual style.
There is a work in progress funded by the Bristish Academy, "Lexicon of
Greek Proper Names" - I don't know what's happening with it, or even if it
has been published. As for other studies in the NT onomasticon, there's H.C.
Youtie, Scriptiunculae I, Amsterdam, 1973, esp. 330; P.M.Fraser, Ptolemaic
Alexandria, II, Oxford, 1972, esp. 116f; and the main one is R. Calderini,
Aeg. 21 (1941) 221-60; Aeg. 22 (1942) 3-45. Early Christians frequently took
on names of pagan gods (see Eusebius, de martyribus Palaestinae 11.8), but
after the first couple of centuries abandoned such names in favor of names
of prophets. J.R. Rea, CPR 11 comments on this.
Generally speaking, there are a few titles in the NT which are mistranslated
as non-titles. For example, PRWTEUW, which oxcurs only in Colossians 1:18
in the N.T., although is not uncommon in Greek lit. It is a title which
means "The Holder of the First Place". ("First" is used here in the sense of
"superior".) MM cite three examples of the verb which denotes either
political leadership in a city or an honorific title. It occurs as a title
of a Count in the P.Laur. 27. The lexicographer Horsley laments in NDIEC
2.96 the fact that most commentators on Colossians do not address themselves
to this word as a title.
Ann Nyland
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Costa" <tmcos at rogers.com>
To: <B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2004 10:44 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] QEOS a proper name?
> Some scholars have made this point. One is I.Howard Marshall in'The
Origins
> of New Testament Christology' (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity
Press,
> 1976) on p.83. "...in New Testament times 'Christ' developed into a name
for
> Jesus (eg. Rom.5:6, 8; 1 Cor.1:12, 17; Heb.3:6; 9:11)" Marhsall does also
> point out that CHRISTOS is primarily a title. The Catholic Encyclopedia
> (s.v. Jesus Christ, Origin of the Name) also states "Only after the
> Resurrection did the title [Christ] gradually pass into a proper name, and
> the expression Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus became only one designation."
> (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII (New York: Robert Appleton
Company,
> 1910)
>
> Tony Costa
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "ann nyland" <accuratebibles at ozemail.com.au>
> To: <B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Cc: "Tony Costa" <tmcos at rogers.com>
> Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 7:38 PM
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] QEOS a proper name?
>
>
> > What is the evidence for Christos being used by Paul as a proper name?
> > Ann Nyland
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Tony Costa" <tmcos at rogers.com>
> > To: <B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> > Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2004 9:04 AM
> > Subject: [B-Greek] QEOS a proper name?
> >
> >
> > Dear Friends, did QEOS ever achieve a proper name status in the Pauline
> > letters ( I am including here the "disputed letters" as well) as a
> reference
> > to the Father? I understand that CHRISTOS was used by Paul as a proper
> name
> > for Jesus, although it was originally titular (as "the anointed one").
If
> > this is the case, does the presence of the article with QEOS and
CHRISTOS
> > render these words titular rather than proper names? Many thanks.
> >
> > Tony Costa
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