[B-Greek] 1 Tim 5:20
George F Somsel
gfsomsel at juno.com
Sat Jun 25 18:20:03 EDT 2005
On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 14:57:34 -0600 Adam <adambensaid at gmail.com> writes:
> Hi all,
>
> We recently went through the qualifications of elders and deacons in
> the
> church and got divided of the phrasing in v.20 regarding the public
> rebuke
> of the elder in case of sin.
>
> The word "sin" is in the present tense, which indicates an on-going,
> linear
> action (unrepented sin). This is supported by all the commentaries
> that I
> have been able to find. Even if we take this present as a gnomic
> present, it
> seems as though the meaning will not change.
>
> Ralph Earle (Expositors'), Quin & Wacker (CC), Mounce (WBC), John
> Calvin,
> Stott, Liefeld (NIVAC) and Fee (NBC) all agree that no rebuke is
> necessary
> unless there is persistent ongoing unrepentant sin. Furthermore,
> most of
> them make a point to say that the whole process should be kept as
> private as
> possible, and nothing should be said publicly unless it is
> absolutely
> unavoidable (because of unrepentance and continuation of the sin).
>
> In Stott's words:
> *"Such a public rebuke, though an effective deterrent, must be the
> last
> resort, however. It is a safe rule that private sins should be dealt
> with
> privately, and only public sins publicly. It is neither right nor
> necessary
> to make what is private public, until all of the possibilities have
> been
> exhausted."*
>
> Can anyone shed some light on this issue as my knowledge of Greek
> grammar is
> at a novice level.
>
> Thank you,
>
> --
> Your Brother in Christ,
> Adam
___________________
TOUS hAMARTANONTAS ENWPION PANTWN ELEGXE, hINA KAI hOI LOIPOI FOBON
EXWSIN
The word ENWPION seems to function as a preposition here though it
properly is the neut of ENWPIOS. Smyth notes that the prepositon
originally functioned as an adverbial.
§ 1638a: "Originally the preposition was a free adverb limiting the
meaning of the verb but not directly connected with it . . ."
The question which you have seems to revolve around the question of which
verb is related to the prepositional phrase ENWPION PANTWN. My personal
inclination is to take it with TOUS hAMARTANONTAS, however, that isn't
based simply on the Greek but my personal feelings that I don't care to
"wash the dirty linen in public."
In § 1640 Smyth states
"The prepositon-adverb usually *** precedes *** the verb, from which it
is often separated in Homer . . . " This would seem to indicate that it
is most likely that the prepositional phrase ENWPION PANTWN would go with
ELEGXE. It would thus seem that the rebuke is to be public though it is
not specified that the sin is public. This would seem to be borne out by
the following purpose clause hINA KAI hOI LOIPOI FOBON EXWSIN, but I
think it would also be applicable if the sin were "before all" rather
than private.
There is, however, another consideration which is raised by Smyth, if I
understand him correctly. In § 1643 he states, "The preposition-adverb
may do duty for the verb in parallel clauses." It could thus be that
BOTH a public sin AND a public rebuke are envisioned. By being placed
between the two verbs, it would thus lend itself to such an
understanding.
george
gfsomsel
___________
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