[B-Greek] hWS OUK ADHLWS (1 Cor. 9:26)
Iver Larsen
iver at larsen.dk
Wed Nov 9 03:33:17 EST 2005
----- Original Message -----
From: "Webb" <webb at selftest.net>
> ADHLWS is an NT hapax, and Liddle&Scott has the first definition as
> "secretly". MM has no citations. Luke uses ADHLOS to mean "hidden"/"secret"
> in 11:44. True, Paul uses ADHLOS in 1 Cor. 14:8 to mean "vague", but what
> does it mean to "run as though you're doing it vaguely"?
I think we need to be careful not to take a particular English gloss like secret and vague and go from there. It is
better to look at the usage of the Greek word and similar words.
The adjective ADHLOS is more commonly used in the Bible than the adverb. For the adjective L&N has:
24.95 ADHLOS, -ON pertaining to not being perceived - 'not evident, not perceived, unseen, unmarked. ' hOTI ESTE hWS TA
MNHMEIA TA ADHLA 'because you are like unmarked graves' Luke 11:44. Though in Greek ADHLOS may designate anything which
is unperceived by any of the senses, in Luke 11:44 the most evident sense involved would be sight, and therefore one may
translate 'because you are like graves that cannot be seen.'
The word is used 4 times in LXX, i.e. Ps 50:8, 2 Mac 7:34, 3 Mac 1:17 and 4:4.
In the first instance, it is paired with KRUFIA (TA ADHLA KAI TA KRUFIA) and translated by Brenton as "the secret and
hidden things". However, it seems to me that it is KRUFIA that carries the meaning of hidden, whereas ADHLA is more the
unseen or not perceived things.
In the three instances in Maccabees, Brenton translates them all as "uncertain". Is this a later developed sense?
The adverb is used once in the NT and the adjective 2 times:
Luke 11:44 refers to unseen graves. The idea is not that they are hidden, but that they are not noticed or not
recognized as graves.
1 Cor 14:8 refers to a trumpet that is giving an unrecognizable sound. the idea is not that it is hidden, but it is not
perceived as an alarm signal. Or it may be an uncertain signal. It does not communicate properly.
1 Ti 6:17 has ADOLHTOS. Here the sense appears to be "uncertainty".
>From these, it looks as the basic meaning is something that cannot be seen or recognized, but the word has then also
deveolped the related sense of something you cannot rely upon, something that is uncertain.
When Paul says in 1 Cor 9:26 that he is running in such a way that it is OUK ADHLWS, it looks like he is running in a
way that can be recognized as proper running. It is probably not so much a matter of being public or secret, but rather
running as a person who knows what he is doing and others can perceive that he knows it. There is no uncertainly about
his running (or fighting).
Based on the usage of the adverb and adjective as outlined above, I would prefer your first interpretation below,
especially since Paul apparently uses the sense of uncertainty in 1 Timothy and 1 Cor 14:8.
Iver Larsen
> Here are the two consistent interpretative possibilities:
> So, I'm not running as though [I were doing so] aimlessly/didn't know where
> I was going. And I'm not boxing as though [I were just] flailing [at] the
> air.
> (emphasizes lack of skill and focus)
> So, I'm not running as though secretly [as though I were afraid to come out
> and publicly enter the race], and I'm not [only] boxing as [someone who only
> takes it to the point of] shadow-boxing--I toughen up my body, and train it
> to serve me.
> (emphasizes total commitment, willingness to encounter risk and cost for the
> sake of the prize)
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