[B-Greek] Titus 2:13

Harold Holmyard hholmyard at ont.com
Mon Aug 14 17:08:49 EDT 2006


Dear Bill,

>Perhaps there is some characteristic of the genitive with which I am not
>familiar that makes it obvious that TOU MEGALOU THEOU intends "the
>great god." Please advise. In my present understanding of the genitive, the
>construction reads "the great [one] of god." I mean, does hUIOU THEOU
>(Romans 1:4) mean "the son god?"
>  
>

HH: hUIOS is a noun, but MEGAS is an adjective meaning "great," and the 
natural expectation is that the adjective will modify the noun with 
which it stands and with which it agrees in number, gender, and case. Of 
course it can be nominalized, but one expects the context and grammar to 
clarify that such a nominalization is present, since otherwise the 
construction would be naturally taken as an adjective modifying its 
noun. The words as they stand would suggest the normal reading of "great 
God," and the context does not suggest a special nominalization.

>This issue obviates discussion of GS.
>  
>

HH: I don't know what you mean about obviating discussion of Granville 
Sharp, if that is what you mean. For even if the words meant "the great 
one of God," they would still apply to Jesus, and the Granville Sharp 
rule would still be applicable. Just go to commentaries on this passage. 
I have never read anyone claim that the words mean "the great one of 
God." Sure words can mean all kinds of things, but that is evidently not 
what is intended. Here is the comment on these words in the NET Bible:

tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus 
Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the 
deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville 
Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first 
clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the 
construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two 
nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they 
always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and 
brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s 
point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could 
be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others 
who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of 
the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that 
could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, qeos) and “savior” 
(σωτήρ, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not 
constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there 
have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts 
have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has 
settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 
276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard




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