[B-Greek] Is GRAFH ever used as a proper noun in the NT?
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Aug 18 07:09:43 EDT 2006
On Aug 18, 2006, at 5:44 AM, Leonard Jayawardena wrote:
> Message: 5
> Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:50:45 -0700 (PDT)
> From: George F Somsel <gfsomsel at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Is GRAFH ever used as a proper noun in the NT?
> To: Leonard Jayawardena <leonardj at sltnet.lk>,
> b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Message-ID: <20060815175045.18331.qmail at web38503.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> GFS: That partly depends upon how you wish to understand these
> passages. 2 Tim 3.16 can be understood to say "Every inspired
> writing is also . . ." 1 Pet 2.6 can be read as "For it says in
> writing . . ." (note there is no article before GRAFHi and it is
> singular). 2 Pet 1.20 probably has the greatest claim to being
> used as a sort of proper name. This is because it is in the
> genitive. If it were the same case as PROFHTEIA it would be
> understood as "prophetic writing." Even as a genitive, however, it
> could be a simple common noun. Robertson refers to the genitive as
> the "specifying case" in the quotation below.
>
> LJ: You are right about 2 Peter 1:20. This is the most difficult
> occurrence of GRAFH for anyone wishing to maintain that in the NT
> GRAFH in the singular never refers to the entire OT. How best can
> PASA PROFHTEIA GRAFHS IDIAS EPILUSEWS OU GINETAI in 2 Pet. 1:20 be
> translated without taking GRAFH as a proper noun? If, as you say,
> even as a genitive, GRAFH could be a simple noun, what would be the
> translation that reflected it?
>
> I raised the subject question in the first instance mainly because
> of the implications the answer to that question have on the
> translation of PASA GRAFH in 2 Timothy 3:16. Many translations,
> including KJV, render it "All scripture." In his article "Every
> Scripture Inspired of God," J. W. Roberts says, "The rule of Greek
> as expressed by Souter's lexicon is that [PAS] as an adjective in
> the singular without the article means ['every or every kind of'];
> in the singular with the article preceding or following it means
> the ['whole,' 'all the']; in the plural without the article it
> means ['all']. Thus 'every scripture' is the expected
> translation. 'All scripture' would be possible if scripture could
> have the collective sense of 'every passage of scripture taken
> together.' But we have seen that it is always used of the
> individual passage and never in the collective sense. Hence
> strictly speaking 'all scripture' is somewhat of a solecism in the
> N.T. Paul certainly means 'every
> passage of Scripture.'"
>
> (My own understanding is that in 2 Tim. 3:16 Paul says, "Every God-
> breathing (or God-breathed) writing is also profitable...." The
> reference, I think, is to books or letters, such as Paul's, other
> than the OT.)
>
> However, in his article titled "Biblical Inspiration in 2 Timothy
> 3:16" ("Bibliotheca Sacra"), H. Wayne House argues in favour of the
> construction "All scripture" on the basis that when the noun
> accompanying PAS is a proper noun or collective term, the adjective
> may be translated "the whole" or "all," the authorities he cites
> being J. H. Thayer's lexicon and Arndt and Gingrich.
>
> I mentioned in my last post that B. B. Warfield considers the
> anarthrous GRAFH in 1 Pet. 2:6, 2 Peter 1:20 and 2 Timothy 3:16 to
> be a proper noun. Is GRAFH treated as a proper noun by some in the
> above verses because it is thought also to have a collective sense
> (as, e.g., in Galatians 3:22), or because it is used anarthrously
> there or for both reasons? I am really confused. What is the
> exact relationship in Greek between the definite article and proper
> nouns?
>
> It appears that ultimately the validity of the translation "All
> scripture" depends on the presupposition that GRAFH is elsewhere
> used in the NT in the singular in a collective sense to refer to
> the entire OT.
I frankly don't see how this could be demonstrated, especially if you
mean not only the Law and the Prophets but also the Writings.
And I would hope that we aren't opening up a discussion of our
hermeneutical presuppositions: this is not a forum for that sort of
discussion.
> I would greatly appreciate your further comments on this and the
> comments of anyone who can contribute to this.
>
> Leonard Jayawardena
> Colombo, Sri Lanka
>
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Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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