[B-Greek] kosmos in 1 Pt. 3:3
yancywsmith
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Wed Aug 30 10:21:48 EDT 2006
David,
The meaining of KOSMOS in 1 Pet 3:3 is either "an object which serves
to beautify" or "the arrangement/adornment." A basic feature
linguistics is that communities using any given language develop a
range of meanings, called a semantic range, assumed for the words
they use. However, from language to language those semantic ranges
almost never entirely coincide. So, the gloss "world" is entirely
alien to the idea of "adornment" in English. But this is not the case
in Greek. We can get a hint of this by remembering that in English
cosmos and cosmetics are from the same Greek root. So, as absurd as
it sounds to an English speaker that "world" and "adornment" could be
somehow related be being meanings attached to the same word, it is
true in Greek. Liddell and Scott give these definitions (with a few
general source references) for the Greek word KOSMOS which give us an
idea of the semantic range in Greek of KOSMOS.
I. order,
2. good order, good behaviour, decency, Aesch., Dem.
3. the form, fashion of a thing, Od., Hdt.
4. of states, order, government, Hdt., Thuc.
II. an ornament, decoration, embellishment, dress, Il., etc.; esp.
of women, Lat. mundus muliebris, Ib., Hes., etc.:—in pl. ornaments,
Aesch., etc.
2. metaph. honour, credit, Hdt., Soph., etc.
III. a regulator, title of the chief magistrate in Crete, Arist.
IV. the world or universe, from its perfect order, Lat. mundus,
Plat., etc.
2. mankind, as we use ‘the world,’ N.T.
A third feature of linguistic semantics that is pertinent here is the
fact that the reader must estimate which semantic value is relevant
to the context, or the cognitive environment which the reader selects
to derive the appropriate meaning. The reader is naturally led to
select the most relevant semantic value and exclude the others
relevant to other contexts. In this way the reader determines the
precise semantic value of the word in the hope that, in as much as is
possible, it matches the meaning selected by the author. The basis of
translating KOSMOS as either adornment (an object) or adornment (a
state) in 1 Pet 3:3 is the context the reader would be led to select,
which the author indicates by speaking of garments and gold and hair
and such.
Yancy Smith
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
5636 Wedgworth Rd.
Fort Worth, TX 76133
817-361-7565
On Aug 29, 2006, at 11:24 PM, David Koot wrote:
> Most English versions of 1 Pt. 3:3 translate kosmos as 'adornment'
> or 'adorning.' On what basis do they do so? I have read Kittel's
> article on the word, and done some additional research. I believe
> that for almost every other occurrence of kosmos in the NT, it
> means 'world.' How can they get 'adornment' out of it in 1 Peter?
>
> David Koot
> ---
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