[B-Greek] 1 Tim 4,12

Mike Sangrey MSangrey at BlueFeltHat.org
Thu Jan 19 14:40:41 EST 2006


On Thu, 2006-01-19 at 11:48 -0600, Michael Jackson wrote:
> List,
>
> How is it that 1 Tim 4,12 is translated in many English versions as “be an
> example to the believers” (various wordings, but this is the idea).  Is the
> original not TUPOS GINOU TWN PISTWN?  Would this idea not be more properly
> translated as “be an example of the believers” (as in the KJV and others-
> signifying that Timothy was to be an example, type, or pattern of those that
> believed rather than strictly an example to the believers)?  Am I missing
> something or is this a contextual change rather than a textual one?
> 

I think the issue here is two fold:

First, it appears you're thinking that the Greek genitive and English
'of' have a one-for-one correspondence.  That's not quite true.
Introductory grammars give people a good start by stating something
along the lines of "genitive means 'of'".  I wish they would give a
little larger of a definition and then state this "rule", but pedagogy
is always tricky.  I think of "genitive means 'kind of'" though I don't
think that helps much in this case.

The reality is that the genitive is quite ambiguous.  If I recall
correctly, A.T. Robertson in his BIG grammar gives an example where the
genitive should accurately be translated 'from'.  This shows that the
genitive doesn't MEAN 'from' or 'to' or even 'of'.  It shows that the
genitive is ambiguous enough that the genitive form can point to a
variety of different relations that exist in the real world context.  I
know that might be a bit overwhelming ("Gosh, how can I pick the right
one?").  My advice is to simply give your familiarity with the language
time to grow.  Try to grow your understanding of the context--using an
English version to build up the context--and use that context to help
you chose specific meanings of the words.  That's how the mind works
anyway when writing and reading your own language.  So, it's just the
way God built the cognitive-linguistic apparatus in your head anyway.

So, you're interpretation of the clause is plausible and is one of the
possibilities that should be considered.  Which brings me to the second
point.

Second, the translators had to deal with the ambiguity that exists when
your rendering is used.  That is, one could easily arrive at an
understanding that Timothy was to look at where the believers are
currently in their life-walk and be an example of that.  And that is not
what the Greek is saying.  Perhaps a way around that is to use the word
'exemplar'.  That way we would have:  "be an exemplar of the believers."
However, 'exemplar' is a big word and not readily understood.  And,
furthermore, Jim West's suggestion, citing Mounce, for "be an example
for the believers", captures the same thought without the idiosyncrasies
of 'exemplar'.
 
> 
> This is my first listing so please be nice :-).
> 

OK, but by your second posting we all get to shoot at you.  Don't worry
though, we don't use live ammunition until, O!, I don't know, the fourth
or fifth question.  <laugh>

-- 
Mike Sangrey                               (msangrey AT BlueFeltHat.org)
Exegetitor.blogspot.com
Landisburg, Pa.
                        "The first one last wins."
            "A net of highly cohesive details reveals the truth."




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