[B-Greek] Sahidic Coptic Version (was "Another example ofa qualitative Q...

alethinon61 at milwpc.com alethinon61 at milwpc.com
Tue Jul 11 10:04:58 EDT 2006


"More importantly, the indefinite article does not always denote
class 
membership. It can also used to attribute qualities or
characteristics 
(what in Greek grammars is called a "qualitative usage" [e.g., 
Wallace, p. 244]):
Indefinite Article
one specimen of the lexical class of ... ;
one specimen having the quality of the lexical class of ... (Layton, 
Bentley, A Coptic Grammar With Chrestomathy and Glossary - Sahidic 
Dialect, 2nd edition, p. 43, "..." in original)."

If by “qualitative” he means to refer to the characteristics,
attributes, or nature of the one designated, then I would say that
the above description would be accepted by a number of people as a
valid description of the use of the *English* indefinite article.  I
suspect that the owner of the very forum from which this quotation
was taken would likely agree with this.  Thus, I don’t think that the
above necessarily justifies a denial that “a god” accurately reflects
what the Coptic translators were trying to convey.  

If someone who just committed a serious sin confessed this to his
pastor, and, overcome with grief over his action cried out: “I don’t
know how I could have done such a thing”.  The pastor might reply,
“You failed because you are a sinner, my son, just as I am”.  In this
case, it is the nature of sinfulness owned as a result of being born
from Adam that the pastor has in mind.  How did the pastor covey to
the man that his failing was born from his sinful nature?  He did so
by calling him “a sinner” (=one who is sinful).

Thus, again, even if the Coptic translator used the indefinite
article to highlight the nature of the one named, that doesn't mean
that he didn't mean to convey this by calling the Logos "a god",
which, in point of fact, is exactly what he called the Logos. 

~Sean Kasabuske




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