[B-Greek] The meaning of "theopneustos" in 2 Timothy 3:16 (CAUTION)
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Jul 25 06:51:07 EDT 2006
Leonard, welcome to the B-Greek list. As a new list-member, you
should read, at your earliest convenience, the B-Greek FAQ, which
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and
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One element of the FAQ that is relevant to your post is the
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The question you have raised verges upon the area of
Hermeneutics that is outside the parameters of proper list-
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On Jul 25, 2006, at 5:38 AM, Leonard Jayawardena wrote:
> I just joined the B-Greek mailing list and so Hi! to everyone in
> this discussion list.
>
> My question concerns the interpretation of 2 Timothy 3:16. I take
> "theopneustos" as an attributive and active verbal adjective, so
> that my translation is "Every God-breathing scripture is also
> profitable for doctrine, etc." I understand "God-breathing" to
> mean "breathing the breath of God." In relation to God the
> expression "breath" is sometimes used anthropomorphically as a
> metonym for divine speech, e.g. Psalm 33:6: "By the word of the
> Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his
> mouth," where "the breath of his mouth" is in synonymous
> parallelism to "the word of the Lord." (The metonym "breath" for
> speech presumably comes from the fact that humans exhale breath
> when speaking.) In LXX "by the breath of his mouth" is to pneumati
> tou stomatos.
>
> Therefore "breathing the breath of God" means to speak or declare
> the word of God. Paul says in vs.15, "...from childhood you
> [Timothy] have been acquainted with the sacred writings [OT] which
> are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ
> Jesus." I think what Paul probably means is "Every scripture
> which declares the word of God is profitable, just as the Old
> Testament is, for doctrine, reproof, etc." On this interpretation
> "every scripture" refers to scripture other than the Old Testament
> which is equally "God-breathing" and profitable with the Old
> Testament. The Scriptures are "God-breathing" by virtue of the fact
> that they contain the word of God and so declare it. By "word of
> God" I mean any message in the Scriptures which has God as the
> ultimate source, e.g. the ten commandments, the prophecies of
> Daniel, the Christian gospel, but not, for example, pure historical
> narratives of the OT.
>
> Is it possible to understand "theopneustos" in this way, i.e.
> "speaking or declaring the word of God"?
>
> Leonard Jayawardena
> Colombo, Sri Lanka
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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