[B-Greek] The meaning of "theopneustos" in 2 Timothy 3:16

Barry nebarry at verizon.net
Tue Jul 25 07:25:12 EDT 2006



> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org]
> On Behalf Of Leonard Jayawardena
> Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 5:39 AM
> To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [B-Greek] The meaning of "theopneustos" in 2 Timothy 3:16
> Importance: High


> 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"?

Probably not.

1) QEOPNEUSTOS -- the -TOS ending is a passive morpheme (cf. BDF 65.3, 112),
so your translation of it as active won't work.

2) You translate it as an attributive rather than a predicate, which the
syntax will not allow.

3) I think the considerations above preclude your interpretation, but
another aspect is the extent of PASA GRAFH.  What did that mean for the
writer of the epistle?  In general, the NT authors quote nearly the complete
range of the canonical OT as authoritative, which would suggest that for
this writer at least that collection would be considered as included in
PASA.


N.E. Barry Hofstetter
Adjunct Faculty & IT Support
The Center for Urban Theological Studies
http://www.cuts.edu
Classics Instructor, The American Academy
http://www.theamericanacademy.net

And my site:

http://mysite.verizon.net/nebarry





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