[B-Greek] hO as demonstrative pronoun in 1 Timothy 3:1

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Wed Oct 18 13:14:04 EDT 2006


On Oct 18, 2006, at 12:38 PM, Thomas C. Black wrote:

> I am smaller in learning than many "little greeks" on this list so  
> please be
> gentle.  <smile>
> The repeated phrase PISTOS hO logos (as in 1 Timothy 3:1) in the  
> p.e. is
> long discussed.  But I'm curious to know if it's reasonable to  
> translate the
> hO as a demonstrative pronoun.
> e.g.  "This saying is faithful."
> I think the article certainly helps to mark the adjective as (first)
> predicate.  Yet it also seems to distinguish "this" LOGOS in  
> particular as
> being different from other LOGOS which is why I'm curious about  
> translating
> it as a demonstrative pronoun.
> I do notice that the NLT, NET, HCSB, and to a certain degree the  
> NIV agree
> on this.
> Thanks for your responses in advance.

My own judgment, for what it's worth, is that it is indeed reasonable  
to English hO LOGOS as "this saying" or perhaps better, "this  
proposition." What normally functions as a definite article in Koine  
and Classical Attic Greek was originally a demonstrative and is  
regularly so used in Homer. See BDAG 1.a.

Frequently enough the Greek hO can have a force of our italicized or  
upper- cased THE or even in some expressions like "the Donald."

My own paraphrase for 1 Tim 3:1a is: "You can take this proposition  
to the bank."

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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