[B-Greek] on "gloss"

Curtis Hinson curtis at curtishinson.com
Wed Sep 6 17:53:16 EDT 2006


The word in it's technical sense refers, I think, to actual marginal 
notes about the use of a word in situ.  The word "gloss" is used here 
generally to refer to a word's usage in the context of a specific verse, 
as far as I know.

A "definition" is a broad general description of the word's meaning 
which may attempt to give the semantic range of the word by giving 
several meanings it can have.

I remember in one of my Greek reading classes with the NT some of us had 
Kubo, which is a reader's lexicon.  So we thought of Kubo as giving 
glosses for each word in the context of the verse.  The professor 
pointed out that actually Kubo doesn't gloss, it merely pulls the major 
definition out of BAGD or some such thing and plops it down.  The 
knowledge that we were looking at definitions instead of glosses turned 
us off to it so much that most of us stopped using it entirely.  BDAG is 
good because it actually gives a bunch of glosses instead of only giving 
a general definition.  That's why it's a must-have.  Now if I just had 
BDAG on my PDA since I can't very well lug a hard copy of BDAG around...

Bless the Name
Curtis Hinson
http://curtishinson.com

William Ross wrote the following on 9/6/2006 2:04 PM:
> Sparked by your comments, I decided to see what the dictionary had to
> say about what a "gloss" was. It appears that I did not really
> understand it at all. It seems to me that I have heard the word used
> to refer to "a word or phrase that maps pretty well to an origin
> word." In reality, according to the dictionary definition below, it
> seems, a "gloss" is an "explanation of a meaning" and what we are
> seeking is a word to "stand in the place of a gloss." Is this how the
> word is used in NT translation jargon? Or does is the translation word
> also considered a "gloss" in this jargon?
>
> http://m-w.com/dictionary/gloss
>
> Thanks,
>
> William Ross
> VGB, Argentina
>
> On 9/1/06, cwestf5155 at aol.com <cwestf5155 at aol.com> wrote:
>   
>>  William,
>>
>> There is some good stuff out and lexicography and theory that could shed
>> some light on this thread, including the introduction to L&N.  But a good
>> book has come out recently by J.A.L. Lee called "A History of NT
>> Lexicography" (2003).
>>
>> Your comments seem to reflect a good understanding of "meaning/definition"
>> and "gloss".
>>
>> But allow me to set the table with just a few things off the top of my head:
>> 1.  There can be multiple definitions of a word: an economic clear and
>> succint statement of the area of meaning covered by a word.  According to
>> Lee, it usually involves one or more phrases that could/should be
>> interchangeable with a gloss--I'm thinking about that one.
>> 2.  There can be multiple glosses of a word for any given definition--maybe
>> "habitat" could be a good gloss for KOSMOS in some contexts.
>>
>> However, I therefore would qualify "one one would be hard pressed to find a
>> more suitable gloss for KOSMOS than "world".  The most suitable gloss
>> depends on the context, and words have no meaning apart from context.  Lee
>> talks about one of the major problems with traditional NT lexicography (and
>> Biblical studies) is the focus on a particular gloss (and consequent
>> arguments), even when translation is not an issue.
>>
>> An additional comment from linguistics and relevance theory: John and any
>> other writer can take a word and use it in a special way, give it a special
>> definition or refine its meaning, which is "constraint".  Any time an author
>> uses a word repeatedly, the meaning of the word is interpreted both in the
>> context of its previous occurrences and in its current context--so it
>> doesn't have to have the same meaning every time if there are clear signals
>> otherwise in the close context.
>>
>> So lexical theory does not support the theory that words have their own
>> theology in NT study (a kind of scary assumption behind some of our best
>> works that contain word studies), but does recognize the authors such as
>> John "play" with words.
>>
>> Cindy Westfall
>> Assistant Professor
>> McMaster Divinity College
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: woundedegomusic at gmail.com
>> To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
>> Sent: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 7:21 AM
>> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] KOSMOS
>>
>>
>> I didn't mean to suggest that "habitat" was "the meaning" of KOSMOS, or
>> even
>>     
> that it would make a suitable gloss. I just said that they had a lot
>   
>> in
>>     
> common. I do note that BDAG 5b bears this out:
>
>  b. the world as the
>   
>> habitation of humanity
>>     
>
> 7a seems to relate to my idea of a "stage":
>
>  a. as
>   
>> scene of earthly joys, possessions, cares, sufferings
>>     
>
> I think we would, as
>   
>> you say, be hard pressed to find a more suitable gloss
>>     
> for KOSMOS than
>   
>> "world" but I think that it does not perfectly convey KOSMOS
>>     
> and it has been
>   
>> helpful to me to consider those differences.
>>     
>
> Thanks to all,
>
> William
>   
>> Ross
>>     
> VGB, Argentina
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Carl W. Conrad
>   
>> [mailto:cwconrad2 at mac.com]
>>     
> Sent: Friday, September 01, 2006 9:17 AM
> To:
>   
>> Wounded Ego
>>     
> Cc: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] KOSMOS
>
> I
>   
>> honestly don't think "habitat" will do. While it is true
>>     
> that KOSMOS does
>   
>> in some instances correlate to "world" as
>>     
> the inhabited world, the standard
>   
>> ancient Greek term for
>>     
> "the inhabited world" is OIKOUMENH (e.g. Lk 2:1, for
>   
>> which see
>>     
> BDAG. That word is used 15x in the GNT. The sense of KOMOS, on
>   
> the other hand, does correspond in its breadth of idiomatic usage
> to
>   
>> "world" in English, "monde" in French. As with many other Greek
>>     
> words used
>   
>> in the NT, it is appropriate to convey its sense as
>>     
> it appears in its
>   
>> context. Where it refers to "people generally"
>>     
> or "humanity" then it might
>   
>> be preferable to use one of those
>>     
> words/phrases as a gloss for KOSMOS in a
>   
>> specific passage. I think,
>>     
> however, that "world" is a standard English gloss
>   
>> for KOSMOS in
>>     
> Bible versions in English is that "world" covers much the
>   
>> same
>>     
> RANGE of denotations and connotations as the Biblical Greek
>   
>> word
>>     
> KOSMOS.
>
> There have occasionally been discussions about the
>   
>> inadequacies of
>>     
> BDAG or L&N with regard to treatment of a particular word,
>   
>> but I
>>     
> don't see the word KOSMOS as a word mishandled by them.
>
> E.g., here's
>   
>> BDAG's entry on KOSMOS -- just a listing of headings
>>     
> and sub-headings,
>   
>> without the examples cited for each usage:
>>     
>
> KOSMOS, OU, hO (Hom.+)
>  1. that
>   
>> which serves to beautify through decoration, adornment, adorning
>>     
>  2.
>   
>> condition of orderliness, orderly arrangement, order
>>     
>  3. the sum total of
>   
>> everything here and now, the world, the (orderly)
>>     
> universe, in philosophical
>   
>> usage
>>     
>  4. the sum total of all beings above the level of the animals, the
>   
>> world
>>     
>  5. planet earth as a place of inhabitation, the world
>  a. generally
>   
>> b. the world as the habitation of humanity
>>     
>  c. earth, world in contrast to
>   
>> heaven
>>     
>  6. humanity in general, the world
>  a. generally
>  b. of all humanity,
>   
>> but especially of believers, as the object of
>>     
> God?s love
>  7. the system of
>   
>> human existence in its many aspects, the world
>>     
>  a. as scene of earthly joys,
>   
>> possessions, cares, sufferings
>>     
>  b. the world, and everything that belongs to
>   
>> it, appears as that
>>     
> which is hostile to God, i.e. lost in sin, wholly at
>   
>> odds w. anything
>>     
> divine, ruined and depraved
>  8. collective aspect of an
>   
>> entity, totality, sum total
>>     
>
>
> On Friday, September 01, 2006, at 07:52AM,
>   
>> William Ross
>>     
> <woundedegomusic at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>   
>> I think KOSMOS has a lot
>> in common with the word "habitat." I am beginning
>> to get some images in my
>> head, such as an aquarium. If fish in an aquarium
>> used the word KOSMOS then
>> they would never be referring to the tank itself
>> (which was their
>> "Universe") because they had no conception of that.
>>     
> Rather,
>   
>> they would
>> think of the picture on the back of the tank (their "sky") and
>> the
>> arrangement of coral and the treasure chest and rocks, along with the
>> fish
>> in the habitat. If, someone were to remove the picture from the back
>> and
>> destroy the treasure chest and such and kill the fish, then the world
>> would
>> be no more because the order was destroyed. If there were a new
>> pictu e and
>> the treasure chest was remade as a pier, then that would be a
>> new world.
>> Also, if a fish were first removed from the tank in a plastic
>>     
> bag
>   
>> full of
>> water, then replaced after the renewal, then he would live in a new
>> world -
>> even though he is once again in the same tank, with largely the
>>     
> same
>   
>> props.
>> This is because it is a different habitat - a different life system.
>>
>> We
>> see just this thing in 2 Peter 3:6
>>
>> 4 And saying, Where is the promise of
>> his coming? for since the fathers
>> fell asleep, all things continue as they
>> were from the beginning of the
>> creation.
>> 5 For this they willingly are
>> ignorant of, that by the word of God the
>> heavens were of old, and the earth
>> standing out of the water and in the
>> water:
>> 6 Whereby the world [KOSMOS]
>> that then was, being overflowed with water,
>> perished:
>> 7 But the heavens
>> and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept
>> in store, reserved
>> unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of
>> ungodly men.
>>
>> The
>> KOSMOS is also like a theatrical stage set. As Shakespeare said, "All
>> the
>> world is a stage." One could tear down the set and then create a new
>> world.
>> Believers are on the stage but not part of the set - not part of
>> the
>> play.
>>
>> We also speak of "in my world" or "in his own world." Even in
>> English there
>> is this sense of arrangement that is different from "humanity
>> in general"
>> and the anachronistic "universe."
>>
>> In John and Paul, the
>> "habitat" is primarily characterized by the "moral
>> climate" and the ones
>> who dictate the "rules" of the society.
>>
>> William Ross
>> VGB,
>> Argentina
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From:
>> b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
>> [mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org]
>> On Behalf Of Craig J
>> Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 10:18 PM
>> To:
>> b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
>> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] KOSMOS
>>
>> Carlton Winbery
>> wrote:
>>     
>>> John 1:10 seems to me to be three distinct uses of KOSMOS.
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>> EN TWi KOSMWi HN, KAI hO KOSMOS DI' AUTOU EGENETO, KAI hO KOSMOS
>>     
>>> AUTON
>>>       
>> OUK EGNW.
>>     
>>> 1) alludes to him being part of humanity.
>>> 2) the
>>>       
>> universe
>>     
>>> 3) humanity apart from God
>>>       
>> I don't think such a strong and
>> overly technical distinction is necessary.
>>     
> A
>   
>> straight forward reading could
>> make them all the same, as in the following
>> slight paraphrase:
>>
>> "He was
>> in the world, and that world was made through him, and that world
>> did not
>> know him"
>>
>> I guess KOSMOS would then equate to something like 'the mass of
>> humanity'.
>> I'm not sure why you have 'humanity' for 1 & 3, but need to
>> change it to
>> 'the universe' for 2 in between..?
>>
>> --
>> Craig
>> Johnson
>> Brisbane, Australia
>> Blog Experiment:
>> http://bloggledegook.blogspot.com/
>>
>> ---
>> B-Greek home
>> page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
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>>
>>     
>
>
> Carl
>   
>> W. Conrad
>>     
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
> 1989
>   
>> Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
>>     
> cwconrad2 at mac.com
> WWW:
>   
>> http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
>>     
>
> ---
> B-Greek home page:
>   
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>>     
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