[B-Greek] Titus 2:11

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Aug 16 07:35:18 EDT 2007


On Aug 16, 2007, at 1:30 AM, Iver Larsen wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
>>
>> On Aug 15, 2007, at 10:01 PM, Denise Parkes wrote:
>>
>>> Titus 2:11:  EPEFANH GAR H XARIS TOU QEOU SWTHRIOS PASIN ANQRWPOIS.
>>>
>>> This verse seems to be straitforward.  Both the NASB and the RSV
>>> translate
>>> this verse thus:  For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
>>> salvation to all men.
>>>
>>> But the NIV and the KJV add the word "that" to give a different
>>> meaning ie:
>>> For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
>>>
>>> This NIV/KJV translation seems awkward, especially when the word
>>> "that" has to be added to make it work.
>>>
>>> Is there ambiguity in the original Greek?
>>>
>>> Looking forward to your help,
>>
>> SWTHRIOS is a predicative adjective, in agreement with hH CARIS but
>> functioning like an adverb with EPEFANH; NIV/KJV translators are
>> understanding SWTHRIOS as an attributive adjective and they
>> understand PASIN ANQRWPOIS as construing with EPEFANH rather than
>> with SWTHRIOS EPEFANH. I would have thought that if SWTHRIOS is
>> attributive it would have the article (CARIS ... hH SWTHRIOS).
>>
>> NASB/RSV seem more accurate to me, but the difference is a matter of
>> how the adjective SWTHRIOS and the dative phrase PASIN ANQRWPOIS are
>> being construed.
>
> It may be helpful to look a bit more at the context and the  
> semantics in
> addition to the syntax which is ambiguous.
> The following words in v. 12 are: PAIDEUOUSA hHMAS...- this grace  
> has taught
> us...
> Since it is "we" who have learned something, it seems most likely  
> that it is
> primarily to "us" that this message has been revealed - EPEFANH.  
> Or, even if
> it in a sense has come to everybody since it "has appeared on the  
> scene"
> through Christ, it is only "us" who have seen it. For this and other
> reasons, I would take the final dative noun phrase as construing with
> SWTHRIOS as the benificiary/recipient of salvation.
> Another question is the sense of the adjective. BAGD notes that this
> adjective is normally used substantively in the GNT (TO SWTHRION),  
> in fact
> four out of five occurrence, with Tit 2:11 the only adjectival one.  
> They
> give the sense of the substantive as "a means of deliverance". So  
> why not
> give the same sense to the adjectival usage?
> The more common word for "deliverance/salvation" is SWTHRIA (46  
> times in the
> GNT). This word appears to refer to actual experience of salvation. In
> contrast, SWTHRIOS in all its occurences in the GNT seems to fit  
> the sense
> of "means of salvation". It is derived from the noun SWTHR as  
> George pointed
> out, and the SWTHR is the one who gives SWTHRIA, so he is SWTHRIOS,  
> the way
> to or means of salvation.
>
> With this background a free translation that IMO would be more  
> accurate and
> faithful to the intended sense could be: "For the grace of God has  
> been
> revealed as a means of salvation for all people".

And THAT is supposed to be non-literal? I'd say that EPEFANH is an  
intransitive aorist middle-passive of EPIFAINOMAI, not a passive of  
EPIFAINW, although I am aware that some take seriously the notion of  
a "divine passive." At the same time I'd quite agree with taking  
SWTHRIOS PASIN ANQRWPOIS to mean "as a means of salvation for all  
people."

I note that NET has: "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing  
salvation to all people."

And, however one chooses to parse the linguistic jargon, in  
traditional terms this means that SWTHRIOS is functioning  
predicatively to EFANH.

> All the translations cited above belong to the literal camp and  
> that is why
> they tend to lose or at least obscure the intended meaning. In this  
> case,
> some (not all) of the meaning-based translations are somewhat more  
> accurate,
> e.g.
> TEV: For God has revealed his grace for the salvation of all  
> people. 2.12
> That grace instructs us to give up ungodly living and worldly  
> passions,...
> Or in simpler language:
> NCV: "That is the way we should live, because God's grace that can  
> save
> everyone has come. 12 It teaches us not to live against God nor to  
> do the
> evil things the world wants to do."

As for TEV and NCV, I'd say that they "reflect" the meaning of the  
Greek text, but they lean pretty far over on the side of paraphrase  
rather than what I'd call "dynamic equivalence."

Carl W. Conrad





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