[B-Greek] Titus 2:11
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Aug 16 18:10:51 EDT 2007
On Aug 16, 2007, at 1:10 PM, Iver Larsen wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
>>>>
>>>>> Titus 2:11: EPEFANH GAR H XARIS TOU QEOU SWTHRIOS PASIN
>>>>> ANQRWPOIS.
> <snip>
>>> 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".
>>
>> ... I'd say that EPEFANH is an intransitive aorist middle-passive of
>> EPIFAINOMAI, not a passive of EPIFAINW,
>
> Can you back up this claim with data or is it just a hunch based on
> your
> fondness for middle-passive?
I'm interested in the middle-passive, yes; but I've become
particularly interested in "ergative" verbs that seem to be
fundamentally middle even though they have active causative forms.
And EPIFAINW does fall into that category.
> Looking briefly at (EPI)FAINW in the LXX, it appears that there the
> active
> form often does have a causative sense - "make shine". The middle
> is then
> the intransitive "shine, appear".
> However, in the GNT, there is only one clear example of a
> morphologically
> middle form (1Pe 4:18 - FANEITAI), and that is in a quote from the
> LXX.
Mt 2:7 TOU FAINOMENOU ASTEROS
Mt 2:13 AGGELOS KURIOU FAINETAI KAT' ONAR TWi IWSHF
Phil 2:15 EN hOIS FAINESQE hWS FWSTHRES hWS FWSTHRES EN KOSMWi
> Otherwise, the active form is used in the intransitive sense of
> "shine".
> BAGD only lists active and passive forms of EPIFAINW and they
> specifically
> list Tit 2:11 as passive.
BDAG:
4. show oneself, make an appearance, pass. (Hdt., Thu. et. al.; LXX)
of God (cp. Chariton 1, 14, 1 Ἀφροδίτην
ἐπιφαίνεσθαι [AFRODITHN EPIFAINESQAI]; schol. on
Apollon. Rhod. 2, introd. ἐπεφάνη αὐτοῖς ὁ
Ἀπόλλων [EPEFANH AUTOIS hO APOLLWN]; SIG 557, 6
ἐπιφαινομένης αὐτοῖς Ἀρτέμιδος
[EPIFANOMENHS AUTOIS ARTEMIDOS]; 1168, 26; Sb 6152, 5 [96 BC] Isis;
6153, 6; Gen 35:7; 2 Macc 3:30; 3 Macc 6:9; Philo; Jos., Ant. 5, 277;
8, 240; 268) τοῖς δεομένοις 1 Cl 59:4. Of God’s grace
Tit 2:11; of God’s love 3:4.—M-M. TW. Spicq.
But the meaning indicated is not a passive meaning: Aphrodite makes
an appearance, Apollo appeared to them, Artemis appearing to them.
And BDAG for FAINW:
3. to become known, be recognized, be apparent, be revealed, pass.
φαίνομαι [FAINOMAI] w. act./intr. sense
I frankly think that "passive w. act./intr. sense" is silly; it's
middle voice and middle usage.
>
> The active forms are used in the more literal sense of shining with
> subjects
> like sun, moon, stars, light from a lamp. The morphologically
> passive forms
> are used in a non-literal sense and is often best translated by "be
> seen
> by..." Of course, the present forms are morphologically ambiguous.
>
> Let me take a brief example from Mark 14:64:
> TI hUMIN FAINETAI - how does it appear to you/how is it seen by you
> There is a skewing of the syntax and semantics in this kind of
> verb. The
> grammatical subject is the semantic patient, that which is seen,
> whereas the
> grammatical dative is the experiencer, the person who sees it. The
> passive
> form commonly corresponds to the situation where the semantic
> patient is
> encoded as grammatical subject in nominative.
I don't think there's any difference between TI hUMIN FAINETAI and
the more common TI hUMIN DOKEI. I suppose that you really think WFQH
with dative is properly understood as passive: "was seen by X" rather
than middle "appeared, let (him/herself) be seen to X"
>
>> ...although I am aware that some take seriously the notion of a
>> "divine
>> passive."
>
> I don't take that seriously, because I think it is an unhelpful
> confusion of
> syntax and pragmatics.
I rather think that it's a matter of intrusion of a theological-
hermeneutical assumption into grammatical analysis.
>
>> 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."
>
> Yes, but that misses the aspect of means. In the context of the NT,
> the
> grace of God does not bring actual salvation to all people, only
> the means
> of salvation, so the translation is somewhat misleading.
> I am not opposed to "For the grace of God has appeared as a means of
> salvation for all people."
It seems to me rather that this "aspect of means" is over-
interpretation of the phrase SWTHRIOS PASIN ANQRWPOIS : it "has
appeared with saving power, like a savior, bringing salvation ... " I
think that this is carrying the discussion beyond what the Greek text
clearly indicates.
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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