[B-Greek] Luke 24: 49; Acts 2: 33; Acts 2: 38

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Fri Feb 23 02:49:10 EST 2007


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry K. Henry" <lkhenry at dtccom.net>

> In reading Luke 24: 49; Acts 2: 33 and Acts 2: 38, I was struck with the
> fact that "promise" and "gift" are noun feminine in form.  I have been
> struggling with the significance of this grammatical structure and how it
> influences the interpretation of these passages.  If the Spirit is the
> object of the promise in Luke 24: 49 and Acts 2: 33, I would expect these
> nouns to be masculine or neuter in gender if the Spirit is the intended
> "promise" or "gift."

Why would you expect that? Are you saying that the words EPAGGELIA and DWREA ought to change their 
gender to masculine if the gift happens to be an item that is in the masculine? The word for hand - 
CEIR - is also feminine. Would you expect the gender of the word to change depending on whether the 
hand is the hand of a man or a woman?

Acts 2:33 THN TE EPAGGELIAN TOU PNEUMATOS TOU hAGIOU LABWN PARA TOU PATROS, EXECEEN TOUTO

In the second part of the verse you see the neuter TOUTO referring to PNEUMA. The promise consists 
of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

You should not expect the gender of "promise" to change to neuter because the content of the gift 
can be referred to in the neuter.

> Since these nouns are feminine, is something other
> than the Spirit the object of the promise?  Could the object of the
> "promise" be the Abrahamic promise discussed so often in the book of Luke?

No and no.

>
> The correct translation of gender nouns can determine how a translation
> reads.  Compare, for example Acts 2: 33 in KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV with NIV or
> ISV, NLT, CEV.

The difference between these groups of translations is not in the exegesis, but in the clarity and 
naturalness in English. Since the first group are literal translations and the grammar therefore a 
hybrid between Greek and English, they are less clear, less accurate and more open to 
misunderstandings. The second group express the intended meaning more accurately in better English.

Iver Larsen 




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