[B-Greek] Use of GUNAIKEIO in 1 Peter 3:7
Calvin Lindstrom
pclindstrom at yahoo.com
Thu Jun 14 18:01:12 EDT 2007
Dear Carl,
Thank you for your comments on the transliteration and also for the
other insights.
Is it possible that the use of GUNAIKEIWi carries with it the idea
that honor is given because of the wife's 'femininity'? This idea is
necessarily brought out in our English translations, but it has been
suggested by at least one commentator (Wayne Grudem, 143).
Calvin Lindstrom
On Jun 14, 2007, at 12:49 PM, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>
> On Jun 14, 2007, at 10:58 AM, Calvin Lindstrom wrote:
>
>> Paul J. Achtemeier in his commentary on 1 Peter finds importance that
>> Peter uses two different but related words referring to women/wives.
>> For example on p. 208 of his commentary he argues that it is
>> significant that Peter uses GUNAIKEIO (adjective) in verse 7 and uses
>> GUNAIKES (noun) in verse 1. Similarly, on p. 217 he notes that the
>> use of GUNAIKEIO (adjectival substantive) instead of the noun "points
>> to a wider meaning, and probably refers to the way males in a
>> household deal with its female members."
>>
>> Is this is a legitimate insight or is Peter simply using the two
>> different words for variety? Any thoughts or comments would be
>> helpful.
>
> (a) I think you mean GUNAIKEIWi (in our standard BG transliteration
> we differentiate between Omicron and Omega and note the iota-
> subscript with a lower-case "i."
>
> (b) I don't understand what other word than GUNAIKES we should
> expect in verse 1, since the sense is pretty clearly "wives" in
> relationship to "their own husbands."
>
> (c) Text of verse 7: hOI ANDRES hOMOIWS, SUNOIKOUNTES KATA GNWSIN
> hWS ASQENESTERWi SKEUEI TWi GUNAIKEIWi, APONEMONTES TIMHN hWS KAI
> SUGKLHRONOMOIS CARITOS ZWHS EIS TO MH EGKOPTESQAI TAS PROSEUCAS hUMWN.
>
> I don't think that ASQENESTERWi in verse 7 is an adjectival
> substantive at all but rather an adjective used attributively with
> SKEUEI. Here in verse 7 as in verse 1 previously, so far as I can
> tell the focus is upon husbands and their own wives. While SKEUOS
> ('instrument," "tool," "implement") might seem an odd word to use
> of a marriage-partner -- or sexual partner -- , it is used
> elsewhere in such a sense (e.g. 1 Thess. 4:4, where the phrasing
> seems rather similar to what we find here in 1 Peter 3:7). I
> frankly don't see any bearing whatsoever of this verse on other
> women in a household -- unless one imagines that the master of the
> house has several concubines, each of whom he is treat with respect
> on grounds that she is "a weaker vessel." But I really think what's
> at stake here is the relationship between husbands and their own
> wives.
>
> 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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