[B-Greek] Use of GUNAIKEIO in 1 Peter 3:7

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Jun 14 19:41:49 EDT 2007


On Jun 14, 2007, at 6:01 PM, Calvin Lindstrom wrote:

> 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).

It does not surprise me that Wayne Grudem would suggest that. it  
doesn't impress me either. I suppose that if a wife displayed  
"masculinity," there'd be less reason to honor her? Not that any  
ancient writer is likely to have suggested such a notion, but I still  
think that GUNAIKEIWi is nothing more than an adjective to fit with  
SKEUEI -- and that SKEUEI GUNAIKEIWi is simply a paraphrase for GUNAIKI.

cwc

>
> 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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