[B-Greek] Proper Name
Edgar Foster
edgarfoster2003 at yahoo.com
Wed Nov 14 10:01:37 EST 2007
Dear Mitch,
In addition to what Carl and Iver have said, I would
like to make two points regarding this subject.
1) I notice that you allude to Dr. Mounce's
observation that both hO IHSOUS and hO QEOS are proper
names. The implication that I derive from your quote
is that the Greek article may determine whether QEOS
is a proper name or whether it is a title.
2) John W. Cooper argues that there is a conceptual
distinction between a proper name (e.g. YHWH or IAW)
and a proper noun (e.g. KURIOS or [hO] QEOS). He
defines a proper name as a term whose linguistic
function is to "identify a particular person as such,
not to specify someone's status, role, or
relationship, or to describe that person (although it
may also have those functions)."
Conversely, the category of proper nouns includes
proper names, but also encompasses titles or epithets
which designate the status, function or role of that
which the proper noun designates.
See _Our Father in Heaven: Christian Faith and
Inclusive Language for God_. Grand Rapids: Baker
Books, 1998. Pages 118-119.
Best regards,
Edgar Foster
Lenoir-Rhyne College
Hickory, NC
--- Iver Larsen <iver_larsen at sil.org> wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mitch Larramore" <mitchlarramore at yahoo.com>
> To: "B Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: 14. november 2007 02:49
> Subject: [B-Greek] Proper Name
>
>
> > Dr. Mounce, in giving examples of proper names
> with
> > the article (p. 39), gives both hO IHSOUS and hO
> QEOS.
> > I've been taught that QEOS is a title, not a name.
> How
> > is QEOS a proper name?
> >
> > Mitch Larramore
> > Sugar Land, Texas
>
> Have you also been taught that YHWH (Jahve) is a
> title, not a proper name? What characterizes a
> proper name is that it has a unique referent. It
> points to one particular person. QEOS is used as a
> proper name referring to Jahve, a unique entity, in
> most places in the Bible, corresponding somewhat
> to English God, but in other contexts the same word
> is used as a descriptive title, corresponding
> somewhat to English god.
>
> Iver Larsen
>
> ---
> B-Greek home page: http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek
> B-Greek mailing list
> B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-greek
>
____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better pen pal.
Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how. http://overview.mail.yahoo.com/
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list