[B-Greek] Proper Name
Edgar Foster
edgarfoster2003 at yahoo.com
Wed Nov 14 11:35:12 EST 2007
Dear Ken,
My statement concerning the Greek article signaling a
proper name was more of a suggestion than a dogmatic
assertion. I just want to clarify that point rather
than imply that you interpreted my statement in any
other way. The comment was based on Mitch's allusion
to Dr Mounce's contention that hO QEOS is a proper
name. But you make a good point about Greek proper
names not having the article. What you say is true and
I appreciate the reminder on this point.
This matter of Greek articles SIMPLICITER is an
interesting subject. Both A.T. Robertson and Richard
A. Young (among others) point out that we do not
always know why a writer might have included or
omitted the article when writing in Greek. For
example, what is the potential significance of the
article in Jn 1:1b with its use of TON QEON? Might not
the article bring it about that a more restrictive
force is communicated in the text with relation to
"the God" that is mentioned? Then again, maybe the
presence of the article there has to do with the
syntactical demands of the text.
Best regards,
Edgar Foster
Lenoir-Rhyne College
Hickory, NC
--- Ken Penner <ken.penner at acadiau.ca> wrote:
> Regarding KURIOS as a proper name, some recent
> translations of the Septuagint have understood
> KURIOS as a proper name, translating it "Lord"
> rather than "the Lord" (Auld's commentary on LXX
> Joshua in which he defends this decision comes to
> mind). He notes that the decision is not based
> solely on the presence or absence of the article,
> since proper names in Greek often take the article.
> The Greek article does not determine whether a noun
> (whether QEOS or KURIOS) is a proper name or a
> title. So I wonder if there is any way to disprove
> the hypothesis that KURIOS was thought to be God's
> personal name.
>
> Ken
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