[B-Greek] 1 Pet 2:17: Knowing when a noun is Gender-inclusive

Kenneth Litwak javajedi2 at yahoo.com
Sat Apr 19 00:18:05 EDT 2008


 
> In short as far as Greek is concerned such terms are
> inclusive - the  
> question is context, since both men and women are
> the receivers of the  
> letter it suggests the brotherhood includes both mem
> and women. Those  
> who would use brotherhood just to mean men would not
> according to  
> rabbinacal tradition "waste their time" by talking
> to addressing women.
> 
>  From memory the book of Aboth starts with "Rabbi so
> and so told Rabbi  
> so and so ... not to waste time talking with women"
> The commentator  
> the adds "If that was what was said about talking to
> ones wife, then  
> talking to women in gemeral is even more of a waste
> of time.
> 
> Regards
> John Knightley

John,

  While there are instructions to wives in six verses
(3:1-6), that does not seem like sufficient data to
show that Peter was addressing both men and women
throughout and it does not really tell us what a
first-century reader/hearer would think when he OR she
encountered "brothers," e.g., James 1:2, or
"brotherhood," 1 Pet 2:17.  We need something more to
know what people would have thought sucha  masculine
noun could have meant, I would think.

Ken Litwak 


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