[B-Greek] Is GRAFH in the singular used in Josephus or Philo for all the scriptures?

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Sun Feb 17 07:45:28 EST 2008


In response to the earlier statement that Philo the word  [GRAFH] in the singular was used regarding ALL scripture, I find that in "Heir" § 159 it is dative plural though in § 168 it is sg.  Here we find


“αἱ γὰρ πλάκες ἔργον θεοῦ ἦσαν, καὶ ἡ γραφὴ γραφὴ θεοῦ κεκολαμμένη ἐν ταῖς πλαξί” 





"hAI GAR PLAKES ERGON QEOU HSAN, KAI hH GRAFH GRAFH QEOU KEKOLAMMENH EN TAIS PLACI"

As you can see, in this passage it does not reference ALL scripture, but the tables of the Ten Commandments alone.


george
gfsomsel 
… search for truth, hear truth, 
learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth, 
defend the truth till death.
 
 - Jan Hus
_________

----- Original Message ----
From: Albert Pietersma <albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca>
To: Bryant J.Williams III <bjwvmw at com-pair.net>
Cc: Leonard Jayawardena <leonardj at live.com>; b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 7:13:37 PM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Is GRAFH in the singular used in Josephus or Philo for all the scriptures?


Not 
sure 
whether 
this 
is 
relevant, 
but 
GRAFH 
with 
the 
sense 
of  
'Scripture' 
occurs 
in 
the 
Letter 
of 
Aristeas 
§155 
and 
168. 
To 
the  
best 
of 
my 
knowledge 
this 
is 
the 
earliest 
attestation 
in  
compositional 
Greek 
literature.
Al

On 
Feb 
16, 
2008, 
at 
3:14 
PM, 
Bryant 
J. 
Williams 
III 
wrote:

> 
Dear 
Leonard,
>
> 
See 
Colin 
Brown, 
NIDNTT, 
Vol. 
3: 
482-497, 
"Scripture, 
Writing," 
by  
> 
R. 
Mayer. 
Pay
> 
particular 
attention 
to 
the 
fact 
that 
it 
is 
used 
to 
translate 
the  
> 
Hebrew,
> 
"katab." 
Only 
once 
in 
II 
Chronicles 
24:27 
is 
it 
used 
for 
"midrash;"  
> 
otherwise 
it
> 
is 
used 
for 
the 
sense 
of 
"(holy) 
writing, 
written 
decree, 
types 
of  
> 
script 
(of
> 
different 
languages), 
letter."
>
> 
Page 
486,
>  
  
 
3. 
Judaism 
after 
the 
closing 
of 
the 
OT 
canon. 
(a) 
In 
Philo 
and  
> 
Josephus,
> 
the 
most 
important 
writers 
of 
the 
Hewish-Hellenistic 
symbiosis, 
we  
> 
again 
find
> 
the 
whole 
range 
of 
meaning 
covered 
by 
the 
words. 
GRAFH 
is 
used 
in  
> 
its 
original
> 
sense 
(Philo, 
Vit. 
Mos. 
1, 
287), 
then 
inscription 
(Josephus, 
Ant.  
> 
17, 
417), 
and
> 
painting 
(Philo, 
Vit. 
Mos. 
1, 
158), 
and 
finally 
in 
a 
legal 
sense  
> 
(Pilo, 
Vit.
> 
Mos. 
2, 
203). 
..."Holy 
Scritpute" 
(sing. 
and 
Plur.) 
is 
used 
of 
the  
> 
Bible
> 
particularly 
often 
by 
Philo(e.g. 
Congr. 
34, 
90). 
GRAMMA 
is 
used 
in  
> 
parallel 
to
> 
this 
(Vit. 
Mos. 
2, 
290, 
292).
>
> 
You 
may 
want 
to 
check 
out 
the 
following:
>
> 
1.  
  
NIDNTT, 
Vol. 
3: 
477-482, 
"Scribe" 
(GAMMATEUS) 
by 
N. 
Hillyer.
> 
2.  
  
NIDNTT, 
Vol. 
1:728-744, 
"Fullness, 
Abound, 
Multitude,  
> 
Fulfill, 
Make 
Room"
> 
(PLHROW) 
by 
T. 
Brandt, 
W. 
Bauder, 
R. 
Schippers 
and 
J. 
G. 
Baldwin.
>
> 
En 
Xristwi,
>
> 
Rev. 
Bryant 
J. 
Williams 
III
> 
----- 
Original 
Message 
-----
> 
From: 
"Leonard 
Jayawardena" 
<leonardj at live.com>
> 
To: 
<b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> 
Sent: 
Friday, 
February 
15, 
2008 
9:59 
PM
> 
Subject: 
[B-Greek] 
Is 
GRAFH 
in 
the 
singular 
used 
in 
Josephus 
or  
> 
Philo 
for 
all
> 
the 
scriptures?
>
>
>>
>> 
I 
am 
returning 
to 
the 
B-Greek 
list 
after 
a 
long 
spell 
of 
absence.  
>> 
I 
was 
forced
> 
to 
drop 
out 
of 
B-Greek 
due 
to 
what 
I 
believe 
to 
be 
some 
technical  
> 
problem 
with
> 
my 
earlier 
dial-up 
e-mail 
account. 
My 
question 
relates 
to 
an 
issue  
> 
that 
I 
raised
> 
in 
some 
earlier 
posts.  
According 
to 
"Theological 
Dictionary 
of 
the  
> 
NT" 
(article
> 
"graphe") 
by 
Gerhard 
Kittel 
and 
Gerhard 
Friedrich, 
abridged 
in 
one  
> 
volume 
by
> 
Geoffrey 
Bromiley, 
"The 
use 
of 
the 
singular 
[of 
GRAFH] 
for 
all  
> 
scripture 
does
> 
not 
occur 
in 
Philo 
or 
Josephus." 
In 
a 
note 
on 
Galatians 
3:22 
in 
his  
> 
commentary
> 
"St. 
Paul's 
Epistle 
to 
the 
Galatians," 
J. 
B. 
Lightfoot 
expresses  
> 
the 
view 
that,
> 
in 
the 
NT, 
GRAFH 
in 
the 
singular 
always 
means 
a 
particular  
> 
scriptural 
passage
> 
and 
says, 
"The 
biblical 
usage 
is 
followed 
also 
by 
the 
earliest  
> 
fathers. 
The
> 
transition 
from 
the 
'Scriptures' 
to 
the 
'Scripture' 
is 
analagous 
to  
> 
the
> 
transition 
from 
[TA 
BIBLIA] 
to 
the 
'Bible.'" 
Unfortunately, 
I 
don't  
> 
have 
the
> 
tools 
to 
verify 
the 
above 
statements 
(within 
the 
quot
>>  
es) 
and 
would 
greatly 
appreciate 
it 
if 
list 
members 
could 
confirm  
>> 
them, 
or,
> 
if 
they 
disagree, 
mention 
the 
particular 
passages 
in 
which 
they  
> 
think 
the
> 
singular 
is 
used 
for 
all 
the 
scriptures 
in 
Philo 
or 
Josephus,  
> 
indicating 
also
> 
whether 
the 
definite 
article 
is 
used 
in 
the 
original 
Greek 
in 
those  
> 
passages.
> 
Please 
also 
comment 
on 
the 
second 
sentence 
of 
the 
quote 
from  
> 
Lightfoot.
>> 
Whether 
GRAFH 
is 
used 
in 
the 
singular 
in 
Josephus 
or 
Philo 
to  
>> 
refer 
to 
all 
the
> 
scriptures 
has 
an 
important 
bearing 
on 
the 
question 
of 
how 
this  
> 
word 
is 
used 
in
> 
the 
NT, 
especially 
on 
the 
translation 
of 
2 
Timothy 
3:16.  
Leonard  
> 
JayawardenaSri
> 
Lanka
>> 
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