[B-Greek] TI in 1 Cor 3:5

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Thu Jan 31 16:19:35 EST 2008


Τί οὖν ἐστιν Ἀπολλῶς; τί δέ ἐστιν Παῦλος; διάκονοι διʼ ὧν ἐπιστεύσατε, καὶ ἑκάστῳ ὡς ὁ κύριος ἔδωκεν.




TI OUN ESTIN APOLLWS?  TI DE ESTIN PAULOS?  DIAKONOI DI' hWN EPISTEUSATE, KAI hEKASTWi hW hO KURIOS EDWKEN.

When you translate as "Is Paul …" you are likewise taking it as an interrogative.  Otherwise it would be "Apollos is important.  Paul is important" since εἶναί τι [EINAI TI] as a non-interrogative is used to convey the idea of "amount to something."  I think the interrogative is the best understanding (and apparently you do as well).
 
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: Ian Scott <iscott at tyndale.ca>
To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 3:28:11 PM
Subject: [B-Greek] TI in 1 Cor 3:5


Hi 
folks,
 
I'm 
working 
through 
1 
Cor 
3 
with 
a 
class 
and 
it 
occurred 
to 
me 
that 
there 
is 
an 
ambiguity 
in 
the 
opening 
TI 
of 
3:5 
that 
is 
not 
usually 
recognized 
(at 
least 
not 
in 
the 
literature 
I'm 
familiar 
with). 
It's 
usually 
translated 
(and 
accented) 
as 
an 
interrogative 
pronoun, 
"what?" 
But 
could 
it 
be 
a 
simple 
indefinite 
pronoun, 
"something?" 
In 
that 
case 
we 
would 
take 
TI 
as 
the 
predicate 
of 
the 
clause, 
rather 
than 
the 
interrogative 
subject. 
The 
resulting 
translation 
would 
be 
"Is 
Paul, 
then, 
something 
(i.e., 
significant)?" 
I 
suspect 
that 
this 
is 
not 
usually 
entertained 
because 
TI 
at 
the 
opening 
of 
a 
question 
is 
usually 
interrogative, 
but 
is 
there 
any 
reason 
it 
could 
not 
simply 
be 
indefinite? 
In 
favor 
of 
that 
reading 
I 
notice 
that 
Paul's 
statement 
in 
3:7 
seems 
like 
a 
direct 
answer 
to 
the 
question 
of 
3:5 
- 
- 
"neither 
the 
planter 
nor 
the 
waterer 
is 
anything 
(ESTIN 
TI) 
. 
. 
."
 
Cheers,
 
Ian
 
Ian 
W. 
Scott, 
Ph.D. 
(McMaster)
Assistant 
Professor 
of 
New 
Testament
Tyndale 
Seminary
Toronto, 
Canada
email: 
iscott at tyndale.ca 
url: 
http://www.ian-w-scott.com 
( 
http://www.ian-w-scott.com/ 
)
===================================
Implicit 
Epistemology 
in 
the 
Letters 
of 
Paul: 
Story, 
Experience, 
and 
the 
Spirit 
(WUNT 
II/205; 
Tubingen: 
Mohr 
Siebeck, 
2006). 
( 
http://www.tyndale.ca/~iscott/main/viewpage.php?pid=67 
)
===================================
The 
Online 
Critical 
Pseudepigrapha
http://www.purl.org/net/ocp
---
B-Greek 
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page: 
http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek
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