[B-Greek] Creed of Nicaea change in gender
James Ernest
j.d.ernest at bc.edu
Sun Jul 13 22:28:40 EDT 2008
> I was looking at it as something of a repetition of THS OUSIAS
You have a point, in terms of meaning: hOMOOUSIOS TW PATRI could mean
pretty much the same as EK THS OUSIAS TOU PATROS. The latter phrase
was dropped in the 381 (Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan) revision, which is
what George quoted for us (though he said he was giving us the 325
version--easy mistake to make when you're moving quickly). For
arguments about fine shades of difference you might need the large
books by RCP Hanson and Lewis Ayres and the other secondary lit that
Ayres will point to. Off-topic for this list, I expect.
> As such I thought the noun aspect of the adjective might maintain its gender.
Nope, the language just doesn't work that way. An adjective agrees in
gender with the noun it's modifying--the gender of any noun component
of the adjective (like OUSIA in hOMOOUSIOS) just goes bye-bye. Just
another of the features of languages with gendered forms that are
counterintuitive for people like us whose native tongue is English.
(Btw, neither the original Nicene Creed of 325 nor the
Niceno-Constantinopolitan version of 381 [which by the way we have not
from proceedings from Constantinople but only in proceedings from
Chalcedon] has the double procession in the HS article. The Westerners
added that bit later, which is why it's always referred to in Latin
[filioque, "and from the Son"]; it's still a point of East-West
contention.)
James Ernest
On Sun, Jul 13, 2008 at 9:11 PM, John Wilking <jcwilking at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> I was looking at it as something of a repetition of THS OUSIAS as well as a reference to KURION. As such I thought the noun aspect of the adjective might maintain its gender. I guess its just something I hadn't thought of before.
>
> John C. Wilking
>
>
>
>
> --- On Sun, 7/13/08, James Ernest <j.d.ernest at bc.edu> wrote:
>
>> From: James Ernest <j.d.ernest at bc.edu>
>> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Creed of Nicaea change in gender
>> To: jcwilking at yahoo.com, "B-GREEK list" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
>> Date: Sunday, July 13, 2008, 5:26 PM
>> On Sun, Jul 13, 2008 at 4:42 PM, John Wilking
>> <jcwilking at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Can anyone shed light on why there is a change in
>> gender in the creed,
>> > OUSIAS/hOMOOUSION?
>> >
>> > EK THS OUSIAS TOU PATROS...hOMOOUSION TWi PATRI
>> >
>>
>>
>> Sure-- OUSIA is a feminine noun. hOMOOUSIOS is an
>> adjective, here
>> masculine accusative singular to agree with the foregoing
>> KURION
>> (PISTEUOMEN . . . EIS hENA KURION IHSOUN CRISTON).
>>
>> These phrases are from the creed of Nicaea; the phrase EK
>> THS OUSIAS
>> TOU PATROS doesn't occur in the later canonical form of
>> the creed.
>>
>> James Ernest
>
>
>
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