[B-Greek] agrammatos in Acts 4:13
Thomas J. Kraus
t.j.kraus at web.de
Tue Feb 24 03:24:17 EST 2009
Dear Timothy,
Please, allow me to point to my article in New Testament Studies
"'Uneducated', 'ignorant', or even 'illiterate'? Aspects and Background for
an Understanding of AGRAMMATOI (and IDIWTAI) in Acts 4:13", NTS 45 (1999),
434-49 (reprinted with addendum in T.J. Kraus, Ad Fontes: Original
Manuscripts and Their Significance for Studying Early Christianity,
Brill/Leiden 2007).
With the help of documentary papyri and the context Acts 4:13 is embedded
in, a non-pejorative use of AGRAMMATOS ([being] without letters) can be
proved. Your idea "[being] without formal training" (IDIWTHS) is also backed
by what I have written there with backing from documentary papyri and other
relevant material.
In general, illiteracy was not regarded as faulty and bad as it is today
(something I worked on in general, for instance, addressing the issue of
"slow writers" of documents or specific officials in Roman Egypt).
Hope this helps,
Thomas J. Kraus
On 24.02.2009 4:59 Uhr "timothy mcmahon" at <targum at msn.com> wrote:
>
> Friends:
>
> Wondering if anyone is aware of a less than literal usage of AGRAMMATOS
> anywhere. Bauer, LSJ and M&M all seem sure it means 'illiterate' rather than
> simply 'unsophisticated' or 'without formal training' (i.e., akin to IDIWTHs
> in the same verse).
> ---
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