[B-Greek] Romans 3:1-2

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Mon Sep 21 16:24:48 EDT 2009


This strikes me as a rather poetic statement on Paul's part

Τί οὖν τὸ περισσὸν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου
ἢ τίς ἡ ὠφέλεια τῆς περιτομῆς;
 
The second stich would thus parallel the first.  Ἰουδαίου [IOUDAIOU] // περιτομῆς [PERITOMHS] and ὠφέλεια [WFELEIA] would thus parallel περισσὸν [PERISSON].  With ὠφέλεια [WFELEIA] indicating use or advantage, we should expect a similar significance for περισσὸν.  Thus the question he poses is "What" is the advantage? 

Πρῶτον [PRWTON] may be an ordinal number, but is not necessarily such.  See BDAG s.v. πρῶτος [PRWTOS] #2 

  
ⓑadv.πρῶτον[PRWTON] of degree in the first place, above all, especially(Jos., Ant. 10, 213) ζητεῖτε πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν [ZHTEITE PRWTON THN BASILEIAN] Mt 6:33.Ἰουδαίῳ τε πρῶτον καὶ Ἕλληνι [IOUDAIWi TE PRWTON KAI hELLHNI] Ro 1:16; cp.2:9f.—Ac 3:26; 2 Pt 1:20; 3:3.Of the Macedonian Christians ἑαυτοὺς ἔδωκαν πρῶτον τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ ἡμῖν [hEAUTOUS EDWKAN PRWTON TWi KURIWi KAI hHMIN] they gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and (then) to us2 Cor 8:5.παρακαλῶ πρῶτον πάντων [PARAKALW PRWTON PANTWN] first of all I urge1 Ti 2:1.—B.939. DELG. M-M. EDNT. TW. Sv.
 
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature. (3rd ed.) (894). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
 
george
gfsomsel 


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----- Original Message ----
From: Tom Moore <tom at katabiblon.com>
To: B-Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 12:56:27 PM
Subject: [B-Greek] Romans 3:1-2

Romans 3:1-2:
3:1 Τί οὖν τὸ περισσὸν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου, ἢ τίς ἡ ὠφέλεια τῆς περιτομῆς;
3:2 Πολὺ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον· πρῶτον μὲν [γὰρ] ὅτι ἐπιστεύθησαν τὰ λόγια τοῦ θεοῦ.

3:1 TI/ OUN TO PERISSON TOU IOUDAIOU, H TI/S hH WFELEIA THS PERITOMHS?
3:2 POLU KATA PANTA TROPON: PRWTON MEN [GAR] hOTI EPISTEUQHSAN TA LOGIA TOU QEOU.

A typical translation:
3:1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?
3:2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. [NIV]

1) First question, regarding TI/S TI/:

To his questions "What is the advantage?" "What is the benefit?" Paul  answers, "Much."

Can τίς/τί refer--not to what *is* the advantage or benefit?--but instead to what is the magnitude or scale of the advantage and benefit, that is, how big is, or whether there is any advantage or benefit at all, such that 3:1 should be translated:

    Is there, then, any advantage to the Jew? Or any benefit to circumcision?

Alternatively, does it make sense to just read τί and τίς ("what") instead as τι and τις ("any"):
    Τι οὖν τὸ περισσὸν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου, ἢ τις ἡ ὠφέλεια τῆς περιτομῆς;
    (Is there) any, therefore, advantage of the Jew? Or (is there) any benefit of circumcision?
    
2) Second question, regarding PRWTON MEN GAR hOTI:

Paul says "First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God," yet he does not go on to explain how that is an advantage, nor does he name a second advantage or benefit.

To me, the typical English renderings of 3:1-2 want for exposition, but I postulate that the actual Greek of 3:1-2 forms a complete thought.

Is it possible, and does it make sense, to view PRWTON as attributive instead of ordinal:

    Is there, therefore, any advantage to the Jew? Is there any benefit to circumcision? 
    (They are) much in every way.  For indeed, (their advantage and benefit are) PRWTON,
    because they have been entrusted with the logia of God.

I lack a good, clear gloss here for PRWTON, but my thinking is that by calling them PRWTON, Paul is saying that the Jews' advantage and circumcision's benefit are the biggest and greatest kind of advantage and benefit you can have (one that is indisputably and self-evidently PRWTON, and in need of no further explanation): the logia of God.

Thanks,
Tom Moore
http://www.katabiblon.com
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