[B-Greek] Romans 3:1-2

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Mon Sep 21 16:25:48 EDT 2009


On Sep 21, 2009, at 3:56 PM, Tom Moore wrote:

> 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]

Whew! I'm mentally exhausted after a first reading of the post. Now at  
second reading it's beginning to come into focus.

> 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?

(1) The gender and number of  TI and TIS in 3:1 shows that they must  
construe with TO PERISSON and hH WFELIA. But the substantival  
expression must be the subject while the TI and TIS are predicates --  
interrogative words typically placed first. I think that the fact that  
these rhetorical questions are answered with adverbs indicates that we  
should see the focus of the rhetorical questions correspondingly:

Is there anything special about a Jew? Yes, quite a bit.
Are the circumcised better off? Absolutely; in the first place ...

> 	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.

No, PRWTON is strictly adverbial, meaning "in the first place" or "to  
begin wit... h" or "for staraters ..." or "(1) ... " In a sequence of  
points like this you generally get PRWTON MEN ... EPEITA DE ... EITA  
DE or something like that.


Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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