[B-Greek] 1 Timothy 4:4-5 -- syntax
David Fish
dfish at occ.edu
Sun Oct 10 22:03:06 EDT 2010
PAN KTISMA QIOU KALON KAI OUDEN APOBLHTON META EUXARISTIAS LAMBANOMENON
hAGIAZETAI GAR DIA LOGOU ktl
πᾶν κτίσμα θεοῦ καλὸν καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπόβλητον μετὰ εὐχαριστίας λαμβανόμενον· 5
ἁγιάζεται γὰρ διὰ λόγου θεοῦ καὶ ἐντεύξεως.
I take καλὸν (KALON) as a predicate adjective modifying κτίσμα (KTISMA).
In a separate clause, οὐδὲν ἀπόβλητον (OUDEN APOBLHTON) is the same. These
are cases of a predicate use of an adjective with an anarthrous noun.
Context seems to require it to be taken that way: "Every creation of God IS
good", and "Nothing IS rejected." See Daniel Wallace, *Greek Grammar Beyond
the Basics*, pp. 309-311.
When you speak of "an imperatival construct", I think you are basing that on
the fact that the ESV inserts the English words "is to be." The "is" occurs
because OUDEN APOBLHTON is taken as a predicate adjective. The "to be" is
inserted by the ESV translation committee, perhaps to make it read better in
English. There really is not imperatival construct present in the Greek.
Now, on to the conidition part: μετὰ εὐχαριστίας λαμβανόμενον (META
EUXARISTIAS LAMBANOMENON). One of uses of the adverbial (circumstantial)
participle is conditional. Any intermediate grammar will refer to a number
of nuances of the adverbial participle. Daniel Wallace (GGBB) begins his
treatment of these nuances on p. 622. Specifically, he addresses the
conditional participle on pp. 632-633. As an appendix to his book, Wallace
has a cheat sheet, with a listing of hermeneutical possibilities for Greek
constructions. Specifically, concerning verbal participles, on p. 769, he
lists:
temporal, manner, means, cause, condition, concession, purpose, result,
attendant circumstance.
Generally, when encountering a nice adverbial participle in the NT text,
I'll ask my students to run down the possibilities listed above, to see
which one appears to fit best with the meaning. In this text, the
conditional nuance works very well.
David Fish
Ozark Christian College
dfish at occ.edu
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On Sun, Oct 10, 2010 at 6:57 PM, Doug Knighton
<douglas.knighton at gmail.com>wrote:
> I am struggling with the syntax of 1 Timothy 4:4-5. The text reads: PAN
> KTISMA QIOU KALON KAI [OUDEN APOBLHTON META EUXARISTIAS LAMBANOMENON]
> hAGIAZETAI GAR DIA LOGOU ktl; in particular the portion in brackets.
>
> Most English renderings treat PAN ... KALON as a clause and OUDEN ...
> LAMBANOMENON as a separate (conditional) clause, followed by another clause
> in verse 5. E.g. the ESV: "Everything created by God is good, and nothing
> is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy
> by
> the word of God and prayer."
>
> I don't understand how an imperatival construct is justified between OUDEN
> & APOBLHTON, nor do I understand how the present participle of LAMBANW
> suggests a condtion. Maybe this is just a hermeneutical issue, but I could
> use some expertise on understanding the syntax of the sentence.
>
> For what it's worth, it seems more natural to me to hold both KALON and
> OUDEN APOBLHTON as predicate adjectives modifying KTISMA. This would mean
> that the participle (construed directly with the GAR clause) would also
> modify the head noun. So I would render the idea this way: Every creation
> of God is perfectly conceived & executed (= KALON), and nothing is thrown
> away; [each to be] received with gratitude, for it is made holy by means of
> the word of God and prayer.
>
> Doug Knighton
> ---
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