[B-Greek] TINAS in 2 Pet. 3:9
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Sat Jan 29 16:31:00 EST 2011
On Jan 29, 2011, at 4:07 PM, Oun Kwon wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 3:53 PM, Rod Rogers <rngrogers at embarqmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I'll reply to this post hoping that all will see me replying to both Carl's
>> and Alastair's posts. Alistair, thanks for the link to the Google book, I'll
>> look into it. I can't deny that my palms get sweaty went Carl and I go head
>> to head. I'm sure all of us on the list have no problem giving Carl his due.
>> That said, I have a couple of comments. First, I don't know who agrees with
>> whom. Carl said, "but the question whether that is to be understood in this
>> text is one that I don't think can be answered." which is what I tried to
>> convey at the beginning of my first post, "Although it may not be proven
>> grammatically I think there is a logical antecedent to TINES". I was trying
>> to convey the idea that this verse is one historically problematic to
>> theologians. I'm not demanding anything in this verse. Sorry if it came
>> across that way.
>>
> <clipped>
>
> It seems to me that all these have to do with 'grammatical
> antecedent' vs 'logical antecedent'. In the case of 'logical', it may
> be better to say 'logical referent' to avoid confusion.
OK, so the "scoffers" should be termed the 'logical referent."
Si non è vero, è ben trovato! It would surely be churlish of me to
deny that Rod and I see pretty much eye to eye on what the author
is trying to communicate: he wants to counteract as vigorously as he
can any assertions that God is being "inconsiderately slow" in His
timing. And yes, this verse is indeed one that has been historically
problematic. I noted earlier that TINES might be used rhetorically
and that may well be the case here. I'm reminded of a celebraated
line in Quintilian about the Latin elegists. After noting that Propertius
is undoubtedly the best of them, he writes, "Sunt qui malint Tibullum." --
"Some people prefer Tibullus" -- implying that such people are idiots.
I've always been amused at this because I enjoy reading Tibullus more
than Propertius myself.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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