[B-Greek] PNEUMA hAGION as a proper name

Barry nebarry at verizon.net
Fri May 14 07:23:04 EDT 2010


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rolf Furuli" <furuli at online.no>
To: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 4:11 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] PNEUMA hAGION as a proper name


> Dear Iver,
>
> Your comments regarding the Greek article below are of course
> correct. However, this thread is not about the Greek article but
> about PNEUMA hAGION as a possible proper name. As you say, the lack
> of article in a noun phrase does not make it into a proper name. We
> would not dream of considering a noun phrase without article  a
> proper name if the context dId not clearly indicate this.

Well, that's just it, isn't it?  The Greek article does not map to English
usages, and proper names and titles will sometimes have the article where it
sounds distinctily odd in English ("The Socrates," "The Jesus...").  So the
issue here is not syntactical, but semantical and contextual.

> However, the noun phrase PNEUMA hAGION is an exceptional noun phrase,
> because it is used in an exceptional way. In Matthew 28:19 we read
> that disciples shall be baptized "in the name of the Father, the Son,
> and the Holy spirit," something which puts PNEUMA hAGION in a very
> special position. We note that ONOMA  is singular, and therefore in
> this verse does not refer to proper names, but rather to authority
> (e.g., "in the name of the law"). The Father has a proper name
> (YHWH), the Son has a proper name (Jesus), but PNEUMA hAGION does not
> have a proper name; it is only referred to by a noun phrase.

Well, that again is the crux of the issue, isn't it?  I argued elsehwere 
that the genitives following ONOMA may be read as epexegetical, and define 
what the name here is, and will not repeat that here.  But to the usage of 
the "noun phrase:" we may say, "I knight you in the name of John, the King." 
Even if ONOMA should be understood with a primary reference to "authority," 
that doesn't preclude the use of a proper name, or a mix of "titles" and 
proper names.

> On this basis it was legitimate to ask whether the lack of article
> with PNEUMA HAGION suggested that this noun phrase in itself was a
> proper name. At the outset this is possible, but because there is
> nothing in any context suggesting that, we have no reason to draw
> such a conclusion.

> On the other hand, as Middleton wrote, PNEUMA hAGION is used in
> contexts that points in a diametrically opposite direction compared
> with viewing the noun phrase as a proper name. For example, in Acts
> 2:18 PMEUMA  hAGION is treated like a liquid; parts of it being
> poured out ( EKCEW) upon individuals.   I agree with Middleton that
> this and similar uses are problematic when we consider the
> traditional view of PNEUMA  hAGION. His solution was to distinguish
> between the anarthrous use and anaphoric use that referred to
> influences and operations of PNEUMA hAGION, and to PNEUMA hAGION with
> the article-The Holy Spirit. His reason for this was of course
> doctrinal rather than linguistic.
>
> The question I have asked is whether there are some linguistic
> reasons to treat PNEUMA hAGION without the article different from
> examples with the article. I have carefully studied all the
> occurrences of PNEUMA hAGION in the NT, and I have found no
> differences between anarthrous and articular examples. The most
> promising examples of a non-anaphoric use of the article with PNEUMA
> hAGION could have been the first occurrence of the noun phrase in a
> NT book. But even here the article may be required. An example is
> Ephesians 1:13. Here we find the article, but it is required, because
> it is not any spirit that is mentioned, but "the promised" PNEUMA
> hAGION.
>
> Therefore, my conclusion is that there are no linguistic reasons to
> treat PNEUMA hAGION in any of it occurrences differently from its
> treatment in Acts 2:18, where it is treated as if it were a liquid.

Has anyone compared the uses of "Christ" and "Father" in similar contexts? 
Quite revealing, I should think.

N.E. Barry Hofstetter
Classics and Bible Instructor, TAA
http://www.theamericanacademy.net
Mentor, TNARS
http://www.tnars.net

http://my.opera.com/barryhofstetter/blog
http://mysite.verizon.net/nebarry




More information about the B-Greek mailing list