Greek Grammar and the Deity of Jesus Christ

baron · #1 (**permalink**) 07-14-2009, 11:49 AM

For you Greek scholars was wondering if this is true.

When two nouns in the same case are connected by the Greek word "and" and the first noun is preceded by the article "the" and the second noun is not preceded by the article, the second noun refers to the same person or thing to which the first noun refers, and is a farther description of it.

Deity of Jesus examples 2 Pet.1:1, 2:20, 3:18, Titus 2:13.

Another example in Eph.4:11 pastors and teachers refers to the same person not two distinct individuals. I have been told this can be either way that a man can be a pastor but not able to teach. Or I heard pastors say he can teach but he can't preach. But according to this greek Grammar rule they are not seperate.

Found this in Treasures from the Greek New Testament by Kenneth S. Wuest. I have been told that Wuest is not that great but he knows more Greek than I do.

Christusregnat · #2 (**permalink**) 07-14-2009, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baron

For you Greek scholars was wondering if this is true.

When two nouns in the same case are connected by the Greek word "and" and the first noun is preceded by the article "the" and the second noun is not preceded by the article, the second noun refers to the same person or thing to which the first noun refers, and is a farther description of it.

Deity of Jesus examples 2 Pet.1:1, 2:20, 3:18, Titus 2:13.

Another example in Eph.4:11 pastors and teachers refers to the same person not two distinct individuals. I have been told this can be either way that a man can be a pastor but not able to teach. Or I heard pastors say he can teach but he can't preach. But according to this greek Grammar rule they are not seperate.

Found this in Treasures from the Greek New Testament by Kenneth S. Wuest. I have been told that Wuest is not that great but he knows more Greek than I do.

John,

This is referred to as Granville Sharp's Rule. You are correct in stating that it is a very strong argument in favor of full deity.

As for the distinction between teaching and ruling elders, one may find this in other passages than just Eph. 4:11.

Cheers,

rpavich · #3 (**permalink**) 07-14-2009, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baron

For you Greek scholars was wondering if this is true.

When two nouns in the same case are connected by the Greek word "and" and the first noun is preceded by the article "the" and the second noun is not preceded by the article, the second noun refers to the same person or thing to which the first noun refers, and is a farther description of it.

Deity of Jesus examples 2 Pet.1:1, 2:20, 3:18, Titus 2:13.

Another example in Eph.4:11 pastors and teachers refers to the same person not two distinct individuals. I have been told this can be either way that a man can be a pastor but not able to teach. Or I heard pastors say he can teach but he can't preach. But according to this greek Grammar rule they are not seperate.

Found this in Treasures from the Greek New Testament by Kenneth S. Wuest. I have been told that Wuest is not that great but he knows more Greek than I do.

Hey! Something I can answer! (though I'm no Greek Scholar)

This is the Granville-Sharp construction.

You have to be VERY careful with it.

The ACTUAL RULE holds true 100% of the time as originally stated by Granville Sharp.

The actual rule is more accurately stated like this:

Quote:

When the copulative και connects two nouns of the same case, [viz. nouns (either substantive or adjective, or participles) of personal description, respecting office, dignity, affinity, or connexion, and attributes, properties, or qualities, good or ill], if the article ὁ, or any of its cases, precedes the first of the said nouns or participles, and is not repeated before the second noun or participle, the latter always relates to the same person that is expressed or described by the first noun or participle: i.e. it denotes a farther
description of the first-named person.

Daniel Wallace says this about it:

Quote:

Further Restrictions of Sharp’s First Rule
Although Sharp discusses here only personal substantives in the singular, it is not clear from this statement whether he intended to restrict his rule to such. However, a perusal of his monograph reveals that he felt the rule could be applied absolutely only to personal, singular, non-proper nouns.
In other words, in the TSKS construction, the second noun refers to the same person mentioned with the first noun when:
(1) neither is impersonal;
(2) neither is plural;
(3) neither is a proper name.

Therefore, according to Sharp, the rule applied absolutely only with personal, singular, and non-proper nouns. The significance of these requirements can hardly be overestimated, for those who have misunderstood Sharp’s principle have done so almost without exception because they were unaware of
the restrictions that Sharp set forth

Here is more info from Dr. Wallace at Bible dot org

Sharp Redivivus? - A Reexamination of the Granville Sharp le | Bible.org

Here is sharps actual book in PDF format so you can see for yourself

http://www.biblefood.com/sharp.pdf

And PS: I would agree that there are better resources than Wuest.

Jimmy the Greek · #4 (**permalink**) 07-14-2009, 03:20 PM

Dan Wallace has restated Granville Sharp's rule in order to explicitly present all the restrictions -- and to enhance the readability of the rule. His restated rule is as follows:

"In native Greek constructions (i.e., not translation Greek), when a single article modifies two substantives connected by kai (thus, article-substantive-kai-substantive), when both substantives are (1) singular (both
grammatically and semantically), (2) personal, (3) and common nouns (not proper names or ordinals), they have the same referent."

Wuest misuses Granville Sharp's Rule in applying it to Eph. 4:11 since plural substantives are involved.

See also here:
http://www.bbc.edu/journal/volume1_2...harp-baker.pdf