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11-02-2011, 09:35 PM
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The phenomenon of ἐν κυρίῳ “in [the] Lord” in the Letters of Paul:
The phenomenon of ἐν κυρίῳ “in [the] Lord” in the Letters of Paul:
While butting heads with Spin in another thread about non-titular use of the Greek word "kurios", I did my own research. While looking for possible instances of "non-titular" kurios, I found out that the letters of Paul have numerous cases of the Greek phrase "ἐν κυρίῳ". In the RSV, the phrase is universally translated "in the Lord", which makes it seem to be a reference to the title "Lord" associated with Jesus Christ. But is this really the case?
They are most all associated with household talk. I've bracketed the word "the" that translators felt just had to be part of a phrase that does not contain (hold your breath) a definite article. In the rest of the NT, this phrase does not show up at all in the gospels, but once in the Book of Revelation:
It's definitely characteristic of Paul. Among the Apostolic Fathers, possibly influenced by Paul, we find:
However, it does show up in the Greek LXX translation of Jewish scripture:
I include the RSV in the table because I don't read Hebrew and that translation does translate the divine name (YHWH) in Jewish scripture by a capitalized "LORD". In other words, "ἐν κυρίῳ θεῷ" means "in LORD God" (usually followed by a word corresponding to "of us, of him, of you, etc"). This strongly suggests that the Pauline phrase is a shortened form of "ἐν κυρίῳ θεῷ" and serves as a circumlocution for God's name, and thus non-titular. DCH |
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11-03-2011, 03:28 AM
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#2 | |
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distinction between Yahweh and his offspring
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Your excellent accomplishment here serves as reminder to all of us, that a bit of effort, combined with a systematic, methodical approach, can yield significant results. I have not done the work, and have not approached the problem systematically. I have engaged in a helter-skelter, half-hearted, imprecise assessment of the situation, not unlike the forward progress of a one-armed man rowing a boat. My two questions therefore, should be appropriately discounted, or ignored altogether, as you please. a. Romans 14:14 BGT (Nestle-Aland) ......... ἐν κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Codex Sinaiticus ...............εν κω ιυ Is it possible, observing this tendency to employ shorthand/abbreviations, that certain conventions were followed, and those who understood the unwritten conventions, could both read, speak and explain the proper text, given only the shorthand? Could omission of θεοῦ, have been fully understood, by context alone, to indicate the proper interpretation of κυρίῳ ? b. looking at 1 Corinthians 1: Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ Codex Sinaiticus: ιυ χυ δια θε ληματοϲ θυ (Henceforth, I intend to write iX, to designate this abbreviation for iesou christou) Ignoring the aforementioned issue of abbreviation, seen again in this passage, how is your argument affected, if at all, given Paul's explicit reference to θεοῦ, (without mention of κυρίῳ, to designate either Jesus or Yahweh.) Is it not also reasonable to argue that Paul inserted θεοῦ, when he meant θεοῦ, else he meant iX, when writing κυρίῳ 
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11-03-2011, 04:51 AM
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Sometimes that is all we can do as a "well read" amateur, until something prompts us to do some in-depth research (if we can call it that). I just like to check out the claims of others, including those of professional critics, rather than accept them for theory building without verifying them by some sort of examination. Quote:
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I won't get into this too much right now (have to start working at 8:00 am), but many of these latter cases appear to me to have been manipulated to make a reference to God (substituting the circumlocution "Kurios" for his divine name) become a reference to the title of Lord Jesus. This phenomenon is most striking in the cases of the greetings and blessings. Until later ... DCH :thinking: |
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11-03-2011, 08:02 AM
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I really think it is the case in many instances. Paul really does sometimes reference Christ by anarthous Lord, and in most cases εν κυριω appears to be just a variation of εν χριστω with the same effect. Compare e.g. Rom 16:2 that you may receive her in [the] Lord as befits the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a helper of many and of myself as well. Rom 16:8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in [the] Lord. 1 Cori 16:19 The churches of Asia send greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in [the] Lord with Rom 16:3 Greet Prisca and Aq'uila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus Rom 16:7 Greet Androni'cus and Ju'nias, ....they were in Christ before me or 1 Cor 9:1 Are not you my workmanship in [the] Lord? with Rom 16:9 Greet Urba'nus, our fellow worker in Christ... or 1 Cr 4:17 Therefore I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in [the] Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. with 1 Cr 4:17 Therefore I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in [the] Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. In the last example, you can switch the references between Paul and Timothy and what do you get ? If the sentence in the verse went like this instead: Διὰ τοῦτο ἔπεμψα ὑμῖν Τιμόθεον, ὅς ἐστίν μου τέκνον ἀγαπητὸν καὶ πιστὸν ἐν Χριστῷ [Ἰησοῦ], ὃς ὑμᾶς ἀναμνήσει τὰς ὁδούς μου τὰς ἐν κυρίῳ, καθὼς πανταχοῦ ἐν πάσῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ διδάσκω.... would that sentence have a different meaning ? If so, how ? If not, I have made my case. Best, Jiri |
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11-04-2011, 12:27 PM
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There is no reason to assume for some reason that when Paul uses phrases such as "in the lord" and "in christ" in similar ways that they must have the same reference. Jesus as god's agent on earth will receive similar means of address and accolades and therefore similar types of statements will be used about them. You hear about "the love of god" (Rom 8:39) and "the love of christ" (Rom 8:35). No-one would claim that they deal with the same subject You also hear that one can boast in god and one can boast in Jesus.
Romans 5:11 But more than that, we even boast in God (εν τω θεω) through our Lord Jesus Christ...The expressions may be interchangeable, but the subjects are different, one is boasting in god, the other in Jesus. If god is referred to with the non-titular κυριος (and there are instances where Paul certainly refers to god thus), then there is nothing strange in seeing similar phrases for the lord as we find for christ. We see Paul switching from god to Jesus here regarding boasting. So, when Paul says, 1 Corinthians 1:31 in order that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."is it boasting in god or boasting in Jesus? If Paul uses the non-titular κυριος for both god and Jesus, there is no way to answer this--unless of course you assume a priori that, say, in phrases starting with the preposition εν he is referring to Jesus. Paul writing to the Thessalonians can say, 1:1 To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (εν τω θεω πατρι και κυριω ιησου χριστω)The church at Thessalonika is in both god and Jesus. As the Hebrew god is referred to in Greek both by the non-titular κυριος and θεος, one would expect that Paul, who inherited the Greek Jewish language customs, would do the same and use κυριος in similar phrases to those used about Jesus. |
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11-04-2011, 08:50 PM
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Then there is "in the Lord" (ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ)
Then there is "in the Lord" (ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ)
Are there cases, I asked myself, where the phrase really is "in the Lord"? The answer ... not too many:
Yep, that's it! I do note that this is clearly a reference to the Lord Jesus (remember my silly "handy dandy rule" which posits that most all cases of "the lord" - ie with the definite article - refer to Jesus/Christ). Here of course we are dealing with "in the Lord" as an analogue to "in Lord" = "in YHWH", but the rule still holds true. That being said, the phrase "ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ" does occur in Jewish sacred writings:
God talk is underlined for fun. Note that in 2 Samuel 18:28, "ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ μου" refers to not YHWH but to king David. Also, in psalm 73:28, "τῷ κυρίῳ" is a title for God, not a circumlocution for YHWH. In the remaining cases, "ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ" clearly is used as a circumlocution for YHWH. I also was drawn to the phrase "in God my saviour" in Habakkuk 3:18 very interesting. Here the phrase, "in the Lord", which clearly refers to YHWH, is equated with "in God ( בֵּאלֹהֵ֥י) my saviour". It is interesting to me that Christians later identified Jesus Christ as their Savior. DCH |
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11-05-2011, 05:34 AM
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LXA - The Seputagint with Apocrypha, by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton, Samuel Bagster & Sons, London, 1851.
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11-05-2011, 08:42 AM
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אדני יהוהand τω κυριω replaces both, adonai YHWH. There is no way for Brenton to know that τω κυριω is merely a title. Quote:
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11-05-2011, 11:27 AM
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11-05-2011, 11:34 AM
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