[B-Greek] 1 Thess 3:2.. Was Timothy Paul’s or God’s co-worker?

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Jun 15 04:22:38 EDT 2008


Here's another of those messages that "slipped through the cracks" and  
didn't reach the list when originally submitted:

From: Noel Fitzpatrick <noel.fitzpatrick at ucd.ie>
Date: June 13, 2008 4:51:06 PM EDT
To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: 1 Thess 3:2.. Was Timothy Paul’s or God’s co-worker?


For part of 1 Thess 3:2 Daniel Wallace supports the
translation “Timothy, our … fellow worker for God”
(http://www.csntm.org/essays/1thess3.2.pdf).

However many translations give “God's fellow worker” (e.g. NAU) , or
its equivalent, for this verse.

The problem is not a textual one, as Wallace supports the Greek as in
the UBS GNT (4th Ed. Revised) – Western Text: TIMOQEON, TON ADELFON
HMWN KAI SUNERGON TOU QEOU.

Wallace observed “TOU QEOU does not have to be taken as a genitive of
association. It is quite possible that HMWN functions as possessive-
associative and QEOU functions simply as a possessive".

In GGBB (p 130) Wallace uses the translation “co-worker for God”.

Is this a case of “both/and” where both God’s and Paul’s co-worker are
acceptable translations?  Alternatively is it a case of “either/or”,
and if so which translation is preferable, bearing in mind Occam’s
razor that in this verse the simplest translation of  “SUNERGON TOU
QEOU as “God’s co-worker” is preferable?

I would welcome comments.

Noel Fitzpatrick
Dublin, Ireland.


____________________________________________________
Dr Noel J Fitzpatrick
Maurice Kennedy Research Centre
John Henry Newman Building
University College Dublin
National University of Ireland Dublin
____________________________________________________



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