[b-greek] RE: 1 Timothy 4:10

From: Glenn Blank (glennblank@earthlink.net)
Date: Mon Mar 11 2002 - 02:46:08 EST




>on 3/10/02 8:24 AM, Iver Larsen at iver_larsen@sil.org wrote:
>
>>>
>>> Steven: You seem to be saying that MALISTA qualifies PISTWN, and PISTWN
>> are
>>> MALISTA, in contrast to PANTWN ANQRWPWN, who are not MALISTA. The fact
is
>>> that MALISTA does not qualify PISTWN. It complements implied ESTIN, and
>>> indicates that God is in a special way Savior of believers, not that
>>> believers are special vis a vis unbelievers! MALISTA, as an
>>> adverb, modifies or complements verbs, not substantives.
>>
>> The text was hOS ESTIN SWTHR PANTWN ANQRWPWN MALISTA PISTWN
>>
>> If we want to fill out the ellipsis in the second part from the first, we
>> would get something like hOS/QEOS ESTIN MALISTA SWTHR PISTWN.
>>
>> It is matter of interpretation whether MALISTA qualifies ESTIN or the
>> implied event in SWTHR or even PISTWN. Although grammatically speaking
>> adverbs do not modify substantives, I believe they can modify the event
>> implied in a substantive. This may not be standard Greek grammar, but it
>> makes good sense to me.
>>
>> If we take the suggestion that an adverb in English is positioned before
the
>> word it modifies, should we translate it
>> 1) "God is the savior of all people, and he especially is the savior of
>> believers" or
>> 2) "God is the savior of all people, and he is especially the savior of
>> believers" or
>> 3) "God is the savior of all people, and he is the savior of especially
the
>> believers"?

Steven Lo Vullo <slovullo@mac.com>
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 00:11:40 -0600 answered

>My practice in regard to treating adverbs is that, if it makes good sense
to
>construe it with a verb (either explicit or clearly implied), and if there
>is not another adverb or an adjective with which to construe the adverb
that
>makes more sense than construing it with the verb, I will default to the
>verb, unless there is a compelling reason for not doing so.

Is MALISTA an adverb? or is it more properly a specifier? Traditionally,
they are both called "adverbs," but they really do behave differently:
Adverbs modify verbs and adjectives (and not generally copulas), while
specifiers modify substantives. In English, "especially" and "only" are
specifiers while "slowly" and "carefully" are adverbs.

Therefore, in
"Only the men moved" "only" modifies "the men," whereas in
"Slowly, the men moved" "slowly modifies "went."

Cf,
"The men moved slowly," but not
*The men moved only.

ITSM that MALISTA is more akin to the English specifier than adverb. Is
such a distinction valid in NTG? If so, it would vastly simplify the
complexities encountered above, and lend itself in a straightforward way
Iver's sense 3) above, since as a specifier it would modify the following
substantive.

Just a thought.

glenn blank
Pensacola FL

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