From: Jonathan Robie (jonathan@texcel.no)
Date: Sun Dec 21 1997 - 07:00:43 EST
At 11:25 PM 12/20/97 -0500, Theodore H. Mann wrote:
>I hesitate to bring this before the entire List, but: Is it possible
>that the lack of the definite article before hUIOS throughout this
>passage can be construed as a kind of secondary but more insidious
>temptation by Satan to get Jesus, not only to succomb to the clear and
>obvious temptations, but also to have to defend Himself (revealing pride)
>as "the" Son of God before the usurper? Or, on the other hand, does this
>only reveal my shallow understanding of Greek?
Let me give you A.T.Robertson's take on this:
The definite article means something a lot like "this" or "the", but the
lack of the definite article does not really mean "a". The article was not
even used before Homer, and only sparsely in Homer - before that, it did
not exist, and after that it was always optional. Therefore, when the
article is missing, you have to see whether there is a definite reference
or not. So I don't think that the lack of the article is a clear statement,
one that could be used to taunt in the way you suggest.
Personally, I think the use and omission of the article is one of the
harder things for English speakers to grasp, and I'm not at all certain
that I have grasped it myself. I'm working my way through this again so I
can present it more adequately in my lessons.
I'm copying this to Carl Conrad, who may choose to comment.
Jonathan
___________________________________________________________________________
Jonathan Robie jwrobie@mindspring.com
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