[B-Greek] Single author as "we"

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Mon Mar 5 10:58:03 EST 2007


On Mar 5, 2007, at 10:44 AM, Brion Brooks wrote:

> Kevin -- this isn't directed to you in particular. It's more of an  
> observation about this thread so far...
> -----------
> Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the initial inquiry was whether  
> there is actual proof that "we" meant "I", or whether it’s a  
> supposition that's made because, well, that's how people seemed to  
> write back then (a supposed stylistic rule, you might say).
>
> The original question was: "How can it be determined (verified)  
> that a single writer did use 'we'when he/she was the sole author?"  
> I thought it was an interesting question. Perhaps it can't be  
> answered; that's ok, too.
>
> In any event, most of what I've seen, by way of response, has been:  
> confirmation that the rule exists, affirmation that the rule is  
> well respected, notes that the rule is nuanced, etc.
>
> But what ever happened to the guy's original question (i.e., "how  
> can [the rule] be determined (verified)")?
>
> Brion Brooks
>
> (NB: this is a professional hazard of mine; us attorneys love the  
> phrase, "Mr. witness, would you please just answer the question?")

In my own response to this I cited BDF and Wallace, although I only  
quoted part of what BDF say: both of them offer instances of NT texts  
that are hard to interpret otherwise than as Epistolary plurals. I  
didn't think it was necessary to cite the full text.

>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
>> [mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Kevin
>> W. Woodruff
>> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 10:14 AM
>> To: Eddie Mishoe; Mitch Larramore; B Greek
>> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Single author as "we"
>>
>> Eddie:
>>
>> I would disagree with you on this
>>
>> It is apparent from the the immediate context that 2 Cor
>> 10:11, 13, Gal 1:8-9 and Romans 1:5 are epistolary "we's."
>>
>> Kevin
>>
>> Prof. Kevin W. Woodruff, M.Div., M.S.I.S.
>> Library Director/Reference Librarian, Assistant Professor of
>> Bible, Greek, Theological Bibliography and Research Tennessee
>> Temple University/Temple Baptist Seminary, 1815 Union Ave.
>> Chattanooga, Tennessee 37404, United States of America
>> 423/493-4252 (office) 423/698-9447 (home) 423/493-4497 (FAX)
>> Cierpke at prodigy.net http://pages.prodigy.net/cierpke/woodruff.htm
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Eddie Mishoe <edmishoe at yahoo.com>
>> To: Mitch Larramore <mitchlarramore at yahoo.com>; B Greek
>> <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
>> Sent: Monday, March 5, 2007 8:26:57 AM
>> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Single author as "we"
>>
>>
>> Mitch:
>>
>> I'm not able to assess the "ancient writings" aspect of your
>> question, and my view of the NT is not that of a scholar, but
>> I've never accepted as true the idea that Paul wrote using
>> the plural "we."
>>
>> To me, in every instance in the NT, when a plural "we"
>> is used within a letter, it always denotes a team or group.
>> Add to that the normal circumstance that within that group
>> some individual would usually wrote FOR THE GROUP.
>>
>> Note in Romans 16:22. Tertius says "I" Tertius greet you. So,
>> here, although he wrote Romans for Paul (who also has Tertius
>> write "I" for Paul), he uses himself in the first person,
>> while not doing the same for Timothy and the others in the
>> previous verse.
>>
>> One commentary I'm reading on the book of Hebrews [that uses
>> both singular and plural for the authors] suggests that
>> Barnabas and Apollos together were responsible for the book
>> of Hebrews, with Barnabas as the actual/lead writer (for both
>> of them). Hence, Barnabas will use the singular (himself
>> only) and plural (Barnabas and Apollos) within the same letter.
>>
>> To me, every "we" is a "we." And every "I" is an "I."
>>
>>
>> Eddie Mishoe
>> Pastor
>>
>>
>>
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Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/




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