Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Barry <nebarry AT verizon.net>]

On 6/19/2013 1:31 AM, Jonathan Mohler wrote:

This seems rather far afield from Biblical Hebrew, but oh well...

> What Rolf is suggesting is not speculation, it is inference.  Neither is
> it circular reasoning.  The fact that the NT mss have KS is a bonafide
> conundrum.  At least as it concerns the Gospel of Matthew, and at the
> very least the sayings of Jesus.  If there is one clear aspect of Jesus'
> teaching is that he intentionally exposed man-made traditions which were
> in direct violation of the Torah.  He taught his disciples to disregard
> them at every turn in full view of the Pharisees.  (For the moderators'
> sake: I am not making a faith statement just an argument from what is
> commonly accepted and unambiguous).  These "traditions of the fathers"
> as they were so-called were /*well-intentioned*/.  No one doubts that
> the Rabbis had the welfare of the people in mind, but their effect was
> to destroy the original intent of the Torah.  This was the central
> teaching of Jesus against these teachers.  In this light, one can't help
> but ask whether the tradition of concealing the name of God doesn't fall
> under "traditions of the fathers" that supplant the law of God, and if so

I'm sorry, but it's not a conundrum at all, and your rabbit trail on 
Jesus' teaching on tradition does nothing to explain the habits of 
scribes. You'll note that it's not just KURIOS which lends itself to a 
nomen sacrum. It's not an attempt to conceal the divine name, but an 
abbreviation which is explainable on other grounds -- see Hurtado and 
Comfort, much of whom Steven Avery has handily quoted in another post.


> This part of the argument baffles me.  The fact that the extant NT mss
> all have KS says nothing about the first century.  They just speak to
> the fact that in the second century Scribes put KS for God's name.
>   That's all.  There is no more evidence in these mss for KYRIOS than
> for YHWH or IAO.  And it doesn't matter if there is one MS or 5000 MSS.
>   Until we find MSS from the first century with KYRIOS, we cannot speak
> of the newer documents as evidence.  The scant evidence (OT Greek mss
> BCE) that Rolf has presented speaks more to the issue than the silence
> of the first century autographs.  The argument may be weak, but as an
> inductive argument, it is cogent.

Again, a nomen sacrum is a form of abbreviation. If KS or the equivalent 
is used (the second letter varies according to the case of the word), 
then it is a logical and far easier explanation that the exemplar the 
copyist used had either KS or KURIOS.

--
N.E. Barry Hofstetter
Semper melius Latine sonat
The American Academy
http://www.theamericanacademy.net
The North American Reformed Seminary
http://www.tnars.net
Bible Translation Magazine
http://www.bible-translation.net

http://my.opera.com/barryhofstetter/blog

--
N.E. Barry Hofstetter
Semper melius Latine sonat
The American Academy
http://www.theamericanacademy.net
The North American Reformed Seminary
http://www.tnars.net
Bible Translation Magazine
http://www.bible-translation.net

http://my.opera.com/barryhofstetter/blog