you learn something new every day
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
1 Timothy 3:2 says an overseer should be "apt to teach," right? Actually, I did some hunting and found out that this word has a different sense in most ancient contexts of which we are aware.
Didaktikon may mean teachable (valuing the receiving of instruction).
I am actually leaning toward that definition in this context because:
1. The chronologically relevant extra-biblical uses of this rare term known to date all point to the sense of "teachable," which make this choice most viable on the basis of primary evidence.
2. At least some doubt should be cast on the use of "apt to teach," which is most often chosen on the grounds of context, since use of primary sources does not comply with this meaning. 3. The other argument for the use of "apt to teach" is reputedly based on etymology, but the evidence is split on this: The suffix stressing verbal force does not increase the possibility that the sense would be "apt to teach," since both possibilities connote implicit action.
4. The close cognate didaktos (subjectively, "instructed"; objectively, "communicated by teaching") with its emphasis on receiving instruction strongly suggests that the word should be translated "teachable."
5. The emphasis of the passage is on moral qualifications, not on technical giftedness, which makes the argument for "apt to teach" even less viable in my estimation.
6. In the background to this passage, the responsibility is apparently on Timothy to instruct and direct the activities of the church at Ephesus, which would work well with the overseers having a teachable spirit under the direction of apostolic authority.
Really the only places I could compare this word were in Philo's De Praemiis et Poenis 27 and De Congressu Eruditionis Gratia 35. The other reference given in BDAG is to Philodemus Rhetoric II, which I was unable to locate easily.
I'm loath to say that the Bible versions are incorrect here (so I won't!), but this is one of those spots where the evidence seems a bit shaky. At best, I could see at 2 Timothy 2:2, of learning in order to teach those who are teachable.
Well, if nothing else, try the gloss "teachable" next time you read the passage and see how it works. Not bad, eh?
Didaktikon may mean teachable (valuing the receiving of instruction).
I am actually leaning toward that definition in this context because:
1. The chronologically relevant extra-biblical uses of this rare term known to date all point to the sense of "teachable," which make this choice most viable on the basis of primary evidence.
2. At least some doubt should be cast on the use of "apt to teach," which is most often chosen on the grounds of context, since use of primary sources does not comply with this meaning. 3. The other argument for the use of "apt to teach" is reputedly based on etymology, but the evidence is split on this: The suffix stressing verbal force does not increase the possibility that the sense would be "apt to teach," since both possibilities connote implicit action.
4. The close cognate didaktos (subjectively, "instructed"; objectively, "communicated by teaching") with its emphasis on receiving instruction strongly suggests that the word should be translated "teachable."
5. The emphasis of the passage is on moral qualifications, not on technical giftedness, which makes the argument for "apt to teach" even less viable in my estimation.
6. In the background to this passage, the responsibility is apparently on Timothy to instruct and direct the activities of the church at Ephesus, which would work well with the overseers having a teachable spirit under the direction of apostolic authority.
Really the only places I could compare this word were in Philo's De Praemiis et Poenis 27 and De Congressu Eruditionis Gratia 35. The other reference given in BDAG is to Philodemus Rhetoric II, which I was unable to locate easily.
I'm loath to say that the Bible versions are incorrect here (so I won't!), but this is one of those spots where the evidence seems a bit shaky. At best, I could see at 2 Timothy 2:2, of learning in order to teach those who are teachable.
Well, if nothing else, try the gloss "teachable" next time you read the passage and see how it works. Not bad, eh?
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