A Discourse on the English Word Godhead

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1 A Discourse on the English Word Godhead simply-a-christian.com

2 Table of Contents The English Word Godhead... 3 Word Frequency... 3 The Greek Word θεῖος... 3 The Greek Word θειότης... 5 The Greek Word θεότης... 5 Lexical Analysis... 6 The Greek Word θεῖος... 6 The Greek Words θειότης and θεότης... 7 References...11

3 The English Word Godhead The English noun Godhead occurs three (3) times in three (3) verses in the King James Version translation of the Bible: 1 1. Acts 17:29 2. Rom. 1:20 3. Col. 2:9 It is translated from three (3) distinct Greek words in the Textus Receptus: 2 1. the adjective θεῖος (theios) 2. the noun θειότης (theiotēs) 3. the noun θεότης (theotēs) Greek Words Translated as Godhead in the King James Version 1, 33.3% 1, 33.3% 1, 33.3% θεῖος θειότης θεότης Word Frequency The Greek Word θεῖος The Greek word θεῖος occurs three (3) times in three (3) verses in the Textus Receptus, yet it is only translated into English as Godhead in one (1) verse in the King James Version: Acts 17: ed. 2 Robert Estienne,

4 Verse Textus Receptus (1550) King James Version (1769) Acts 17:29 2 Pet. 1:3 2 Pet. 1:4 γένος οὖν ὑπάρχοντες τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ὀφείλομεν νομίζειν χρυσῷ ἢ ἀργύρῳ ἢ λίθῳ χαράγματι τέχνης καὶ ἐνθυμήσεως ἀνθρώπου τὸ θεῖον εἶναι ὅμοιον Ὡς πάντα ἡμῖν τῆς θείας δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ τὰ πρὸς ζωὴν καὶ εὐσέβειαν δεδωρημένης διὰ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως τοῦ καλέσαντος ἡμᾶς διὰ δόξης καὶ ἀρετῆς δι ὧν τὰ μέγιστα ἡμῖν καὶ τίμια ἐπαγγέλματα δεδώρηται ἵνα διὰ τούτων γένησθε θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως ἀποφυγόντες τῆς ἐν κόσμῳ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ φθορᾶς Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Acts 17:29 in the King James Version, 1611 Edition 4

5 English Translation of the Greek Word θεῖος in the King James Version 1, 33% 2, 67% Godhead divine The Greek Word θειότης The Greek word θειότης occurs once (1) in one (1) verse in the Textus Receptus, Rom. 1:20, being translated into English as Godhead in the King James Version. Rom. 1:20 in the King James Version, 1611 Edition The Greek Word θεότης The Greek word θεότης occurs once (1) in one (1) verse in the Textus Receptus, Col. 2:9, being translated into English as Godhead in the King James Version. Col. 2:9 in the King James Version, 1611 Edition 5

6 In summary, the English noun Godhead occurse three (3) times in three (3) verses in the King James Version, being translated from three Greek words: one adjective and two nouns. The Greek Word θεῖος Lexical Analysis The Greek word θεῖος is an adjective formed by the inclusion of the diphthong ει in the noun θεός. 3 Its primary definition is divine. 4 θεός (noun) + ει = θεῖος (adjective) The same analogy may be demonstrated in the formation of the adjective ἀνθρώπειος, meaning human. 5 ἄνθρωπος (noun) + ει = ἀνθρώπειος (adjective) As an adjective, θεῖος can be declined according to gender and number. Masculine Feminine Neuter Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural Nominative θεῖος θείοι θεία θείαι θεῖον θεία Genitive θείου θείων θείας θείων θείου θείων Dative θείῳ θείοις θείᾳ θείαις θείῳ θείοις Accusative θεῖον θείους θείαν θείας θεῖον θεία Vocative θεῖον θείοι θεία θείαι θεῖον θεία 3 Epic Greek has the attested form θέειος. In Koine Greek, one ε is simply dropped, leaving the form θεῖος. 4 BDAG, p. 446; LSJ, p. 778; Thayer, p LSJ, p Interestingly, LSJ states that ἀνθρώπειος means human, opp[osite of]. θεῖος. 6

7 The Greek Words θειότης and θεότης The Greek words θειότης and θεότης both contain the suffix -της. Like the English suffix -ness, 6 the Greek suffix -της converts an adjective into an abstract noun. 7 Abstract words name ideas: beauty, inflation, management, culture, liberal. Concrete words name qualities and things we can know by our five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell: sleek, humming, rough, salty, musty. 8 For example, The horse is white, or in Greek, «ὁ ἵππος ἐστὶ λευκός». We can see that the horse is white; thus, the adjective white (λευκός) is a concrete word. We may convert the English adjective white into an abstract noun by simply adding the suffix -ness, hence whiteness. Whiteness is defined as the quality or state of being white. 9 In the sentence, The horse s whiteness exceeds that of its kin, whiteness itself cannot be discerned or known by any of the five senses. It is the quality or state of being white, and therefore, it is an abstract noun. The Greek adjective λευκός may be converted into an abstract noun by addending the suffix - της, hence λευκότης. 10 Other English and Greek words are formed based on the same analogy: English Greek Adjective Abstract Noun Adjective Abstract Noun dry dryness ξηρός ξηρότης wet wetness ὑγρός ὑγρότης fat fatness πίων πιότης thin thinness λεπτός λεπτότης However, the adjective need not be a concrete word in order for it to be converted into an abstract noun. Abstract adjectives may also be converted into abstract nouns. 6 Dictionary.com defines -ness as a native English suffix attached to adjectives and participles, forming abstract nouns denoting quality and state (and often, by extension, something exemplifying a quality or state). 7 However, not every Greek word that ends in -της is an abstract noun. 8 Fowler, p whiteness. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 10 LSJ, p

8 The Greek word θεῖος is an abstract adjective which means divine. 11 Based on the same analogy described above, θειότης may be defined as an abstract noun meaning the quality or state of being divine. But, what about the English equivalent of θειότης? In the examples above, we formed an English abstract noun by adding the suffix -ness to the root word. Yet, there is no such English word as divineness. However, another way to form an abstract noun from an adjective is to add the suffix -ity to the root word. The main suffixes that derive abstract nouns from adjectives are the native - ness and the French-derived -ity. Both are very productive in Early Modern English and have partly overlapping input ranges. Both are used to form derivatives that denote abstract states, conditions, and qualities, and this is the semantic domain that prevails with -ness The suffix -ity has a wider semantic range than -ness; in addition to the abstract notions of state, condition and quality, it is found in coinages such as capability, oddity, peculiarity, and regularity, which may have concrete denotations and appear in the plural. The suffix was adopted from late Middle English French and Latin loan words, but from the sixteenth century onwards it became synchronically associated especially with adjectives ending in - able/ible, -ic, -al, and -ar. Except for a few cases with native bases such as oddity, -ity was applied to Latinate bases 12 The English word divine is etymologically derived from the Latin word divinus; 13 hence, divine is a Latinate base. Therefore, instead of divineness which is not an actual word, the abstract noun derived from the adjective divine would be the noun divinity. Among its several definitions, divinity may be defined as the quality of being divine. 14 It is not surprising that St. Jerome translated the Greek word θειότης in Rom. 1:20 into the Latin Vulgate as divinitas, the Latin equivalent of the English word divinity One cannot know that something is divine according to one s five senses. Divine is the word s primary meaning. BDAG, p. 446: 1. pert. to that which belongs to the nature or status of deity, divine: (a) adj. divine. LSJ, p. 788: 1. of or from the gods, divine. Thayer, p. 285: divine 12 The Cambridge History of the English Language, p Dictionary.com states, ; Middle English < Latin dīvīnus, equivalent to dīv (us) god + -īnus -ine; replacing Middle English devin (e) < Old French devin < Latin, as above. divinity. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 14 Ibid. 15 Rom. 1:20 in the Latin Vulgate: invisibilia enim ipsius a creatura mundi per ea quae facta sunt intellecta conspiciuntur sempiterna quoque eius virtus et divinitas ut sint inexcusabiles 8

9 However, unlike the English words dry, wet, fat, thin, and the Greek word θεῖος, the Greek word θεός, from which θεότης is derived, is a noun, not an adjective. Therefore, it doesn t seem that we can determine its meaning using the same analogy: English adjective + suffix -ness/-ity = abstract noun Greek adjective + suffix -της = abstract noun Another analogy is based on the Greek word ἀνθρωπότης. This abstract noun 16 is formed from the Greek noun ἄνθρωπος, meaning human or man, and the suffix -της. The English equivalent of ἀνθρωπότης would be the abstract noun humanity 17 which may be defined as the quality or condition of being human. 18 We may discern an ἄνθρωπος and a human by our five senses. On the other hand, ἀνθρωπότης and humanity cannot be discerned by our five senses, and therefore, they are abstract nouns. More importantly, we find the following analogy: Concrete Noun Suffix Abstract Noun Quality or Condition of Being English Human -ity Humanity Human Greek ἄνθρωπος -της ἀνθρωπότης ἄνθρωπος Like ἄνθρωπος, the Greek word θεός is also a concrete noun. In other words, it refers to a particular person who may be discerned or known by one of the five senses (certainly θεός is not an abstract noun). Based on the same analogy formed above, we may now understand the meaning of θεότης. Concrete Noun Suffix Abstract Noun Quality or Condition of Being English God -ity Deity 19 God Greek θεός -της θεότης θεός 16 It is found in Patristic writings but not in the New Testament corpus. 17 The abstract noun humanity uses the suffix -ity rather than -ness since the English word human is a Latinate base, derived from the Latin word homo. 18 humanity. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 19 I prefer the abstract noun deity for obvious reasons, mainly that the theoretical English words godness and goddity would appear bizarre. The English word deity is derived from the Latin word deus, meaning god/god, with the removal of the case ending and the addition of the suffix -ity to convert it into an abstract noun in English. 9

10 Since neither the word godness nor the word goddity are legitimate English words, we would then use the Latinate root dei- and then append the suffix -ity (one i would drop in the process). Hence, the abstract noun deity is produced, which would be defined as the quality or condition of being God. In summary, θεότης is an abstract noun defined as deity or the quality or condition of being God, and θειότης is also an abstract noun defined as divinity or the quality or state of being divine. The Latin equivalent of the former is deitas, while the Latin equivalent of the latter is divinitas. The remaining Greek word, θεῖος, is an adjective meaning divine ; its Latin equivalent is the adjective divinus. The Greek word θεῖος is the adjective from which the abstract noun θειότης is derived. Rather than translate all three words into English as Godhead, the reader should endeavor to understand the composition of each word and its primary meaning. 10

11 References Arndt, William; Danker, Frederick William; Bauer, Walter. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, Fowler, H. Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E. The Little, Brown Handbook. 11th ed. London: Longman, Lass, Roger. The Cambridge History of the English Language. Volume III. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart; McKenzie, Roderick. 9th ed. A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, Thayer, Joseph Henry. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Being Grimm's Wilke's Clavis Novi Testamenti. New York: American Book,