2 Timothy 3:6-7

Scott Lawson » June 17th, 2013, 12:50 pm

6 ἑκ τούτων γάρ ἑισιν οἰ ἐνδύνοντες εἰς τὰς οἱκίας καὶ αἱχμαλωτίζοντες γυναικάρια σεσωρευμένα ἁμαρτίαις, ἁγόμενα ἑπιθυμίαις ποικίλιαις, 7 πάντοτε μανθάνοντα καὶ μηδέποτε εἱς ἑπίγνωσιν ἁληθείᾳ ἑλθειν δυνάμενα. (My apologies…I couldn’t get the circumflex over the iota in ἑλθειν for some reason)γυναικάριον, ου τό is diminutive of γυνή with derogatory connotation, but it is neuter…does this open up its meaning to include men acting as foolish little women? The participles connected with it are also all neuter:σεσωρευμένα
ἁγόμενα
μανθάνοντα
δυνάμεναBTW, I’ve often heard the πάντοτε μανθάνοντα applied to οἰ ἐνδύνοντες εἰς τὰς οἱκίας but this hardly seems possible the way it is constructed in Greek.Stephen Carlson » June 17th, 2013, 1:38 pm

Scott Lawson wrote:γυναικάριον, ου τό is diminutive of γυνή with derogatory connotation, but it is neuter…does this open up its meaning to include men acting as foolish little women? The participles connected with it are also all neuter:

You’d have to check the usage, but there’s nothing in the mere fact that this derivational ending is obligatorially neuter in form that would lead one to that idea.

Tony Pope » June 17th, 2013, 5:18 pm

Scott Lawson wrote:Is there a way to make nouns diminutive with masculine and feminine endings?

Yes, like παιδίσκη, but neuter diminutives are surely the commonest. Smyth has examples of diminutives, §852 and following.

This article in JBL on diminutives in the NT may perhaps also be interesting. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3264595

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