Junia, the apostle: Part 10

I was very surprised to see that the quote which I discussed yesterday, "a mark among the nations" had found its way into the NET Bible notes. There is no reason why the editors of the NET could not check the complete reference and context of this quote, since it is from the Septuagint, not from some arcane and hitherto unknown work.

Tonight I am going to look at another example from Wallace and Burer's article. They write,

The inscriptions can likewise be examined quickly. An idiom noticed in several inscriptions is even more relevant. In TAM 2.905.1 west wall. coll. 2.5.18 we read the description of a man who is “not only foremost in his own country, but also well known to the outside population” (οὐ μόνον ἐ]ν̣ τ̣ῇ [π]α̣τρίδι πρώτου, ἀλ̣λὰ [καὶ ἐν τῷ ἔθ]νει ἐπισή̣μου ). 54 Here the person who is ἐπισή̣μου is called such only in relation to outsiders (πρώτου is used in relation to his own countrymen). It is not insignificant that en plus the dative personal noun is used: the man is well known to a group of which he is not a member.


54 ἔθνει here evidently refers to outsiders—that is, a group to which this man does not belong. This is evident from the strong contrast between the two phrases (οὐ μόνον. . . ἀλ̣λὰ καὶ,), with the man’s fame receiving the laudatory note with the ascensive καὶ, hinting that such a commendation is coming.

Wallace and Burer have furnished their own translation for this example along with their own definitions for words, and they did so without the benefit of a lexicon. Going to the BAGD, I was able to make a literal translation of this line, using actual entries from the lexicon, and not inventing any additional terms. Here it is,

Καλ[λιάδου οὐ μόνον ἐ]ν̣ τ̣ῇ [π]α̣τρίδι πρώτου, ἀλ̣λὰ [καὶ ἐν τῷ ἔθ]νει ἐπισή̣μου καὶ διαπρεποῦς TAM II:905, 2:15

Not only first in his own part of the country (in his own native city), but also outstanding and eminent in the nation.

This translation accounts for the use of 'not only... but also' very nicely AND depends on a lexicon. Wallace and Burer's translation depends on making ethnos mean 'the outside population.' This new meaning is 'evident' to Wallace and Burer, possible by special revelation. Actually a brief glance at the epigraphy in question allowed me to identify the nation as Lycia only 5 lines lower down - ἐν δὲ τῷ Λυκίων ἔθνει. (Um. I am actaully in the Lycian epigraphy database. The country is Lycia, I guess this fellow was prominent in his own country, not the outside population.)

In fact, when I got to the TAM database and started reading, I was overwhelmed at how many expressions were formed by using an adjective and en + dative. Here is another,

φ[ιλοτειμίαις ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι κα]ὶ ἐν τ[ῷ ἔθνει]

At this point I realize fully that Wallace and Burer did not read this epigraphy themselves. Are they justified in concluding,

episemos followed by en plus personal datives does not connote membership within the group, but simply that one is known by the group. Thus, the inscriptions, like biblical and patristic Greek, supply a uniform picture of episemos with personal nouns: when followed by en, the well-known individual is outside the group.

I would welcome it if others would just jump in and read this epigraphy with me. What am I missing?

The Packard Humanities Institute TAM II 905

Index to the Junia Series.