θεοδίδακτοι, θεόπνευστος theodidaktoi, taught by God; theopneustos, breathed or inspired by God as found in the TLNT

 

V 2, p 193  θεοδίδακτοι, θεόπνευστος

theodidaktoi, taught by God; theopneustos, breathed or inspired by God

theodidaktoi, S 2312; TDNT 3.121; EDNT 2.139; MM 286–287; L&N 33.228; BAGD 356 | theopneustos, S 2315; TDNT 6.453–455; EDNT 2.140; NIDNTT 3.689–690; MM 287; L&N 33.261; BAGD 356; ND 3.30

The theodidaktoi Thessalonians are “taught by God” to love one another (1 Thess 4:9). Theodidaktos is a NT and OT hapax. It has been pointed out by Hugo Rabe in Prolegomenon Sylloge, (Leipzig, 1931, p. 91, 14). It is also found in Barn. 21.6, important for its dependence; Athenagoras, Leg. 2.32; Theophilus, Ad Autol. 2.9; and the Greek fathers. It is formed like theo-stygēs (Rom 1:30) and theo-pneustos (2 Tim 3:16), and its elements are found together in John 6:45, which depends on Isa 54:13; Jer 31:33. St. Paul might have been thinking of these passages. Compare also Pss. Sol. 17.35 and Matt 23:8. Above all, compare 1 Cor 2:13—didaktois pneumatos.”1 G. Mussies (Dio Chrysostom, p. 202) cites Dio Chrysostom 4.41: “And again, when he (Homer) calls kings diotrepheis and diiphilous, he seems to mean something other than the sustenance that he calls divine teaching and instruction” (palin de hotan legē diotrepheis kai diiphilous, allo ti oiei legein auton ē tēn trophēn tautēn hēn ephēn theian einai didaskalian kai mathēteian).

To express the sacred nature of the Scriptures, their divine origin, and their power to sanctify believers, perhaps St. Paul coined the verbal adjective theopneustos, “breathed, inspired by God.”2 We know that in biblical   V 2, p 194  Greek pneō refers to the breath of Yahweh (Isa 11:4; Ps 147:18; 148:8); in the form of a noun in Acts 27:40 (tēi pneousēi = aurai = “to the breeze”), it expresses the action of the Holy Spirit.3 The compound theopneustos should be understood in a passive sense, as it is understood by: “divinitus inspirata” in the Vulgate; “divinitus instituta” in Codex Fuldensis; the parallel text 2 Pet 1:21—“born along by the Holy Spirit, men spoke from God” (hypo pneumatos hagiou pheromenoi elalēsan apo theou anthrōpoi);4 Ambrosiaster’s gloss, “divinitus inspirata … cujus Deus auctor ostenditur” (“whose author is shown to be God”); and almost all the Greek fathers and commentators.5   V 2, p 195  Underlying this theological conception of a sacred text is the Hellenistic concept whereby the tragic and lyric poets are considered to have written under inspiration from the gods, that they are their spokesmen, addressing their fellow citizens in the name of the divinity.6

Bibliography.—Discussions of the theology of the inspiration of Scripture are innumerable and differing in merit. Among the moderns, the following are worthy of mention: G. Courtade, in DBSup, vol. 4, pp. 482ff.; G. Perella, La nozione dell’ispirazione scritturale secondo i primitivi documenti cristiani, in Ang., 1943, pp. 32–52; P. Benoit, “L’Inspiration scripturaire,” in La Prophétie (Somme Théologique), Paris, 1947, pp. 293ff.; idem, “Note complémentaire sur l’inspiration,” in RB, 1956, pp. 416ff.; idem, Exégèse et théologie, pp. 3 ff.; idem, “Révélation et inspiration,” in RB, 1963, pp. 321–370; idem, “Inspiration de la tradition et inspiration de l’Ecriture,” in Mélanges M. D. Chenu, Paris, 1967, pp. 111–126; idem, Aspects of Biblical Inspiration, Chicago, 1965; A. Robert, A. Feuillet, Introduction à la Bible, Tournai, 1957, pp. 6–68; P. Grelot, La Bible Parole de Dieu, Paris-Tournai, 1965, pp. 33ff. A. Penna, “L’ispirazione biblica nei padri della chiesa,” in DivThom, 1967, pp. 393–408; J. Richard, “Le Processus psychologique de la révélation prophétique,” in LTP, 1967, pp. 42–75; A. Artola, “La inspiración y la inerrancia según la constitución ‘Dei Verbum,’ ” in El sacerdocio de Cristo (XXVI Semana Española de Theología), Madrid, 1969, pp. 471–495; J. T. Burtchaell, Catholic Theories of Biblical Inspiration since 1810, Cambridge, 1969; J. Beumer, L’Inspiration de la Sainte Ecriture, Paris, 1972; L. Alonso-Schoekel, La Parole inspirée, Paris, 1972; B. Vawter, Biblical Inspiration, Philadelphia, 1972; O. Loretz, Das Ende der Inspirations-Theologie: Untersuchungen zur Entwicklung der traditionellen theologischen Lehre über die Inspiration der Heiligen Schrift, Stuttgart, 1973; D. R. Jones, “The Inspiration of Scripture,” in New Testament Christianity for Africa and the World (Essays in honor of H. Sawyerr), London, 1974, pp. 8–18; P. Benoit, “Saint Thomas et l’inspiration des Ecritures,” in Tommaso d’Aquino nel suo VII Centenario, Congresso internazionale, Rome-Naples, 1974, pp. 115–131.

S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

NIDNTT Colin Brown, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, 1986.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

ND G. H. R. Horsley and Stephen Llewelyn, eds. New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity. North Ryde, N.S.W. 6 vols. 1981–.

Barn. Epistle of Barnabas

Leg. Legatio pro Christianis

Ad Autol. Ad Autolycum

Pss. Sol. Psalms of Solomon

1

 B. Rigaux, Saint Paul: Les Epîtres aux Thessaloniciens, Paris-Gembloux, 1956, p. 517. Cf. E. von Dobschütz, Die Thessalonicher-Briefe, 7 th ed., Göttingen, 1909, pp. 176ff. Moulton-Milligan cite the Homeric αὐτοδίδακτος in Cagnat (IG Rom., vol. 4, 176: εἰμὶ μὲν ἐκ Παρίου Ὄρτυξ σοφὸς αὐτοδίδακτος) and θεόγνωστος in P.Oxy. 237, col. VI, 29: ἀλλὰ σὺ ὁ κύριος τῇ θεογνώστῳ σου μνήμῃ καὶ τῇ ἀπλανήτῳ προαιρέσει ἀνενεγκὼν τὴν γραφεῖσάν σοι ὑπὸ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ ἐπιστολήν.

2

 2 Tim 3:16. The verb ἐστί should probably be restored not after γραφή but before ὠφέλιμος: “Every Scripture inspired by God is useful.…”; θεόπνευστος is attributive and not predicative, for reasons explained in C. Spicq, Epîtres Pastorales, vol. 2, pp. 794ff. Philo was the first to use the verbs ἐπιπνεῖν, καταπνεῖν (ἐπιθειάζω) for the inspiration of the Scriptures, and Josephus the substantive ἐπίπνοια (Ag. Apion 1.37), in agreement with secular usage (I.Magn. 100 a 12: the people were led by divine inspiration—θείας ἐπιπνοίας—to build a temple in honor of Artemis). The known occurrences of θεόπνευστος are all later than the first century, Ps.-Plutarch, De plac. philos. 5.2: dreams inspired by the gods; Vettius Valens 9.1: the divinely inspired element in human beings, ἔστι δέ τι καὶ θεῖον ἐν ἡμῖν θεόπνευστον δημιούργημα (cf. A. J. Festugière, Idéal religieux, p. 125); Ps.-Phocylides 129: wisdom of divine origin = λόγος τῆς θεοπνεύστου σοφίης (but this line is missing in some manuscripts); Sib. Or. 5.308, 5.406; cf. Porphyry, De antr. nymph. 10: θεόπνοος; Corp. Herm. 1.30: “So here I am, full of the divine wind of truth, θεόπνους γενόμενος τῆς ἀληθείας ἦλθον.” The word θεόπνο[υς] appears in a very mutilated oracle of Claros (cf. L. Robert, “Les Inscriptions,” in J. des Gagniers, Laodicée, p. 337). A proskynēma of the third century in honor of the sphinx, who “has a sacred face, animated by the breath of God, ἱερὸν … πρόσωπον ἔχει τὸ θεόπνουν” (SB 8550, 4: republished by E. Bernand, Inscriptions métriques, n. 130). In T. Abr. A 20, the term refers to the angels who appear to Abraham: μυρίσμασι θεοπνεύστοις.

3 

John 3:8; L. Koenen, “Johannes III, 7–10: Aus einem Minuskel-Kodex,” in ZPE, 1967, pp. 126–130; cf. D. Lys, “Rûach”: Le Souffle dans l’Ancien Testament, Paris, 1962, pp. 359ff. On the cult of the winds in pagan antiquity, cf. F. Cumont, Symbolisme funéraire, pp. 107ff.

4

 Cf. C. Spicq, Epîtres de saint Pierre, pp. 225ff. Philo called the inspired person θεοφόρητος (Heir 265; Change of Names 120, 203). The Jews “considered their laws as oracles spoken by God, θεόχρηστα λόγια” (To Gaius 210; cf. Decalogue 15; Josephus, Ag. Apion 1.37). The prophet is only a tool for utterance (διά; Matt 1:22; Luke 1:70; Acts 2:16; 3:18, 21; Heb 1:1–2) that God uses to make himself heard. Cf. J. Frey, “La Révélation d’après les conceptions juives,” in RB, 1916, p. 472; J. Bonsirven, Judaïsme palestinien, vol. 1, pp. 254f. “How do we hear the voice of the Spirit? A psalm is sung—it is the voice of the Spirit; the Gospel is read—it is the voice of the Spirit; the word of God is preached—it is the voice of the Spirit” (Augustine, Tract. 12.5 in Ev. Joh.).

5

 Didymus, Trin. 2.10; PG, vol. 39, p. 644. The grammar nevertheless allows giving θεόπνευστος an active sense: the Scripture breathes God, the gramma exhales pneuma (cf. Bengel, and the discussion by J. H. Bennetch, “II Timothy III, 16a,” in BSac, 1949, pp. 187ff.). In any event, it contains a breath (cf. St. Athanasius, Ep. Serap. 1.8; PG, vol. 26, p. 549) and, as a sacrament, communicates by means of written signs (cf. Athenagoras, Leg. 9: “The Spirit used them [the prophets] as the flutist blows through his flute”).

6

 Cf. E. Schweizer, “πνεῦμα,” in TDNT, vol. 6, p. 454, who cites J. Leipoldt, “Die Frühgeschichte der Lehre von der göttlichen Eingebung,” in ZNW, 1953, pp. 118–145; add A. Wartelle, “Poète grec et prophète d’Israël,” in BAGB, vol. 26, 1967, pp. 373ff.; P. Benoit, “Les Analogies de l’inspiration,” in Sacra Pagina, Paris-Gembloux, 1959, vol. 1, pp. 86–99. Every divine utterance has a dynamis (C. Préaux, “De la Grèce classique à l’époque hellénistique,” in ChrEg, 1967, pp. 378, 383) and is effective (M. Détienne, Les Maïtres de vérité dans la Grèce archaïque, Paris, 1967).

DBSup Dictionnaire de la Bible. Supplément. Ed. L. Pirot and A. Robert. Paris, 1926–.

Ang. Angelicum

RB Revue biblique

RB Revue biblique

DivThom Divus Thomas

LTP Laval théologique et philosophique

Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 193–195.

Shop for Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, TLNT, Ceslas Spicq Translated by James D. Ernest, (Hendrickson, 1/1/1996).

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