The Granville
Sharp rule is a rule of Greek Grammer used by Trinitarians to prove the
Trinity.
"The
following rule by Granville Sharp of a century back still proves to be true:
`When the copulative KAI connects two nouns of the same case, if the article HO
or any of its cases precedes the first of the said nouns or participles, and is
not repeated before the second noun or participle, the latter always relates to
the same person that is expressed or described by the first noun or participle;
i.e., it denotes a further description of the first-named person.'" (A Manual Of The Greek New Testament, Dana& Mantey, p. 147)
There are two
texts where translators use this rule the most.
I will show you both the modern ESV and the King James translations.
2 Peter 1:1
σιμων πετρος δουλος και αποστολος ιησου
χριστου τοις ισοτιμον ημιν λαχουσιν πιστιν εν δικαιοσυνη του θεου ημων και
σωτηρος ιησου χριστου
1 Simeon
Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a
faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior
Jesus Christ: ESV
1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of
Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through
the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: KJV
Titus 2:13
προσδεχομενοι την μακαριαν ελπιδα και
επιφανειαν της δοξης του μεγαλου θεου και σωτηρος ημων χριστου Ιησου
13 waiting for our blessed hope, the
appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ESV
13 Looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; KJV
The reason for the differences is directly tied to the
reason I don’t feel the Granville Sharp rule is a good defense of the
Trinity. Granville Sharp first published
this rule of grammar in 1798. It has
been used by many Trinitarians to try to prove the Trinity. Unfortunately, there is no historical
evidence that anyone, let alone the authors of the New Testament, considered
this to be a rule before Granville Sharp.
It was invented by Granville Sharp to try to prove the
Trinity. Exceptions and details were
added to the rule to make it fit the text of the New Testament. There is no evidence that it was consistently
followed by Greek texts outside the New Testament.
Also, Peter clearly differentiates Christ from God in the
very next verse.
2 Peter 1:2
χαρις υμιν και ειρηνη πληθυνθειη εν επιγνωσει
του θεου και ιησου του κυριου ημων
2 May grace and peace be multiplied
to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. ESV
And Paul also clearly differentiated the two and called
Jesus a man.
1 Timoty 2:5
εις γαρ θεος εις και
μεσιτης θεου και ανθρωπων ανθρωπος χριστος ιησους
5 For there is one God, and there is
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ESV
I don’t see how a grammar rule invented 17 centuries after
the original texts were written can possibly give an ambiguous text priority
over clear statements in the Bible.
