Cheryl Schatz

@225 gengwall,
You quoted me and said:

I think I failed to congratulate you on thinking outside the box……

hahaha. Buttering me up before you drop the hammer.

Actually I realized that I was giving special attention to the new people who were thinking outside the box and not giving the proper affirmation to you. It doesn’t matter whether I agree with what you come up with, the fact that you are continually trying to work through these matters and think outside the box is a very commendable thing. For some reason I seem to take you for granted because you have been here longer, but I don’t want to keep doing that. You are greatly appreciated and your ability to think outside the box is awesome! Keep it up.

You made a mistake here. There isn’t an “indefinite” singular. It is just singular. There is no indefinite in the Greek. And the singular can be definite without the definite article. So there isn’t such a change from singular to definite singular since both can (and I believe does) mean the same thing.

LOL – toMAtoe; tomatoe. the point is there is a shift. If you want to call it from “singular” to “definite”, that’s fine with me.

My point is that there is not a shift. A noun can be definite with or without the article. The only way that there would be a shift is if Paul meant “woman” to mean a generic woman and then later in verse 14, he switches to a definite woman. But that hasn’t been proven yet and frankly I am not convinced by your view so I don’t see this as a shift from a generic woman to a definite woman. You have to first prove that there is a shift and then I could agree with you that a second shift occurs.

Is the “correction” that Paul is giving a correction for behavior that is inhibiting the spread of the gospel, or is the correction the proper way to show their godliness through their inner character and not through expensive dresses and jewelry?

The answer to your either/or is “Yes”. The two things are intertwined.

Actually I don’t see where Paul is saying that how expensive a dress a godly woman wears is inhibiting the gospel. Perhaps you could share how you get that from the text.