How Greek Grammar Proves Jesus is God

In this article, I am examining the Granville Sharp rule and the occurrence of the rule as it shows up primarily in Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1. Titus 2:13 reads “awaiting the blessed hope and appearance of the glory of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (προσδεχόμενοι τὴν μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ). 2 Peter 1:1 reads “Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to the ones who obtained an equally worthy faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Συμεὼν Πέτρος δοῦλος καὶ ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῖς ἰσότιμον ἡμῖν λαχοῦσιν πίστιν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ). The relevant clause in Titus 2:13 reads “of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ”1 and the relevant clause in 2 Peter 1:1 is “of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” The only two differences between these two texts are the syntactical placement of the personal pronoun ἡμῶν (our) and the attributive adjective μεγάλου (great) being present in Titus 2:13 and absent in 2 Peter 1:1. This rule asserts that both the terms θεοῦ (God) and σωτῆρος (savior) refer to Jesus Christ in these two texts, thus identifying Jesus Christ as God. I will define what the Granville Sharp rule is, show various examples of the rule taking place in various texts of the New Testament, discuss the exceptions to the rule, show three early church fathers who interpret Titus 2:13 in a way consistent with Granville Sharp’s rule, and conclude with an argument from the New Testament that Jesus is being identified as the One True God in Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1.  

Granville Sharp defines his first and primary rule regarding the Greek article as such, “When the copulative και connects two nouns of the same case [viz. nouns (either substantive or adjective or participles) of personal description respecting office, dignity, affinity, or connection, and attributes, properties, or qualities, good or ill] if the article ὁ, 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.”2 Daniel Wallace notes Sharp’s restrictions for the TSKS construction that must be met in order for it to actually meet the standard of Granville Sharp’s rule, that the nouns “must be (1) personal- i.e., they must refer to a person, not a thing; (2) common epithets- i.e., not proper names; (3) in the same case; and (4) singular in number.”3. In our two chosen texts, the article is τοῦ, the first substantive is θεοῦ, then καὶ, and the second substantive is σωτῆρος with no article. Both of these texts meet the restrictions laid out by Granville Sharp; θεοῦ and σωτῆρος are descriptions of a person, they are not proper names, they are in the same case; and they are singular. Hence, both θεοῦ and σωτῆρος refer to one individual. In both texts, we have the identity of who this individual is: Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. This grammatical construction is used not just in Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1, but widely in the New Testament to refer to one person with multiple substantives in all different kinds of contexts, which demonstrates the general validity of Sharp’s rule with the further clarifications given by Dr. Wallace.   

There are, however, exceptions to Granville Sharp’s rule both inside and outside the New Testament. Although the construction is called a “rule”, I only seek to argue that this rule is a genuine method of Greek grammar where multiple substantives can be applied to one individual. However, it must be noted that not every text meeting the qualifications of Sharp’s rule does this in Greek literature. Stanley Porter writes in the Journal of Evangelical Theological Society that Sharp “specifically includes both nouns and participles in his rule.”4 This would mean there are a few exceptions in the New Testament to Sharp’s rule, with Revelation 16:15 reading “the one who watches and keeps” (ὁ γρηγορῶν καὶ τηρῶν) as generic categories of individuals rather than a true singular individual referent. More examples of this generic category being used in the New Testament which do not refer to a specific individual include Mark 16:16 (ὁ πιστεύσας καὶ βαπτισθεὶς, the one who believes and is baptized), 1 Corinthians 11:29 (ὁ γὰρ ἐσθίων καὶ πίνων, the one who eats and drinks), 1 John 2:4 (ὁ λέγων… καὶ… μὴ τηρῶν the one who says… and… does not keep), and 1 John 2:9 (ὁ λέγων… καὶ… μισῶν, the one who says… and… hates). The example from 1 Corinthians 11:29 is particularly noteworthy since, in context, “the one who eats and drinks” is explicitly identified as multiple individuals by Paul in the next sentence, “because of this many among you are sick and weak and are asleep” (1 Cor. 11:30). There is also one example of the construction in the Septuagint that meet all of the requirements of Sharp’s rule and yet the two substantives do not refer to a singular individual, such as Proverbs 24:21, which reads, “Son, fear God and the king” (φοβοῦ τὸν θεόν υἱέ καὶ βασιλέα), with “God” and “king” referring to two individuals. Stanley Porter lists more examples in Greek literature which give exceptions to Granville Sharp’s rule in Journal of Evangelical Theological Society.5. These exceptions go to show that Sharp’s rule is not a canon with universal consistency. These exceptions cause me to refrain from identifying Sharp’s construction as a “rule,” but based upon the New Testament usage of the construction, I would rather call it a grammatical method by which several substantives can be applied to one individual. This does not mean there are no exceptions; it is rare for there to be such airtight grammar rules that never allow for any exceptions to it in a language. It only demands that there is an observable, consistent, and repeatable pattern. The fact is that there are repeated usages of this construction throughout the New Testament when applying several substantives to a singular individual.  

God is often called “the God and Father (ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ) in the New Testament (1 Cor. 15:24, 2 Cor. 1:3, 11:31, Eph. 1:3, 5:20, Phil. 4:20, Col. 1:3, 1:12, 2:2, 3:17, 1 Thess. 3:11, 1 Pet. 1:3, Rev. 1:6), where both of the substantives θεὸς (God) and πατὴρ (Father) refer to a single subject. This is a Granville Sharp construction, with the article on the first substantive, God, and lacking on the second substantive, Father. This means that the Granville Sharp construction is a standard and consistent grammatical tool used by the writers of the New Testament to refer to God. The Granville Sharp construction is also used in order to describe ministers with multiple descriptions of them according to their work and worth to the ministry. In Ephesians 6:21 to describe Tychicus as “the beloved brother and faithful minister (ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἀδελφὸς καὶ πιστὸς διάκονος) and in Philippians 2:25 to describe Epaphras as “my brother and fellow worker and fellow solider” (τὸν ἀδελφὸν καὶ συνεργὸν καὶ συστρατιώτην μου). Timothy is described by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 3:2 as “our brother and fellow-worker” (τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἡμῶν καὶ συνεργὸν). Philemon in verse 2 of the epistle after his name is described as “our beloved and fellow worker” (τῷ ἀγαπητῷ καὶ συνεργῷ ἡμῶν). John describes himself in Revelation 1:9 as “your brother and partner” (ὁ ἀδελφὸς ὑμῶν καὶ συγκοινωνὸς). Jesus is also described In Mark 6:3 with the use of Granville Sharp’s rule as “the son of Mary and brother of Jacob and Joses and Judah and Simon” (ὁ υἱὸς τῆς Μαρίας καὶ ἀδελφὸς Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰωσῆτος καὶ Ἰούδα καὶ Σίμωνος), with all of these descriptions referring to Jesus and how He relates to multiple people. Jesus is also described in Hebrews 3:1 as “the apostle and high priest of our confession” (τὸν ἀπόστολον καὶ ἀρχιερέα τῆς ὁμολογίας ἡμῶν), and Hebrews again in 12:2 instructs believers to be “fixing our eyes toward the founder and perfecter of the faith, Jesus” (ἀφορῶντες εἰς τὸν τῆς πίστεως ἀρχηγὸν καὶ τελειωτὴν Ἰησοῦν). These examples illustrate for us that this grammatical tool often does describe a person with multiple substantives, and that it is used relatively frequently in the New Testament for such a purpose. Many more examples can be named,6 but we can conclude here on the enumeration of verses that use the Granville Sharp construction and turn our attention now to the primary verses of this paper, Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1.  

Regarding our main passages of this paper, I will address 2 Peter first. 2 Peter contains five Granville Sharp constructions. The first of these five is one of our two main passages, 2 Peter 1:1, which reads “Of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ). The following four are: 1:11, “ Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ), 2:20, “Of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ), 3:2, “Of the Lord and Savior” (τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος), and 3:18, “Of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ). In all these examples, the article is before the first substantive, which is “Lord” in four out of five of the examples, and “God” in the first example, and in all five, the term “Savior” is the second substantive and is anarthrous. If one wants to assert that, in 2 Peter 1:1, “God” refers to one individual and “Savior” refers to Jesus Christ as a separate individual, then grammatically speaking, one would need to question whether “Lord” in the following four examples of the Granville Sharp construction refers to one individual other than Jesus Christ, with “Savior” referring to Jesus Christ. If one wishes to take this position, then if Jesus is “Savior” in these examples, who is the Lord in these four verses for the author? We would come quickly to the position that the identity of the Lord, the κύριος in four out of the five Granville Sharp constructions, is never named by the author. Since all of these examples of Granville Sharp’s construction show up in a short epistle authored by the same individual, it would be reasonable to think the author would be consistent in the use of his grammar in communicating to his audience. Due to the consistency of the grammar in these examples and that all of the examples are in the same context with each other since they all come from the same short epistle, we ought to interpret all of them in a grammatically consistent way. When we do this, we come away with the fact that the author of 2 Peter is identifying Jesus as our God and Savior at the opening of his epistle and then as our Lord and Savior throughout the rest of his epistle. 

Regarding Titus 2:13, I do not believe the exceptions to Sharp’s rule listed above should cause us to question whether Jesus is being identified as both God and Savior in this verse. The numerous examples in the New Testament clearly using the Sharp construction to apply multiple substantives to a singular individual, and especially the construction being present in 2 Peter 1:1 with its near identical syntax with Titus 2:13, justifies the interpretation. However, this is not all. The interesting fact is often missed that Paul, in his writing of Titus 2:13-14, is drawing directly from Psalm 129 in the Septuagint (Psalm 130 in the Masoretic Text). In Titus 2:14 we have the statement that Jesus gave Himself on our behalf so that “He might redeem us from all lawlessness” (ἵνα λυτρώσηται ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀνομίας). In Psalm 129:8 (130:8 in the Masoretic Text) it is Yahweh who “will redeem Israel from all his lawlessness” (λυτρώσεται τὸν ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐκ πασῶν τῶν ἀνομιῶν αὐτοῦ), clearly identifying the saving actions of Jesus with the saving actions of Yahweh. Only Yahweh can redeem from lawlessness, and this is precisely what Jesus has done. In addition to this, before Paul’s identification of Jesus as Our God and Savior, in the same verse Paul identifies Jesus as “the blessed hope” (τὴν μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα).  This further adds clarity to the fact that Paul is directly drawing from Psalm 129 in the Septuagint in his writing of Titus 2:13; Yahweh is the object of Israel’s hope in Psalm 129. Psalm 129:6 reads “My soul hoped on the Lord (Adonai in the Masoretic text) from the watch of the morning until night. From the watch of the morning, let Israel hope on the Lord (Yahweh in the Masoretic text).” (ἤλπισεν ἡ ψυχή μου ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον ἀπὸ φυλακῆς πρωίας μέχρι νυκτός ἀπὸ φυλακῆς πρωίας ἐλπισάτω Ισραηλ ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον). With this context and background in mind, it is of no surprise that Paul would identify Jesus as our great God and Savior. Just as Yahweh, who will come and redeem His people, is the hope of Israel, so Jesus, who has come and redeemed His people, is our blessed hope. Both the grammar and background context of Titus 2:13 clearly identify Jesus Christ as our great God and Savior; further than this, Jesus is Yahweh who has come and redeemed His people.  

Moving on to how native Greek speakers and readers would understand Titus 2:137, we can examine the writings of Gregory of Nyssa, Theodoret, and John Chrysostom, three early Greek Church fathers, and see that they too, in their commentaries and exegesis of Titus 2:13, either interpret both θεοῦ (God) and σωτῆρος (Savior) as referring to Jesus Christ, or at a minimum make clear that they believe θεοῦ (God) applies to Jesus Christ in the text. I will only be examining comments made about Titus 2:13 in this section, firstly because the early fathers comment on this text much more often than 2 Peter 1:1 and, secondly, because I feel Peter’s own repeated use of the Granville Sharp construction in his short epistle is sufficient to make the point there on its own.   

Gregory of Nyssa, one of the great Cappadocian fathers of the 4th century, comments on Titus 2:13 a couple of times in his book Against Euonimus. Gregory writes in his discussion of the relationship between the two natures in Christ: 

As his thought, then, divides that which in love to man was made one, but is distinguished in idea, he uses, when he is proclaiming that nature which transcends and surpasses all intelligence, the more exalted order of names, calling Him ‘God over all,’ ‘the great God,’ ‘the power’ of God, and ‘the wisdom’ of God, and the like; but when he is alluding to all that experience of suffering which, by reason of our weakness, was necessarily assumed with our nature, he gives to the union of the Natures that name which is derived from ours, and calls Him Man…8 

Gregory cites Titus 2:13 in the second citation of Scriptures of Christ being called “the great God,” indicating that Gregory sees the substantive θεοῦ (God) as referring to Jesus Christ in Titus 2:13. Gregory writes further:  

I do not even think it necessary to bring forward in detail the utterances of Paul, since they are, as one may say, in all men’s mouths, who gives the Lord the appellation not only of ‘God,’ but of ‘great God’ and ‘God over all,’ saying to the Romans, ‘Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, Who is over all, God blessed forever,’ and writing to his disciple Titus, ‘According to the appearing of Jesus Christ the great God and our Saviour,’ and to Timothy, proclaims in plain terms, ‘God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit.’9 

By listing Titus 2:13 as an example of Jesus being called God, Gregory shows that his understanding of Titus 2:13 is such that both the terms θεοῦ (God) and σωτῆρος (Savior) in Titus 2:13 refer to Jesus Christ.  

Theodoret, another 4th century father, gives a more detailed argument and defense of the assertion that θεοῦ (God) and σωτῆρος (Savior) refer to Jesus Christ in Titus 2:13. Theodoret writes in Letter 146:  

The same teaching is given us in the Apostle’s words to the excellent Titus ‘Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.’ Here he calls the same both Saviour, and great God, and Jesus Christ (emphasis mine). And in another place he writes, ‘In the kingdom of Christ and of God.’… the above are sufficient to persuade even the most obstinate opponents not to divine the divine titles.10 

Theodoret explicitly makes the same point Granville Sharp seeks to make, although not based so much on arguments about a Greek grammatical rule, that the terms θεοῦ (God) and σωτῆρος (Savior) in Titus 2:13 have the same referent. In addition to this, Theodoret at two other places in his letters where he lists various verses that explicitly identify Jesus Christ as θεος (God)  lists Titus 2:13 among them.11 While Theodoret argues more so on theological grounds, his application of both θεοῦ (God) and σωτῆρος (Savior) to Jesus Christ in Titus 2:13 indicates to us that this was an appropriate way to read this Greek grammatical construction for a native Greek speaker.  

For our final example, John Chrysostom is another who explicitly makes the connection that both θεοῦ (God) and σωτῆρος (Savior) in Titus 2:13 apply to Jesus Christ. In his Homilies on Philippians, he writes the following: 

For He who is not of that nature is not God. For He is everywhere called great in Scripture; ‘Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised’… But the Son, he says, is little. But it is thou that sayest this, for the Scripture says the contrary: as of the Father, so it speaks of the Son; for listen to Paul, saying, ‘Looking for the blessed hope, and appearing of the glory of our great God.’ But can he have said ‘appearing’ of the Father? Nay, that he may the more convince you, he has added with reference to the appearing ‘of the great God.’ Is it then not said of the Father? By no means. For the sequel suffers it not which says ‘The appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ See, the Son is great also.12 

Chrysostom makes clear that the entire phrase τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος (The Great God and Savior) refers to the Son, and explicitly rejects the notion that τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ (The great God) refers to the Father. The point of his argument is that the Father and the Son are attributed the same terms, therefore demonstrating their equality as God within the context of the Carmen Christi of Philippians 2. The Son is termed “Great” and “God” in Titus 2:13 just as the Father is at other places in Scripture. Just as we saw previously with Theodoret, for a native Greek speaker and reader, the Granville Sharp construction suggests multiple substantives to a single individual, which in this case, “Our Great God” and “Savior” refer to Jesus Christ.  

Now that Granville Sharp’s rule has been shown to be a valid way of applying multiple substantives to one subject, and that both “God” and “Savior” are applied to Jesus in 2 Peter 1:1 and Titus 2:13, the point can be driven home from here, that when Jesus is being asserted to be θεος, He is not merely being asserted to be divine, but He is being identified as the One True God. This is clear due to the numerous statements by the New Testament authors that they believe in only One God. Jesus Himself prays to the Father, “And this is eternal life, that they might know You, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ whom You sent.” (Jn 17:3). Jesus affirms the following statement made by a scribe, “You spoke on the truth well, teacher, that there is One and there is not another except Him.” (Mk. 12:32). Jesus affirms also that there is only One God who we ought to worship, “You shall worship the Lord your God and you shall serve only Him.” (Matt. 4:10). Christ’s apostles affirm the same. In Saint Paul’s writings, he says “…we know that there is no idol in the world, and that no one is God except One. For if indeed there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is One God the Father, from whom are all things and we for Him, and One Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things and we through Him.” (1 Cor. 8:4-6), and “To the King of the ages, Incorruptible, Invisible, the Only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Tim. 1:17), and “There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 2:5) Saint Jude writes the same as Saint Paul, “To the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, strength, and power before every age and now and forever and ever. Amen.” (Jude 1:25) And Saint James writes, “there is One lawgiver and judge, who is able to save and to destroy.” (James 4:12) 

The absolute unity of God is affirmed as well by the New Testament authors. Jesus, as all good Jews, affirms the Shema, “Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord.” (Mk. 12:29) Saint Paul writes, “God is One, who will justify the circumcision from faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” (Rom. 3:30) and there is “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.“ (Eph. 4:5) Saint James also writes, “You believe that God is one; you do well.” (James 2:19)  

Taking all of these texts together, the faith of the New Testament writers is clear: there is only One God who exists, and He Himself is One in His Being. Since this is the faith of the New Testament writers, when these same New Testament writers assert that Jesus is Himself θεος (God), I can only conclude that Jesus is being identified, not merely as divine in a general sense, nor as a second distinct deity or god from the One True God, but as the One True God Himself, the God of the Shema, the King of the ages, the Incorruptible and Invisible, and the One to whom all glory, strength, might, and praise ought to be forever and ever. 

To conclude, Granville Sharp observed a grammatical method by which multiple substantives can be asserted of a singular subject. This grammatical construction takes place in Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1 to apply the terms θεος (God) and σωτηρ (Savior) to Jesus. Therefore, Jesus Christ is explicitly identified as θεος (God) in Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1 and Gregory of Nyssa, Theodoret, and John Chrysostom all agree that, at minimum, the term θεος applies to Jesus in Titus 2:13. The New Testament explains clearly that there is only One True and Wise Θεος (God) who ought to be worshipped and that there is no other Θεος (God) in existence. Therefore, when Jesus is being identified by the writers of the New Testament as θεος (God), they are identifying Jesus as the Only True God in the New Testament.  

Author: Jordon Staudenheimer, husband and biblical studies student at Concordia University Saint Paul.

Bibliography 

Gregory of Nyssa, “Against Eunomius” in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Second Series Vol. V. Edited by Philip Schaff. Translated by William Moore, M. A., Henry Austin Wilson, M. A. Grand Rapids, MI. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 

John Chrysostom, “Homilies on Philippians” in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, First Series Vol. XIII. Edited by Philip Schaff. Translated by Rev. John A. Broadus, D. D. Grand Rapids, MI. Eermans Publishing Company, 1956. 

Porter, Stanley, “Review of Granville Sharp’s Canon and Its Kin by Daniel B. Wallace,” JETS 53 (2010) 

Sharp, Granville, Remarks on the use of the definitive article in the Greek text of the New Testament, containing many new proofs of the divinity of Christ, from passages which are wrongly translated in the common English version. London, 1803. 

Theodoret, “Letters” in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Second Series Vol. III. Edited by Philip Schaff. Translated by Blomfield Jackson, M.A. Grand Rapids, MI. 1953. 

Wallace, Daniel, Granville Sharp’s Canon and its Kin: Semantics and Significance. New York, NY. Peter Lang Publishing, 2009.