Richard Young Offers Comments on the Granville Sharp Rule

Questions about the GS rule often come my way. Here is one perspective given concerning the famed rule.

On pp. 62-64 of his linguistic and exegetical grammar, Richard A. Young has a useful discussion of the Granville Sharp rule. Concerning his much discussed rule, Sharp stated:

"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 decribed by the first noun or participle."

Of course there are possible exceptions to this rule such as plural elements, non-personal nouns and proper names.

One hotly disputed passage that involves Sharp's rule is Titus 2:13. Young comments on this passage:

"In Titus 2:13 the construction TOU MEGALOU QEOU KAI SWTHROS hHMWN (our great God and Savior) means that our savior, Jesus Christ, is God. Since both nouns refer to the same person, the pronoun 'our' modifies both nouns. To make it modify only the second tends to separate the nouns, 'the great God and our Savior"'(AV, Phillips). The NWT separates the two nouns even more, 'of the great God and of our Savior Christ Jesus.' This removes any thought of Christ being God. For other examples, see 2 Peter 1:1, 2:20 (Cf. Robertson 1977:61-68; Kuehne 1973-1974)" (Young 62-64).