In my fourth publication update letter dated March 9, 2014, there is another exception to Sharp's rule, to the Sharper rule, and a further example of the Sharpest rule from the writings of Josephus, from his Jewish Antiquities 2.117. Also, there is a revised, shortened form of the Sharpest rule presented in light of this exception and based my present draft of the "Sharpest Rule," which is pending publication.
The revised form of the Sharpest rule is as follows:
When reading or when translating ancient Greek, if the Greek
understanding is expressed with two or more substantives (= nouns, pronouns, or
other terms used as nouns), if they are separated by the conjunction kai (“and”), and if only the first substantive
has the article and all substantives connected by kai are in grammatical agreement with the first term, whether they
are common, personal substantives or even if they are proper substantives or terms
with fixed significance for one or more well-known persons, the
reader/translator must first determine the significance of the involved
substantives rather than use syntax alone to determine to how many subjects the
substantives apply.
As I write in my March 9, 2014, update letter, Jah willing I will be able to
publish my book on this subject in the near future. If not, then I am confident the Sharpest rule and many examples which show its importance in
use over and against Sharp’s rule and even the Sharper rule are already apparent
from my update letters to this point, as well as from my other writings on this subject.
For more on these update letters and my other writings on Sharp's rule, the Sharper rule, and the Sharpest rule, see the Elihu Books Topical Index under "S."
