“First”, “Only”, “One of a Few”, and “No One Else” 83 the deity (81), we now add ajprovsito". These predicates indicate uniqueness in very different ways: (1) a[fqarto" maximizes the essential superiority of god over mortals: god is un-originated (ajgevnhton), impassible (a[peiron), unchanging (ajnalloivwton), and without end (ajteleuvthton). (2) But predicates such as ajovrato" and ajprovsito" have to do with god’s unknowability, indicating that the most noble faculty of humans cannot approach, much less comprehend the deity. If mortals cannot obtain access to god, much less can they see or know god. (7) ÔOn ei[den oujdei;" ajnqrwvpwn. This last amplification of God’s praise reflects the negative predication of God as invisible or beyond mortal sight (82). Thus God’s “inaccessibility” (ajprovsito") and “invisibility” (ajovrato", 1 Tim 1,17; 6,16) speak to the superiority of God to humans, especially in terms of mortals’ greatest power. The rhetorical way of expressing this superiority is familiar to us in the formula “no one (oujdei;") has ever ...”. This expression praises someone because he alone achieved something, and “no one else” has or can. Thus in theory and in practice the formula “no one ...” claims praise and honor for some unique quality or achievement. The doxology in 6,16 employs the same rhetorical formula to underscore God is the uniquely superior to mortals, for not only is God inaccessible (ajprovsito"), but in fact, “no one” can see God. God, then, is unique because God is completely other. In conclusion, we have observed the traditional doxological form in 1,17 and 6,15-16. Although we have researched the background of names, titles and predicates ascribed to God as have commentators, our investigation did not merely present parallels, but tried to assess their meanings in terms of the rhetorical principle of uniqueness. This focus, then, highlights fresh aspects of the terminology in the doxology. First, we find two of the rhetorical tags for uniqueness in evidence: the term “only” or “alone” (movno") qualifying God and his attributes, and “no one” (oujdeiv") who is able to see the invisible God. Since the doxologies are monotheistic, it is not surprising that other tags of uniqueness are absent. For, if God is the “only” deity, then it makes no sense to claim that God is “first” or “most” (in comparison with other gods) or “one of a few”. In addition to the rhetoric of (81) See H.A. WOLFSON, “The Knowability and Describability of God in Plato and Aristotle”, HSCP (1947) 233-247. (82) See YOUNG, “God of the Greeks”, 50-54.