In Ephesians 1:18-19, Paul says that he prays that they might know:
1:18 - TIS ESTIN hH ELPIS THS KLHSEWS AUTOU
TIS hO PLOUTOS THS DOXHS THS KLHRONOMIAS AUTOU EN TOIS hAGIOIS
1:19 - KAI TI TO hUPERBALLON MEGEQOS THS DUNAMEWS AUTOU EIS
hHMAS TOUS PISTEUONTAS
Examining these phrases, a basically literal translation would be: "what
is the hope of his calling, what [is] the wealth of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints, and what [is] the surpassing greatness of his
power to us who believe." I.e. that basically Paul is praying that they
would know what these things are.
My questions/thoughts:
1) Though the 2nd and 3rd TIS/TI lack ESTIN, is it logical to consider
all three consecutive TIS/TI clauses as similar constructions, and hence
the interpretation/translation of TIS/TI should be similar in all three
clauses?
BAGD gives the definition of "what sort of a thing" to TIS/TI in
Ephesians 1:19 (no mention is made of 1:18), so that a translation might
be (if the same definition is used in 1:18 as well): "what sort of hope
he calls you to, what kind of riches is the glory of his inheritance in
the saints, and what sort of great power he has toward us who believe."
Looking first at the 2nd and 3rd TIS/TI, I wonder if Paul is not just
interested that they know WHAT these things are (i.e., the traditional
interpretation of TIS/TI as "what or who") or WHAT SORT of things these
things are (i.e., what sort of wealth God has for them, and what kind of
great power God has toward the believer - the BAGD definition). Perhaps
Paul wants them to know HOW truly RICH is the glory of God's inheritance
in the saints, and HOW truly GREAT is God's power to the believer. In
other words, a translation along the lines of: "how gloriously rich is
his inheritance in the saints, and how great is his power to us who
believe."
2) So my next question is: Does TIS ESTIN hO (in its masc., fem. and
neut. forms - since we have all three in the clauses under
consideration) permit such a definition (i.e., idiomatically meaning
"how much")?
If 1) and 2) are affirmative, then my inference would be that 1:18a
could be translated along the lines of: "how hopeful/assured they can be
regarding his calling" - i.e., he prays that they might know that they
can really put their hope in God's calling of them or what God calls
them to. Not, as usually translated, that they would know "what" that
hope is, nor (per BAGD) "what sort" of hope they've been called to, but
rather that they might know how good that hope is - that it's a sure
hope, something they can fully trust in, just like his inheritance is a
really RICH one, and his power toward them is truly GREAT.
So, can TIS/TI function lexically or semantically as I've posited? Eph.
4:4 (KAQWS KAI EKLHQHTE EN MIA ELPIDI THS KLHSEWS UMWN) might
argue against what I propose by possibly implying that all Paul wants
them to know in 1:18 is what that hope is. But it's not quite the same
phrase, and the context is different, too.
-- "Eric S. (and Karol-Ann) Weiss" part-time grad student at The Criswell College http://home1.gte.net/eweiss/index.htm "Send those testimonies!" eweiss@gte.net