>At 1:02 PM -0500 9/5/97, A. Brent Hudson wrote:
>>List,
>>James 2.1
>>....MH EN PROSWPOLHMYIAIS EXETE THN PISTIN TOU
>>KURIOU hHMWN IHSOU XRISTOU THS DOCHS.
>>
>>Is it possible for this to mean "it is not due to partiality [that] you
>>have
>>faith ..."? In other words, is James grounding his following exhortation
>>in the belief that there is no favoritism with God?
>
>No, because this is itself a negative exhortation, or (pace Edward) better:
>a command, an imperative. Note the negative particle is MH. So it's, "Don't
>exercise with partiality your faith ..."
Carl:
But isn't is possible (not likely) that this is a question expecting a
negative response, in which case EXETE is an indicative not an imperative ?
I.e., "You didn't become a Christian because of partiality, did you ?"
(expected answer is "No!")
Certainly the editors don't think so; I also find it unlikely in light of
the following discussion in Jas 2:2ff., and the use of EXETE PISTIN
rather than PISTEUW, but it is "possible".
XAIREIN...
***********************************************************************
Dale M. Wheeler, Ph.D.
Research Professor in Biblical Languages Multnomah Bible College
8435 NE Glisan Street Portland, OR 97220
Voice: 503-251-6416 FAX:503-254-1268 E-Mail: dalemw@teleport.com
***********************************************************************