I took a tour of the *Great Lexicons* looking for an
instrumental use of SUN+dative. After reading BAGD four
times, I concluded that the closest that BAGD comes to
admitting an instrumental use is on page 781(3) "to denote
help." I say this is the closest, because this is not really an
instrumental use. LSJ 1690(6) lists an instrumental use
meaning *by means of*.
The scribes didn't all follow the reading you find in NA27.
Aleph* H P read EN for SUN. I don't know what this proves
other than the limitations of the apparatus in NA27 which
ignores this variant.
Putting all this information together I come up with a single
question. Is the SUN+dative in Acts 7:35 instrumental?
I would appreciate any insights you might have on this
question.
Clay Bartholomew
Three Tree Point