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Re: I Cor 6:20 - price vs. honor
RE: H)GORA/SQHTE GA\R TIMH=S
>Does 'agarao' with genitive (especially 'times') have to mean "with a price"?
>What >prevents this from being translated as "For you have been bought because
>of your >value;" or "For you have been bought for/out of honor"?
A couple of considerartions - the phrase `buy with a price' seems to be a
fairly stock (it occurs again at I Cor 7:23), as is the usage `genitive of
price and value'. The sense of `because of' would seem to require a
preposition such as DIA/, E(/NEKA, or KATA/ and the accusative case. `Out
of' seems to be the same as `because of'; I'm not sure what is meant by the
option `for'; do you mean `for the purpose of'?
To depart at any time from standard usage would require showing how the
usage is somehow inadequate. In what way is `buy at a price' inadequate?
The price for which one is purchased is the blood of Christ, which
certainly places on one a high value. At the same time, `because of' is
problematic in one sense. It could imply that the `value' or `honor' that
we have is somehow inherent in us and causal for God's action. Whereas, it
seems that when Paul speaks of God's redemptive action in Christ, there is
such an emphasis on grace, that he would regard all honor or value as
having its sole source in the love of God, and love alone is the cause:
Christ did not `buy us at a price' because we were valuable, we are
valuable _because_ we have been `bought at a price' an unbelievable great
price, though we were undeserving (cf. Rom. 5:6-8). If this is true, then
the sense `buy for the purpose of honor' would be compatible, though not an
accurate translation.
What do you think??
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Br. Alexis Doval, FSC
Religious Studies Department
P.O. Box 5150
St. Mary's College
Moraga, California 94575
Tel: (510)631-4091
Internet: adoval@galileo.stmarys-ca.edu
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