From: Noam Hendren (noamh@netmedia.co.il)
Date: Tue Nov 07 1995 - 11:41:45 EST
To follow up on David Moore's reply:
The "apposition" to H EPANGELIA gives the content, the text you might say,
of the promise. What I find interesting is the use of the term KOSMOS to
refer to the inheritance. In Genesis the term Eretz is used, a term which
can refer to a specific land or to the entire earth (contrast Gen. 12:1, 5
with Creation and flood accounts). Since the promise to Abraham and his
seed focused on the land of Israel as delineated in Gen. 15, it is
significant to note Paul's word choice in this verse: GH would have been
the natural choice, one which leaves open the options inherent in eretz.
KOSMOS, on the other hand, clearly gives a universal twist to the
promise (Messianic Kingdom?, cf. Beatitudes; Heb. 2:3-5, there THN
OIKOUMENHN THN MELLOUSAN).
Since TW ABRAAM is connected to TW SPERATI AUTOU by H rather than KAI, the
singular pronoun which follows focuses on the primary object (Abraham)
without excluding "his seed" which is understood to be an heir of the
promise "in him" (cf. Gen. 13:15; 17:8, prior to Isaac's birth, where "and"
is used).
Noam Hendren (ThM. 1980, OT and Semitics, DTS)
Kfar Saba, Israel
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