From: Eric Weiss (eweiss@acf.dhhs.gov)
Date: Thu Jun 13 1996 - 11:22:51 EDT
In Galatians 2:16 Paul says that "a person is not justified out of works of
law EAN MH through faith of Jesus Christ". While most translations render
this as "but" -- I guess because in most other places Paul does contrast
justification EX ERGWN NOMOU with EK PISTEWS IHSOU CHRISTOU -- I understand
the usual meaning of EAN MH to be "unless, except." Hence Paul's use here
seems to mean "a person is not justified out of works of law--unless he
[also] has faith in Jesus Christ." This seems to echo Romans 4:12: "and
father of circumcision (which could mean those who follow the Law, not just
those who are Jews by birth), to the ones not from/out-of circumcision alone
(MONON) but (ALLA) also to the ones walking in/by the footsteps/example of
the in-uncircumcision faith of our father Abraham." This seems to indicate
that there may be a place for following the Law while trusting in Jesus
Christ. Any comments or help here? I'm no Greek scholar, but the EAN MH
struck me as unusual here and overlooked by translators.
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