From: clayton stirling bartholomew (c.s.bartholomew@worldnet.att.net)
Date: Sun Apr 19 1998 - 07:01:56 EDT
Arto Hoikkala wrote:
>
> Dear B-GREEKers,
>
> I have some problems concerning hOI EK PISTEWS in Galatians. Should I
> understand hOI EK PISTEWS in Gal 3:7,9 as A) a separate and independent
> saying having a clear message on its own (like 'those who have faith' or
> 'those who believe') or B) should I connect it with the following verb and
> related words (EISIN in verse 7 and EULOGOUNTAI in verse 9)? In verse 7
> hOUTOI seems to indicate that hOI EK PISTEWS is separate, but verse 9
> doesn't have such hOUTOI.
>
> Gal 3:7
> GINWSKETE ARA hOTI hOI EK PISTEWS hOUTOI hUIOI EISIN ABRAAM
> Know then that [only] those
> A) who have faith are sons of Abraham.
> B) who are sons because of faith are sons of Abraham.
>
> Gal 3:9
> hWSTE hOI EK PISTEWS EULOGOUNTAI SUN TWi PISTWi ABRAAM
> So that [only] those
> A) who have faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
> B) who are blessed because of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
Arto,
I read Carl's response and mulled this over for an hour trying to see if there
was anything worth adding to this.
The structure of 3:7 is slightly different than 3:9. In 3:7 the presence of
hOUTOI would lead me to break the verse just as it is punctuated in the GNT/NA
texts. So that the translation would read:
Therefore you know that those who are of faith, *these* are sons of Abraham.
The function of hOUTOI here is to draw a hard contrast between the real sons
of Abraham and those who would be sons of Abraham by works of the law. So Paul
added an explicit pointer hOUTOI to single out the group which he wanted to
place emphasis on. In reading the text out loud I would place the emphasis on
hOUTOI.
In Gal. 3:9 the verse is not divided in the same manner as Gal. 3:7. In 3:9 we
have a simple affirmation that those who are of faith are recipients of the
blessing giving to Abraham because of his faith.
The distinction in the structure is highlight by the presence and absence of
hOUTOI in the two passages. In 3:7 Paul is drawing attention to a contrast
between two groups, those who are of faith and "the others." In 3:9 this
contrast has slid into the background. It is still there but it is less
explicit.
-- Clayton Stirling Bartholomew Three Tree Point P.O. Box 255 Seahurst WA 98062
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:39:25 EDT