From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Sat Oct 06 2001 - 17:39:01 EDT
At 12:46 PM -0700 10/6/01, c stirling bartholomew wrote:
>Eph 4:9
>
>KATEBH EIS TA KATWTERA [MERH] THS GHS
>
>Of course, tanker trucks full of ink have been spilled over the referent of
>TA KATWTERA [MERH] THS GHS, why spill more?
>
>This morning I was reading through C.E. Arnold's "Ephesians: Power and
>Magic" (Cambridge, 1989) and on pages 56-7 came across his discussion of Eph
>4:8-9. P.T. Obrien (Eph. Pillar, 1999) follows a recent trend and concludes
>that the incarnation is the best overall solution to the question of the
>referent of TA KATWTERA [MERH] THS GHS.
>
>I find this very hard to swallow. I agree with C.E. Arnold (p. 57) that
>using TA KATWTERA [MERH] THS GHS is a strange way to make reference to the
>incarnation. Very strange. If the incarnation is intended, TA KATWTERA adds
>nothing and introduces lots of confusion. Arnold's argument is founded on
>extensive evidence from the first century religious culture in Asia Minor.
>
>It would seem that church fathers had it right on this one. This is a
>description of decent into the nether world.
or at least deScent. I quite agree with you on this one, Clay. It seems to
me that for TA KATWTERA to refer to the incarnation we would have to assume
the fully-dualistic cosmological conception of the created world as a dark
prison for souls never meant to dwell there. I would think to that the
genitive qualifier THS GHS should in this instance mean that TA KATWTERA
designates a region of the earth--and ought not to be viewed appositionally
as identical with the earth.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
Most months: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad@ioa.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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