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Re: OU+PAS (Romans 9:6 reconsidered)



On Mon, 2 Jun 1997, Jim Beale wrote:

> XAIRETE :-)
> 
> I've found two kinds of verses in which OU+PAS is found.  In the
> first kind, OU is construed with PAS.  In these OU negates the
> universal affirmative proposition producing a particular negative
> proposition; ~(All a is b) becomes (Some a is not b).  In the second
> kind, OU is construed with the verb, producing a universal affirmation
> (or negation depending on the way the relation is written).  Of this
> latter class are two important verses: Rom 3:20, Gal 2:16.
> 
> This means that OU, in Romans 9:6, is to be construed with PANTES
> to the effect that OU negates the universal affirmative proposition,
> "all who are of ethnic Israel are of elect Israel" to produce the
> particular negative "some who are of ethnic Israel are not of elect
> Israel."  If OU was construed with the implicit verb EISIN, then the
> result would be that no one of ethnic Israel was elect, which is
> clearly not the case.  This is what John Piper did, and I think it
> is a mistake (though he did arrive at the correct result anyway!)

Your first (and main thought?) regarding "not all A is B" implying "some A
is not B" is right on, and that is Paul's point, of course.

I question your differentiation, however, between "not all A is B" and
"all A are not B".  Concerning the latter, you conclude that no A is B.
In doing so, you are equating "All A are not B" to the conditional
thought, "A implies not B."  The problem, however, is that this does not
follow.  "All A are not B" can be interpreted to mean that some A are not
B.  The key may be the meaning of PAS hO (or, PANTES hOI).  It is every
member of the class individually that is being considered, rather than the
class as a whole.  Thus, "not every one who is from Israel is a true
Israelite" = "every one who is from Israel is not a true Israelite."  The
former, to be sure, is better, but I fail to see a necessary difference.

Paul Dixon




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