Gal. 3:28

Edgar Foster questioning1 at yahoo.com
Fri Aug 14 13:19:41 EDT 1998


---"Phillip J. Long"  wrote:

> On Thu, 13 Aug 1998 17:56:44 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:

> >Is there any significance in the clause OUK ENI ARSEN KAI QHLU
(Gal. 3:28)? Does this clause differ markedly in meaning from the two
previous couplets in 3:28?< <

> I would not think so, I thought that the reason he shifted from OUDE
to KAI was the influence of Gen 1:27 (which connects male and female
with KAI.)   I wonder why he chose those two words for male and female
(as opposed to anqropos kai gunh, etc.)  I have read that some take
this as an allusion to a common saying among Jewish men, "I thank God
that I was not born a Gentile, Slave or Woman."  (That's off the top
of my head, I don't have a source handy!"<
 

> >In Bruce's Gk Text Commentary from Eerdmans he states that there is
a slight change in form without change in meaning.< <

Dear Phillip,

I greatly appreciate your suggestions. In response to your queries,
here are some things I have found:

(1) BAGD says that ARSEN is used to strongly emphasize the sex of the
referent (Rom. 1:27). This could be a possibility in Gal. 3:28. Also,
the LXX has ARSEN KAI QHLU EPOIHHSEN AUTOUS, so there may be no
signficiance as regards the change in Gal. 3:28. Plato, Aristotle,
Philo and Josephus also have a similar construction in their writings.

(2) Timothy George says that there is significance in the change to
KAI. Evidently Paul is extracting his phraseology from Gen. 1:27
(LXX); he could be saying that the relationship between male and
female differs from that of the first two binary oppositions. Man and
woman need each other in a way that Jew and Greek (or master and
slave) do not.

(3) Conversely, Longenecker writes that the change in 3:28 implies no
real change in meaning. Based on the LXX and the Classics, he could
have a point.

Thanks,

Edgar Foster

Classics Major

Lenoir-Rhyne College



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