Phillipians 2:1 PNEUMATOS - Big S or little S?

MarkBrown0 at aol.com MarkBrown0 at aol.com
Mon Sep 28 17:56:15 EDT 1998


In a message dated 9/27/1998 11:35:15 PM Central Daylight Time,
tduke at westpac.com.au writes:

> Am I correct in thinking that the phrase:
>  "EI TIS KOINWNIA PNEUMATOS"
>  could be translated
>      1)    "if any fellowship of spirit" (ie our own spirits)
>  OR 2) "if any fellowship (with each other) that derives from the (holy)
>  Spirit"
>  OR 3)  "if any fellowship with the (Holy) Spirit"
>  
>  Is it more likely, given that PNEUMATOS is antharous, that the first
>  option is correct?  Would the presence of the article still leave us
>  uncertain between option (2) and option (3)?
>  
>  Tim Duke
>  Sydney
>  

Let's take another look at choice #1 above: "if any fellowship of spirit" (ie
our own spirits)"  If we want to translate this "if any fellowship of our own
spirits"
, then I would expect PNEUMATOS to be plural, not singular.  I'm not sure
about choosing between #2 and #3.  On the balance, I think Paul's general use
of koinwnia implies a fellowship between believers, but whether that holds
true in this particular case, I'm not sure.

- Mark -



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