Galatians 2:20

Eric Weiss eweiss at gte.net
Fri Apr 2 13:39:06 EST 1999


A couple more thoughts or questions re: this verse.

What kind of "EN" are we dealing with in EN PISTEI? A skim-through (without 
a Greek concordance, unfortunately!) seems to show that when Paul means one 
lives "by" or "through" faith (i.e., instrumental), he uses EK PISTEWS or, 
less often, DIA PISTEWS. I couldn't find another EN PISTEI in my brief 
run-through (except I Timothy 1:2, which is a different usage).

Does he use EN here because he just used EN in EN SARKI, though he means an 
instrumental dative? I.e., "But [or: And] in that [or: but the life that] I 
now am living with reference to the [or: in this] flesh (i.e., dative of 
sphere or reference), I am living by [means of] faith ..."

(I take "flesh" here to have the negative connotations it has elsewhere in 
this epistle, as opposed to simply meaning "living in a body" - any 
thoughts on that?)

OR - is EN PISTEI, like EN SARKI, likewise a dative of reference or sphere, 
i.e., "But in that I now am living in this flesh, I am living in the sphere 
of faith - the Son of God's faith [who lives in me]"

I hope I'm not making a mountain out of a molehill. 

On 04/02/99, "Carlton Winbery <winberyc at popalex1.linknet.net>" wrote:
> 
> I would say that the only difference the "THi" makes is to make sure the
> reader knows that TOU hUIOU TOU QEOU modifies PISTEI, i.e. the article is
> used to show the grammatical relationship of the later phrase. It could
> have been written "...EN PISTEI TOU hUIOU TOU QEOU ZW..." and would mean
> the same thing.
> 
> The question as to whether TOU hUIOU is subjective or objective genitive
> has been debated at least twice on this list. I would tend to agree with
> those who see Paul's use in such passages as objective genitive, but the
> argumentation is mostly a question of Pauline theology.
> 
> 
> Carlton L. Winbery
> Fogleman Professor of Religion
> Louisiana College
> Pineville, LA 71359
> winberyc at popalex1.linknet.net
> winbery at andria.lacollege.edu



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