Rom 9:3

mikewine at juno.com mikewine at juno.com
Thu Jul 6 15:30:20 EDT 2000


Dennis,

> Just recently I went through this passage. I work part-time for the
> Lockman Foundation, and we are currently revising
> the Amplified Bible.

I hadn't heard about the Amplified Bible being revised.  Very
interesting.  Is this a very extensive revision?  Sounds like a lot of
fun....



> So, recognizing this, the action of the imperfect HUCOMHN was no
> longer valid when Paul was writing. When it was valid
> is uncertain, but it seems to me it was during the time Paul was a
> Christian and was afraid the majority of Jews who
> had rejected Christ as their saviour would be permanently lost.

It sounds as Greek grammar alone is not sufficient to decide the
issue....in this case.  Theological considerations (as always I guess)
must inform us.....

[Co-Chair's note: while it may well be true that theological considerations 
inform how one considers the legitimate alternatives for understanding the
 Greek text, we do not discuss theology on B-Greek. cwc]

> But this
> new revelation made that sacrifice unnecessary, and that is why Paul
> used the imperfect tense here ("I was wishing").

That is a very intriguing thought....


> The Aorist is not always past, so it would have been ambiguous if
> Paul had used it to mean "I wished" or "I wish". But
> the imperfect tense is not ambiguous--the time it was valid was
> expressed as being in the past. I hope this answers
> your question.


This seems to be a very good point.  Paul selected a "tense" that did
have some time value rather than the possibly ambiguous aorist. 

Thanks,
Mike Wine  mikewine at juno.com







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