Eph 4:9 TA KATWTERA
Steven Lo Vullo
themelios at earthlink.net
Sat Oct 6 20:32:35 EDT 2001
on 10/6/01 6:40 PM, Ben Crick at ben.crick at argonet.co.uk wrote:
> ISTM that there is a parallel in Psalm 139:15 (138:15 LXX)
> OUK EKRUBH TO OSTOUN MOU APO SOU,
> *hO EPOIHSAS EN KRUFHi, KAI hH hUPOSTASIS MOU EN TOIS KATWTATW THS GHS*.
> Here the reference is clearly to gestation in the womb: the indispensible
> concomitant of Incarnation.
>
> So although Psalm 63:9 (62:9 LXX) has EISELEUSONTAI EIS TA KATWTATA THS GHS
> which can only refer to Sheol/Hades, this does not exhaust the possibilities
> for TA KATWTERA [MERH] THS GHS in Ephesians 4:9. If Christ's Ascension was
> from earth to heaven (from the Mount of Olives), then his Descent would
> logically be from heaven to earth (to Bethlehem), not from earth to Hades
> (at Calvary).
I think there is another possibility here. It seems to me that in Ephesians
Christ's resurrection-ascension is viewed as one complex event. I think this
is illustrated in Eph 1.20-22 (cf. 2.5-6). So I think it possible that the
forms of ANABAINW in 4.8-10 may be shorthand for Christ's
resurrection-ascension. In this case, the forms of KATABAINW in 4.9-10, by
way of contrast, could be shorthand for Christ's death-burial. The contrast
between dying and descending (into the ground in burial) and living and
ascending seems appropriate for this letter. Just a suggestion.
--
Steven Lo Vullo
Madison, WI
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