The structures of Gal 2:4 and 2:6
moon-ryul jung
moon at mail.sogang.ac.kr
Tue Apr 23 03:10:01 EDT 2002
Dear Iver,
perfect analysis. It makes sense at last.
Thanks
Moon
Moon-Ryul Jung
Sogang Univ, Seoul, Korea
Serve God and Be Cheerful.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Iver Larsen" <iver_larsen at sil.org>
To: "Biblical Greek" <b-greek at franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 3:38 PM
Subject: [b-greek] RE: The structures of Gal 2:4 and 2:6
> > Gal 2:4-5 reads:
> >
> > 4 DIA DE TOUS PAREISAKTOUS YEUDADELFOUS hOITINES PAREISHLQON
> > KATASKOPHSAI THN ELEUQERIAN hHMWN [...]
> > 5 hOIS OUDE PROS hWRAN EIXAMEN THi hUTOTAGHi hINA hH ALHQEIA TOU
> > EUAGGELIOU DIAMEINHi PROS hUMAS.
> >
> > An English translation takes it as follows:
> >
> > (It is ) because of the false brothers who ...., to whom we did not...
> >
> > But it is not clear what would be referred to by "it". Verse 3 simply
> > says that Titus was not compelled to get circumcised. What would be
> > the reference of this implicit pronoun "it"? From the viewpoint of
> > verse 4, the reference would be the situation where the issue of
> > circumcision of the Gentile believers occurred. But verse 3 seems to say
> > that Titus was not compelled by the three apostles, whom Paul met
> > privately, to be circumcised. Therefore, it is difficult to infer
> > the situation which can be the referent of the implicit "it".
>
> It may be helpful to look at the wider context and also consider the
> function of DE in verse 4 and 6 from a discourse perspective.
>
> Paul seems to re-iterate in Gal 2:1-10 what is described in Acts 15. Acts
> 15:1 tells us about some people from Judea who came to Antioch and required
> the Gentile believers to be circumcised. These people are referred to in Gal
> 2:4 as false believers who sneaked in to destroy the freedom in Christ and
> bring the Gentile believers into Jewish slavery to the Law. Acts 15:2 tells
> about the dispute between Paul (and Barnabas) and these Jews. Gal 2:5 tells
> us that Paul and Barnabas did not bow to their request for circumcision of
> the Gentile believers. Acts 15:2 also tells us that a group of people were
> sent from Antioch to Jerusalem to discuss the crisis with the church
> authorities there. Gal 2:1 tells us that this group consisted of at least of
> Paul, Barnabas and Titus.
>
> When Paul is re-iterating the Acts 15 incident in Gal 2:1-10, he first
> introduced the journey to Jerusalem in v.1, and then in v. 2 the prophetic
> backing for the visit and the purpose of the visit, that his preaching of
> the gospel should not be in vain, which it would be if the false brothers
> succeeded in their quest to have the Gentile believers conform to Jewish
> practice and tradition. V. 3 briefly foreshadows the success of the mission,
> namely that the leaders agreed that circumcision of the Gentile believers
> was not needed. Titus was a proof case in that he was not forced to undergo
> circumcision.
> v. 4-5 is in my analysis a flashback that gives the background for why the
> journey and consultation was needed in the first place. DE is the normal
> Greek connector indicating flashback and background comment, and to
> translate it with English BUT is very misleading. Therefore, I see the
> structure as dependent upon an implicit ESTIN as Moon suggested - (It is)
> because... The implied subject "it" would refer to the whole of v. 1-2, that
> is the journey and the purpose for it. The DIA indicates the reason or
> occasion for the dispute and the journey. It happened as a result of these
> false believers coming to destroy our freedom. V. 5 continues to say that
> Paul did not yield to them during the dispute in Antioch, not even for a
> moment. The dispute in 4-5 did not take place in Jerusalem, but in Antioch.
> (All of this of course relates to the Galatian situation in that the same or
> similar false believers had now arrived in Galatia as they did before in
> Antioch with the same request for circumcision of Gentile believers.)
>
> The DE in v. 6 would then bring us back to the storyline from the flashback.
> It continues the thread from v. 2-3 about the details of the discussion with
> the apostles in Jerusalem. The function of DE from a discourse perspective
> is to introduce change, and that change may be a shift from storyline to
> background and back again.
>
> Iver Larsen
>
>
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