EPISPAOMAI in 1 Cor 7:18

Richard A. Stauch rstauch at charter.net
Tue Sep 17 18:36:26 EDT 2002


Hi Charles and Mark,

I think Mark has swerved into it. The whole context helps us understand
a little more about what Paul means here. Paul seems to be saying that
God calls a person right where that person is. If one is Jewish, God
does not intend that person to cease to be Jewish. If God calls one who
is a Gentile, God does not expect that one to cease to be a Gentile. The
circumcision, being a work of the flesh, is a sign of Jewishness, not of
the calling. It seems Paul is going deeper than the mere act of
circumcision, but to the whole life: If God calls one just as one is,
then to change who one is mitigates, even negates the calling.

As for the word itself, this appears to be a compound word (EPI + SPAW;
on, over + draw, pull [out]). BDAG (EPI, at 7) tells us that it is
sometimes used to indicate "in addition to". 4 Maccabees 5:2 uses a very
similar word (EPISPASQAI) in a very similar context, which most of my
lexica connect to this one, but BDAG disagrees. Here we might think of
Paul saying "don't add circumcision [as though to change who you were
when you were called]." God calls one just as one is, so don't think you
have to change who you are {as though by one's own efforts one can make
the calling "complete."}

Peace,
Richard Allan Stauch
Long Beach, CA
http://www.rstauch.com
 


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Wilson [mailto:emory2oo2 at hotmail.com] 
> Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 2:02 PM
> To: Biblical Greek
> Subject: [b-greek] Re: EPISPAOMAI in 1 Cor 7:18
> 
> 
> 
> Just thought I would offer this highly speculative question:
> 
> >Does anyone have any information on the use of the NT hapax 
> EPISPAOMAI 
> >("to
> >remove the marks of circumcision")in 1 Cor 7:18.
> 
> Seems that EPISPAOMAI is used often in the sense of being 
> "drawn away," perhaps more mild, to be "allured," or more 
> harsh, to be "dragged."
> 
> Could it be that Paul is commanding those who had been 
> circumcised not to be drawn away or allured by the 
> non-circumcised party? After all, the next sentence is to 
> those who are uncircumcised not to be drawn into the 
> circumcised party (and presumedly be circumcised).
> 
> What I am assuming then is not that these were being asked to 
> somehow reverse circumcision (an impossibility), but that 
> they were being ask to withdraw from one party (here, the 
> circumcized party) to the opposing party, this by attraction 
> or allurement. This is similar to the party lines found in 
> Chapter 1. "I am of Paul..." Here, the party lines are drawn 
> based on some ritual mark on the body, or lack thereof.
> 
> My thoughts,
> 
> Mark Wilson
> 
> 
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