[B-Greek] Ephesian 1:13a: incomplete sentence?

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu May 15 06:35:36 EDT 2003


Owing to some technical problems that I don't yet understand,the following
message from Moon Jung failed to get distributed to the list yesterday.

Forwarded for Moon R. Jung <moon at mail.sogang.ac.kr>
To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Ephesian 1:13a: incomplete sentence?
Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 08:14:59 +0900

Dear listers,

I have some questions about the constructions of Eph 1:11-13.

11: EN hWi KAI EKLHRWQHMEN ...
12:  EIS TO EINAI hHMAS EIS EPAINON DOXHS AUTOU...
13a: EN hWi KAI hUMEIS AKOUSANTES ....
13b: EN hWi KAI PISTEUSANTES ESFRAGISQHTE .....


Questions:

(1) The clause of 13a is incomplete in that it does not have
     a main verb. Is the verb omitted because it can be inferred?
    [This is my current position. The missing verb might be
     EKLHRWQHMEN in v. 11 or EINAI EIS EPAINON DOXHS in v. 12]

Or (2) Can you think as follows?


   (a)  AKOUSANTES (13a) and PISTEUSANTES (13b) are sequentially
        connected. (We hear and then believe)
   (b) EN hWi in 13b does not introduce a new clause, but is
        the repetition of that in 13a, the repetition being made
       for emphasis or clarification.
   (c) Hence, the main clause of 13a is the verb that appear in 13b,
       that is, ESFRAGISQHTE.

(3) What is the force of KAI in 13a in front  of hUMEIS?
   (a) Does it mean "you also" in contrast to "we" in verses 11 and 12?
  [ This is my current position]
   (b) Does KAI modify the whole clause hUMEIS AKOUSANTES ....
      so that it means "you, also having heared..."?


(4) If the answer to question (3) is (a), the most natural reference
     of "you" would be Gentile believers as clearly illustrated in chapter
     2, where "you" are Gentiles believers who were not part of the people
     of God. Then  "we" is supposed to refer to Jewish believers. But
     nothing in the context suggests that "we" refer to Jewish believers.
     If "we" refer to both Jewish and Gentile believers, then, can "you"
     refer to Gentile believers? If "we" is inclusive, then "you also"
     sounds weird.


Sincerely
Moon
Moon R. Jung
Associate Professor
Dept of Media Tech,
Sogang Univ, Seoul, Korea




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