[B-Greek] Syntax of Philippians 1:9

Adam Blauser akb3 at UAKRON.EDU
Fri May 23 14:22:12 EDT 2003


The Greek of Philippians 1:9 in the NA27 Critical text reads as such:

KAI TOUTO PROSEUCOMAI hINA hH AGAPH hUMWN ETI MALLON KAI MALLON PERISSEUHI EN EPIGNWSEI KAI PASHI AISQHSEI 

The problem I am having with this verse is the function of the preposition  EN. I initially thought that this EN was either functioning as a either an EN of Association or of instrument or formal cause. Much the view John Calvin took in his commentary:

Accordingly the particle EN, according to the idiom of the Hebrew tongue, is taken here to mean with, as I have also rendered it, unless perhaps one should prefer to explain it as meaning by, so as to denote the instrument or formal cause. For, the greater proficiency we make in knowledge, so much the more ought our love to increase. The meaning in that case would be, "That your love may increase according to the measure of knowledge."All knowledge, means what is full and complete -- not a knowledge of all things.


However, through a set of unusual circumstances, I have been forced to take a look at a book called "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris. In it, he says this verse teaches something called "smart love," and in support of his view quotes a translation called "The Message" which renders the verse this way:

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: 

Hence, it appears that this translation is saying that this is a possessive EN [ie. the verse is talking about the nature of love rather than the nature of love's abiding." I initially saw too much evidence against this position:

1. The object of the preposition EN is the dative case. There for the likelyhood that it is describing something is greatly diminished. As Daniel Wallace notes in his book "Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics":

Prepositions are, in some respects, extended adverbs. That is, they frequently modify verbs and tell how, when where, ect. But unlike adverbs, they govern a noun and hence can give more information that a mere adverb can. "Christ dwells in you" is more specific than "Christ dwells inside." Prepositions show how the verb connects to various objects. The realities expressed by such connections are, at times, breathtaking. There are exceptions to the adverbial force of prepositions. Some function at times adjectivally. In general, the prepositions that take accusative and dative case objects function adverbially, while those that take a genitive case object function adjectivally. All of this is in keeping with the simple case uses: The accusative and dative are usually connected to a verb and the genitive is usually connected to a noun. [Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics p356-357]

2. In Dan Wallace's syntactical grammar, he only gives three instances of a possessive EN [the only adjectival usage of EN]. They are Mark 1:23 [repeated in Luke 4:33] and Ephesians 6:2. They read as such:

Mark 1:23: KAI EUQUS HN EN THI SUNAGWGHI AUTWN ANQRWPOS EN PNEUMATI AKAQARTWI KAI ANEKRAXEN

Ephesians 6:2: TIMA TON PATERA SOU KAI THN MHTERA hHTIS ESTIN ENTOLH PRWTH EN EPAGGELIAI

One of the things I immediately noted is that in each of these instances, the possessive EN directly follows the possessor [ie In Mark 1:23, EN PNEUMATI directly follows ANQRWPOS and in Ephesians 6:2, EN EPAGGELIAI directly follows ENTOLH PRWTH]. However, it never follows the verb of the clause as in Philippians 1:9.

3. Dan Wallace said in his Grammar that we should consult "A Greek Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Liturature" for more detailed treatment of the prepositions. BAGD does not list Philippians 1:9 as an example of a possessive EN and also states that the possessive usage is very rare. 

I decided I would write Mr. Harris and ask him about this verse. I did not reach him, but someone from his ministry told me that he had no knowledge of Koine Greek. However, he told me that he did send his book to Greek scholars for anaylisis. Then, the other day I ran across Dan Wallace's Website [http://www.netbible.org/docs/soapbox/soaptoc.htm] and on it he had an outline of Philippians. What he wrote greatly surprised me:

First, he thanks God for their participation in the gospel (1:3-5) and expresses confidence of their continued perseverance in the faith since God is at work in their hearts (1:6-8). Then he prays that they will grow in a DISCERNING LOVE (perhaps as a foreshadowing of his discussion of the opponents in chapter 3) (1:9-10) [http://www.netbible.org/docs/soapbox/photl.htm].

Hence, I am greatly confused. Now it seems that the older commentators were more inclined to take the view which John Calvin did, and the newer commentators to take the view of a possessive EN. It may be just my inexperience in interpreting biblical texts. Anyway, since the website says that there are well respected Greek scholars here, I figure someone can help me out. Thanks.





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