[B-Greek] "episemoi en tois apostolois"
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Mon Aug 30 01:38:33 EDT 2004
[Steve:]> BDAG brings this distinction
> out well in definitions 1 and 2, s.v., APOSTOLOS:
>
> 1. of messengers without extraordinary status *delegate, envoy,
> messenger*
>
> 2. of messengers with extraordinary status, esp. of God's *messenger,
> envoy*
>
> It is not hard for me to see a distinction between authoritative
> spokesmen for God on the one hand, and an identifiable cadre of
> messengers to the widespread churches on the other. In recent years
> there has been an acknowledgment that the early church, though
> separated geographically, was much more mobile and interconnected than
> previously thought. In this context these "messengers" would have
> served an important role--to keep the wider church informed of plans
> and developments crucial to the spiritual good and geographic spread of
> the faith.
> ============>>
>
[Cindy:] OK, now we're looking at Paul's usage of the term APOSTOLOS. So
let's
> concentrate first on the usage in 1 Corinthians.
>
> Coming from a discourse analysis mindset, the semantic content
> of APOSTOLOS in 1 Cor 15:7, 9 is constrained by the occurrences of
APOSTOLOS
> in chs. 9 and 12. I hope that the discussion of semantic constraint of a
word by its
> co-text is not beyond the purpose of the list.
Coming from a discourse analysis mindset, I would say that the immediate
semantic and syntactic context carries more weight than the wider context.
The two senses of APOSTOLOS can only be distinguished by context. Sense 1
APOSTOLOS refers to someone who was sent by someone (often a local church
leadership) with a specific task. It could be bringing a letter, a message,
news or a donation. These people were not sent or commissioned by God/Jesus
and did not have an authoritative ministry or extraordinary status. This
sense is normally rendered in English translations as "sent one",
"messenger", "delegate", "representative" (see John 13:16, 2 Cor 8:23; Phil
2:25).
As far as I can see all the 10 occurrences of APOSTOLOS in 1 Cor are used in
sense 2, and all are translated by "apostle" in English versions. Up to the
middle of Acts, when Paul and Barnabas were commissioned by God/Jesus
through a prophetic call, the word is restricted to the first 12 plus
Matthias from Acts 1:26, but after that it includes Paul and Barnabas,
possibly a few others. (Gal 1:19 suggests that James, the brother of Jesus,
was counted among the apostles.) There is no indication that Apollos,
Prisca, Aquilla, Titus or Timothy were counted among the apostles. From the
immediate contexts, it also seems fairly clear that the three occurrences in
Romans all refer to sense 2 as confirmed by all translations. The same
applies to all 28 occurrences in Acts.
> In I Cor 12:28-29, the term APOSTLE refers to a
> messenger/authoritative link between churches with a kind of first rung
underpinning ministry It is
> considered by Paul to be a spiritual gift distributed sovereignly
> by the Spirit. It is comparable to PROPHETHS, which is on the second rung.
> APOSTOLOS is not excluded when Paul tells the Corinthians to eagerly
desire
> spiritual gifts (14:1).
I wouldn't quite agree with this description. In 1 Cor 12:28 the apostle is
mentioned together with the prophet and teacher as one of the ministries
placed by God/Jesus for an authoritative ministry in the church. Eph 4:11
adds two more such ministries. These ministries ought to be distinguished
from the many and varied spiritual gifts. Gifts are meant as tools for
ministry, not identical to it. The apostolic ministry is not primarily a
link between churches, but a representative of Christ, ministering to the
churches - as well as to non-believers. They normally have a ministry which
goes beyond the boundaries of a local church, and therefore often travel.
So, in a secondary sense they help to link and unify the various local
churches.
> If APOSTOLOS is not a closed set for Paul, I have no trouble at
> all seeing Titus and Epaphraditus in that role (2 Cor 8:23; Phil 2:25),
> particularly since Barnabas had the role also.
I would have trouble with that as do all Bible translations that I have
checked. These two references use sense 1 as indicated by their contexts.
Coming back briefly to Rom 16:7, which has been discussed before on this
list (in June 2002 as well as March 2000), I would say that it is not just a
matter of EN plus the dative, but the whole construction and in particular
the collocation with a word like EPISHMOS.
EN has a enormous array of senses as listed in Louw and Nida:
(a) in (location) 83.13
(b) among (location) 83.9
(c) on (location) 83.47
(d) at (location) 83.23
(e) in (state) 13.8
(f) into (extension) 84.22
(g) in union with (association) 89.119
(h) with (attendant circumstances) 89.80
(i) with (instrument) 90.10
(j) with (manner) 89.84
(k) with regard to (specification) 89.5
(l) of (substance) 89.141
(m) to (experiencer) 90.56
(n) by (agent) 90.6
(o) by (guarantor) 90.30
(p) by (means) 89.76
(q) because (reason) 89.26
(r) so that (result) 89.48
(s) when (time) 67.33
(t) during (time) 67.136
(u) in (content) 90.23
It is possible to use "among" in English as long as it refers to their
fame/reputation. (E.g. "They have a good reputation among the apostles" or
NLT: They are respected among the apostles). The following is a brief
excerpt from the Wallace article: "That the parallels discovered so far
conform to our working hypothesis at least gives warrant to seeing
Andronicus' and Junia's FAME as that which was among the apostles." The note
in the NET gives a lot of good background and also refers tot he full
article about it.
Sense number (m) in L&N tends to be overlooked, but it is fairly common. L&N
cite the following examples, not an exhaustive list:
EN: a marker of an experiencer of an event - 'in relation to, with respect
to, to.' EPOIHSAN EN AUTWi... 'they did to him as they pleased' Mt 17.12;
KALON ERGON HRGASATO EN EMOI 'she has done a fine thing to me' Mk 14.6;
...hOSTIS hOMOLOGHSEI EN EMOI EMPROSQEN TWN ANQRWPWN 'therefore everyone who
confesses me before people' Mt 10.32; ...hINA hOUTWS GENHTAI EN EMOI 'I have
not written these things in order that this might happen to me' 1 Cor 9.15;
APOKALUYSAI TON hUION AUTOU EN EMOI 'to reveal his Son to me' Ga 1.16.
This sense fits the immediate and wider contexts of Romans 16:7 well, but
the question has been discussed for many centuries, and we won't be able to
know for sure one way or the other. Which option is preferred or deemed to
be "results driven" depends on one's own presuppositions about apostleship
as well as gender issues.
Iver Larsen
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