[B-Greek] Philippians 2:16 (correction)
mrt
mrt at hisurfer.net
Fri Jan 16 12:24:42 EST 2004
Jody Barnard (jbnard at yahoo.co.uk) writes:
Dear friends,
Concerning Philippians 2:16 the participle EPEXONTES can be translated as
either 'hold onto' or 'hold out.' Which meaning do you think Paul
intended?
Would it be an illegitimate totality transfer to suggest he intended both
meanings?
OR
Could it be a legitimate totality transfer (if there is such a thing)?
________
Yes EPECW can either mean (1) to hold out to, present, offer, hold forth; Or
(2) hold fast, hold firmly to, and then of course some other nuances, but
these are the most viable definitions for this context. Now I see that the
following take it as #1: Thayer's lexicon (s.v. 2. to hold toward, hold
forth, present), the KJV and Geneva Bible (Holding forth), NIV, ISV release
1.3 (hold out). And Jody I see the reason why their is ambiguity. It is
because of the preceding clause EN hOIS FAINESQE hWS FWSTHRES EN KOSMWi
(v.15). This is the strongest argument for option #1 and leaves the matter
open for consideration.
Now the reasons why I opt for 'hold fast, hold firmly to' are (1) I don't
see the meaning as "hold forth" used in the GNT or LXX (Gen. 8:10, 12; Jdg.
20:28; 1 Ki. 22:6, 15; 2 Ki. 4:24; 2 Chr. 18:5, 14; 2 Ma. 5:25; 9:25; Job
18:2; 27:8; 30:26; Sir. 5:1, 8; 13:11; 15:4; 16:3; 34:2, 15; 35:11; 37:11;
Jer. 6:11; Lk. 14:7; Acts 3:5; 19:22; Phil. 2:16; 1 Tim. 4:16). Also Lust,
Eynikel, Hauspie (a lexicon for the LXX) do not show a nuance as ~"hold
forth." (2) Along the same lines here, L-S lex. shows the meaning "to hold
out to, present, offer" under II. - to which I'm thinking that this
particular meaning of the word has fallen less and less out of service.?
<shrug> I'm looking for this particular use of the term, but I'm not seeing
it. (3) for me what follows EPEXONTES argues more for a "hold fast"
understanding. (4) and my favorite lexica and translations embrace this
understanding as well :-)
<Jody><
Would it be an illegitimate totality transfer to suggest he intended both
meanings?
<me>
Those two different nuances (hold forth vs. hold fast) are distinct. There
is a clear difference between the two. I don't think we should attempt to
combine them in any way, we have to choose.
In summary, there's not a whole lot of weight to my points, like my first
point (1), but I think it adds up.
Michael Tarver
Oregon, USA
<'\\>< laus Deo
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