[B-Greek] re. I Cor 15,22

Steven Lo Vullo slovullo at mac.com
Sun Jun 13 17:30:30 EDT 2004


On Jun 13, 2004, at 2:48 PM, Harold R. Holmyard III wrote:

> HH: Thanks, but why are the definite articles there? Do Adam and 
> Christ represent individuals or groups? Part of the issue is, "What is 
> the plain meaning of the phrases?" Another interpretation is that EV 
> TWi ADAM means something like "by Adam." Then EN TWi CRISTWi would 
> mean "by Christ," and there would not necessarily be two groups. Just 
> as in Adam, the individual, all die, so also in Christ all (the same 
> all as the "all" with Adam) will be made alive:

Harold, I think it is worth considering that the articles may be used 
to clarify the anarthrous nouns ANQRWPOU ... ANQRWPOU in v. 21. There 
we read that since through a man came death, also through a man comes 
the resurrection of the dead. The articles in v. 22 would then clarify  
and underscore just who these two men are. I think the "groups" idea is 
ruled out by the contrast in v. 21. There the second use of ANQRWPOU 
cannot refer to mankind in general but only to Christ in particular, 
since it is not through "mankind" that the resurrection of the dead 
comes. This being the case, we would expect that the ANQRWPOU with 
which it is contrasted would also refer to an individual. V. 22 then 
makes explicit what was implicit in v. 21.

I disagree with George's interpretation of vv. 22-23 because it seems 
to me that TAGMATI here does not indicate "group" but rather "order." 
Though BDAG includes v. 23 as an example of "1. a clearly defined 
group, b. without any special military application," this seems not 
only contrary to the context, but, in light of the commentary included, 
seems possibly theologically motivated. The reason it does not fit the 
context? Because it is very difficult to take CRISTOS in v. 23 as a 
"group." It is predicated here that CRISTOS is APARCH, which most 
naturally means "the first one raised" (see BDAG 1.b.alpha, s.v. 
APARCH) with the implication of others to follow. This is borne out by 
v. 20, where Christ has been raised from the dead APARCH TWN 
KEKOIMHMENWN. Here it is clearly the individual, Christ, that is in 
view. In turn, those who have fallen asleep refers not to every person 
who has ever died, but hOI KOIMHQENTES EN CRISTWi (vv. 18, 20). Getting 
back to v. 23, since CRISTOS refers to an individual, and since APARCH 
here inherently conveys "first in order," and since EPEITA indicates 
chronological sequence ("then" or "next:" see BDAG 1.b., s.v. EPEITA; 
see also EITA, EPEITA, and ESCATON in vv. 5-8, and EITA in v. 24), it 
seems that the consideration of vv. 22-23 is of all who participate in 
resurrection life--Christ and those who in Christ will be made alive. 
Christ is raised first, then those who belong to Christ later. Those 
who die EN TWi ADAM are not considered candidates for life, only hOI 
KOIMHQENTES EN CRISTWi (v. 18) and hOI TOU CRISTOU (v. 23). Those EN 
TWi ADAM can neither be considered as CRISTOS nor as hOI TOU CRISTOU in 
this context, and thus cannot be considered as taking part in the 
sequence of events delineated in v. 23.
============

Steven Lo Vullo
Madison, WI




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