[B-Greek] re. I Cor 15,22
George F. Somsel
gfsomsel at juno.com
Sun Jun 13 18:28:45 EDT 2004
On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 16:30:30 -0500 Steven Lo Vullo <slovullo at mac.com>
writes:
> 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
>
______________
Now, Steve, just because I happen to be a died-in-the-wool Calvinist
there's no reason to accuse me of being theologically motivated [just
because I am :-) ].
A courple of points:
1. hEKASTOS EN TWi IDIWi TAGMATI "each in his own group"
This is "each in HIS OWN" TAGMATI . The implication is that there is
more than one TAGMA and that one may belong to one or to the other TAGMA.
Who is it that belongs to these TAGMATA ? PANTES APOQNHiSKOUSIN the
"all [who] die" or PANTES ZWiOPOIHUHSONTAI the "all [who] shall be made
alive." The two ways. It does not refer to Christ.
2. APARXH XRISTOS "the first fruit is Christ"
Here it is not simply that Christ is the first to rise. He is the APARXH
-- the first fruits. This was the offering which was made at the
beginning of the harvest before the remainder could be used. In
Revelation we have an example of this. In chapter 7 there are two groups
set forth -- 144,000 Israelites and an innumerable multitude who are
holding palm branches in their hands. This is the celebration of the
feast of booths / first fruits / Pentecost. Then again in 14.1-5 we
again meet with the 144,000 who are there explicitly stated (14.4)
hOUTOI HGORASQHSAN APO TWN ANQRWPWN APARXH TWi QEWi KAI TWi ARNIWi
these were purchased from men [as] first fruits to God and to the Lamb
gfsomsel
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