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

Harold R. Holmyard III hholmyard at ont.com
Mon Jun 14 11:00:48 EDT 2004


Dear Steve,

>>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:

1Cor. 15:21 For since death came through a man, 
the resurrection of the dead comes also through a 
man.
1Cor. 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

v. 22: hWSPER GAR EN TWi ADAM PANTES 
APOQNHSKOUSIN hOUTWS KAI EN TWi CRISTWi PANTES 
ZWOPOIHQHSONTAI

>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.

HH: I agree, as you seem to, with the referential 
idea for the definite article in EV TWi ADAM that 
George shared as going back to verse 21. And I 
agree with you that Adam and Christ are 
individuals, the men indicated in verse 21. But I 
don't know that verse 21 has to eliminate the 
collective idea. The question is whether they may 
refer to more than individuals. The preposition 
in verse 21 is DIA, but it is EN in verse 22. 
That might be significant, as stressing a 
location, a sphere. Verse 22 does not have to be 
a simple substitution for verse 21 with names 
introduced.

HH: My thought is that the later verses in the 
chapter may clarify what Adam and Christ 
represent in verse 22. Adam is called the first 
man, and Christ the second man (v. 47). Christ is 
also called the last Adam (v. 45), probably as 
the progenitor of a new race. The context shows 
that they are two types of man, one earthly and 
the other heavenly, one natural and the other 
spiritual (vv. 46, 48). So Adam in verse 22, 
while representing himself, could also indicate a 
type of man, and the same would be true for 
Christ.

HH: This seems possible with Christ because twice 
earlier in 1 Corinthians Paul has indicated that 
believers are part of Christ:

1Cor. 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are 
members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the 
members of Christ and unite them with a 
prostitute? Never!

1Cor. 12:12 ¶ The body is a unit, though it is 
made up of many parts; and though all its parts 
are many, they form one body. So it is with 
Christ.
1Cor. 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

HH: So my question is whether the sentence could 
mean something like: "For as in Adam all [who are 
in Adam] die, so also in Christ all [who are in 
Christ] shall be made alive."

HH: The argument I have seen in Thiselton's Greek 
New Testament commentary on 1 Corinthians is that 
this passage does not refer to the general 
resurrection because Christ as the firstfruits 
would point to a resurrection of glory (v. 23). 
But there must be something in the grammar to 
prevent the reader from assuming that all would 
be resurrected in a glorious way. You write:

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).

HH: I do not see how these two phrases would 
exclude all from being resurrected to glory. I 
agree with Arie that "all" does not have to imply 
every individual on earth. Its meaning depends on 
the context, but what in the context limits it? 
The phrase in verse 18 only requires that those 
who sleep in Jesus be part of the "all," and the 
phrase in verse 23 could indicate a group that is 
part of the "all." So it may be that something in 
verse 22 can limit the "all" to those who are in 
Christ.

HH: You might be right about verse 18, but the 
connection might be in the phrase EN CRISTWi, 
which also occurs, but with the definite article, 
in verse 22. So verse 22 might do two things. It 
might identify the two men of verse 21, and it 
might indicate those two men as representative 
heads of a type of human being. What do you think?

					Yours,
					Harold Holmyard









>
>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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