[B-Greek] Romans 12:1

Harold R. Holmyard III hholmyard at ont.com
Tue Jun 29 19:52:03 EDT 2004


Dear Martin,

>Romans 12:1 PARAKALW hUMAS, ADELFOI, DIA TWN OIKTIRMWN TOU QEOU, PARASTHSAI
>TA SWMATA hUMWN QUSIAN ZWSAN, hAGIAN, EUARESTON TWi QEWi
>
>Can DIA TWN OIKTIRMWN TOU QEOU be related not to PARAKALW, but to
>PARASTHSAI as instrumental, e.g. "through the help of God's mercies you to
>present your bodies as living sacrifices."?

DIA with the genitive suggests that the prepositional phrase goes 
with PARAKALW rather than PARASTHSAI. The genitive suggests ideas 
like "through," "by means of," and "with." Would one really present 
his body a living sacrifice by means of God's mercies? Wouldn't one 
do it because of God's mercies? Yet "because of," "on account of," 
and "for the sake of" are senses of DIA with the accusative. On the 
other hand, "by means of" God's mercies would be a good way to make 
this appeal to someone.

					Yours,
					Harold Holmyard




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