[B-Greek] Acts 15,1

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Mar 28 17:56:48 EST 2004


At 12:46 PM -0800 3/28/04, Eddie Mishoe wrote:
>KAI TINES KATELQONTES APO THS IOUDAIAS EDIDASKON TOUS
>ADELFOUS hOTI EAN MH PERITMHQHTE TWi EQEI TWi MWUSEWS,
>OU DUNASQE SWQHNAI
>
>Does the final clause, OU DUNASQE SWQHNAI, indicate
>whether the claim was:
>
>1. You cannot be saved (that is, you are not saved NOW
>because you have not done this), or
>
>2. You cannot become saved (that is, you cannot get
>saved IN THE FUTURE unless you do this)  ?

I'd English that final clause as "You cannot GET saved"--i.e. you MUST be
circumcised if you wish to be saved. But note that the construction inside
the hOTI is conditional: EAN MH PERITMHQHTE is "If you don't get yourselves
circumcised"--so the point of their teaching is that circumcision is a
necessary prerequisite to getting saved.
-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/



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