[B-Greek] 1 Thes.1:3 again
Rick Duggin
rduggin at comcast.net
Fri Nov 5 10:44:45 EST 2004
Many thanks to Doug Hoxworth, Ben Crick, and George Somsel for their
helpful responses to my questions about 1 Thes.1:3. I'll make this
response as brief as possible.
Doug, your devil's advocate role was precisely what I needed to help me
refine my thinking. Yes, I realize that Gk. word order can be quite
flexible, but as you read the verse, does it seem as natural for the
phrase under consideration to go with the participle as it does with the
immediately preceding phrase? [I must be cautious here because Paul's
writings are sometimes quite flexible, if not tricky.]
The structure of the first few verses in 1 Thes.1 seems to be:
MAIN CLAUSE: We give thanks., v.2, followed by three participial
modifiers:
1. Making mention.in our prayers, v.2
2. Remembering., v.3
3. Knowing your election., v.4
Now, I do believe that the last phrase of 1 Thes.1:3 could go with
MNHMONEUONTES, but to me it doesn't seem nearly as natural.
Yes, I realize the immediate context does not focus only on "waiting for
the coming of Jesus,"
but the phrase following ELPIDOS does make this point, and these
thoughts (hope, the second coming) flow throughout both Thessalonian
epistles.
I also appreciate Ben Crick's response, and plan to use George Somsel's
reference in Rv.8 as I present both sides. Ben, if you have time
and/or inclination, do you know of another passage that connects
MNHMONEUW with EMPROSQEN TOU QEOU? In 2:19, 3:9 and 3:13, EMPROSQEN
is juxtaposed to the Lord/God. My only problem in 1 Thes.1:3 concerns
the distance between EMPROSQEN and the participle, although, as I have
said above, I admit it is possible.
Thanks again to all for taking the time to help.
Rick Duggin
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