[B-Greek] 1 Peter 2.19

Iver Larsen ialarsen at multitechweb.com
Fri Apr 1 09:57:22 EST 2005


>
> At 11:21 PM -0500 3/31/05, Gordon Goltz wrote:
> >   I am working on a pericope in preparation for a sermon--1
> Peter 2.18-25.
> >In verse 19, Peter writes "EI DIA SUNEIDHSIN QEOU". Could this
> be an idiom used as an adverb?
>
> I note that NET conveys this as
>
> "19 For this finds God's favor, if because of conscience toward
> God someone endures hardships in suffering unjustly."

This makes little sense, but the NET translation often does not communicate
clearly like most other modified literal versions. It would have been
clearer to use "awareness of God" as mentioned below in the note.

>
> and has notes on the phrase that are conceivably helpful, although they
> clearly involve some guesswork:
>
> A "translator's note" on SUNEIDHSIN QEOU says this means "an awareness of
> God and allegiance to him"--which one may or may not find clearly implicit
> in the phrase itself (my own opinion is that we tend to interpret
> adnominal
> genitives --those having no clear contextual clarification--with a degree
> of subjectivity depending upon our own experience and predispositions.
>
> Then a note on the phrase itself acknowledges that the phrase is
> difficult:
>
> "The expression "consciousness/conscience of God" (SUNEIDHSIN QEOU) is
> unusual, occurring only here in the NT.....

Heb 10:2 talks about SUNEIDHSIN hAMARTIWN (awareness of sins), and in this
kind of genitive, SUNEIDHSIN is probably best understood as
"consciousness/awareness" rather than "conscience". It is possible for
slaves to endure unjust treatment as long as they are aware that they are
servants of God and represent God.

Thanks for the question and the NET note. They helped me to understand the
text better.

Iver Larsen





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