[B-Greek] Ephesians 2:8

George F Somsel gfsomsel at juno.com
Sat Jun 18 07:39:56 EDT 2005


On Sat, 18 Jun 2005 07:21:32 -0400 Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com>
writes:

> I've always maintained that the TOUTO refers back to the entire  
> preceding clause THi GAR XARITI ESTE SESWiSMENOI DIA PISTEWS and not 
>  
> to any one word in that clause; that's reasonably common ; AT  
> Robertson, Word Pictures:
> "And that (KAI TOUTO). Neuter, not feminine ta?t?, and so 
> refers  
> not to p?st?? (feminine) or to  CARIS  (feminine also), but to 
>  
> the act of being saved by grace conditioned on faith on our part.  
> Paul shows that salvation does not have its source  (EX hUMWN, out 
> of  
> you)  in men, but from God. Besides, it is God's gift (DWRON) and 
> not  
> the result of our work."
> 
> Quite frankly, it seems to me that this is one of the NT passages  
> wherein people have frequently decided what they think the passage  
> 
> means and then gone out to seek grammatical justification for their  
> 
> decision.
<SNIP> 
> 
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
> 1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
> cwconrad at ioa.com or cwconrad2 at mac.com
> WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
_____________

While we're citing authorities, I might quote Brooks Foss Westcott who,
to the best of my recollection was no slouch at Greek himself, wrote

8. KAI TOUTO . . .?` And this saving energy  *** of faith *** is not of
yourselves: it is a gift, and the gift is God’s. The variation in
construction occurs not unfrequently:  EC hU. evolved as it were from the
action of personal powers. 

Saint Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians: The Greek text with notes and
addenda. 1909 (B. F. Westcott, bp. of Durham & J. M. Schulhof, [from old
catalog, Ed.) (Page 32). London; New York: Macmillan and co., limited;
The Macmillan company.

george
gfsomsel
___________


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