[B-Greek] Phil 3:4 & 9 Article missing accentuates noun quality?

Elizabeth Kline kline-dekooning at earthlink.net
Sat Oct 22 13:27:47 EDT 2005


On Oct 22, 2005, at 4:27 AM, Carl W. Conrad wrote:

> On Oct 21, 2005, at 4:20 PM, David Bielby wrote:
>
>
>> Looking at Philippians 3:4 & 9 I have a grammar question.
>>
>> Philippians 3:4  KAIPER EGW ECWN PEPOIQHSIN KAI EN SARKI.  EI TIS
>> DOKEI
>> ALLOS PEPOIQENAI EN SARKI, EGW MALLON.
>>
>> Philippians 3:9  KAI hEUREQW EN AUTW, MH ECWN EMHN DIKAIOSUNHN THN
>> EK NOMOU
>> ALLA THN DIA PISTEWS CRISTOU,  THN EK QEOU DIKAIOSUNHN EPI THi  
>> PISTEI.
>>
>> The point was made that the lack of an article in the Greek Text in
>> Phil 3:9
>> for DIKAIOSUNHN focuses the meaning on the quality of the noun
>> driving the
>> meaning towards ‘not a righteousness of my own’ instead of ‘not a
>> righteousness from God’ via the law.
>>
>
> I guess you mean that some commentator suggested this interpretation:
> you don't
> attribute this "point" to any source.

This interpretation seems to have been around for a while. I found it  
in Kennedy Expo.GNT, Zerwick #180 and more recently P.T. O'Brien  
(NIGTC) who cites Zerwick.


>
>
>> This intensification of the quality of the noun is driven by the
>> lack of
>> article(?)  That’s my first question.
>>
>
> I don't understand this. THN EK NOMOU qualifies EMHN DIKAIOSUNHN in an
> attributive construction; so I don't see that the phrase as a whole
> is any less
> definite.

There is an alternative to this reading. N.Turner p.191 and BDF  
#272,285(2) see THN EK NOMOU as predicative. This dates back at least  
to Alford, who states that it was suggested to him (but no citation).

Elizabeth Kline







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