[B-Greek] 2 Cor 6:7 right hand weapon
George F Somsel
gfsomsel at juno.com
Sun Feb 26 12:15:16 EST 2006
On Sun, 26 Feb 2006 16:54:52 +0100 "Iver Larsen" <iver at larsen.dk> writes:
> In 2 Cor 7, Paul is describing his attitude and behavior when
> confronted with attacks and when going through other
> hardships.
> In v. 7 we read:
>
> DIA TWN hOPLWN THS DIKAIOSUNHS TWN DEXIWN KAI ARISTERWN
> through the instruments of righteousness (or righteous
> equipment/armor) of the right (hands) and left (hands)
>
> I have not been able to find a parallel for this in the GNT or the
> LXX.
> In Ezk 39:3 the bow is held in the left hand and the arrows in the
> right hand, but I doubt that this is what Paul has in
> mind.
>
> Is there any parallel from other contemporary Greek literature?
>
> I assume that what is held in the left hand is a shield and what is
> held in the right hand is a sword. Is that supported
> by other evidence?
> Comparing this with Ef 6:16-17, the shield could be the shield of
> faith and the sword the word of God.
>
> What bothers me is the assumption that the right hand instrument is
> considered to be for offense or attack, whereas it
> seems better in the context of this passage, of Paul and of the
> whole NT to talk about the sword used as a defensive
> weapon to ward off any sword blows from the enemy. This is how Jesus
> used the word of God in his defense against Satan
> in Matt 4. It was Satan who attacked by using the word of God, but
> Jesus only defended himself and warded off the attack
> by the same means, the word of God. He did not strike back.
>
> BAGD says:
> "weapons used w. the right hand, and those used w. the left=weapons
> for offense and defense (cf. Plut, Mor. 201d;
> Polyaenus 8, 16, 4 ARISTERA and DEXIA of weapons for defense and
> offense) 2 Cor 6:7"
>
> Do the references mentioned clearly refer to an offensive attack or
> just to a sword being used?
>
> A sword can in theory be used for either attack or defense, so why
> is it assumed to be an offense weapon here?
>
> The translation of hOPLON as "weapon" can be misleading, because the
> word is broader and means an instrument or tool or
> some kind of equipment. The word "weapon" normally connotates an
> attack unless qualified.
>
> KJV: by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the
> left.
>
> JBP: Our sole defence, our only weapon, is a life of integrity
>
> NCV: We use our right living to defend ourselves against
> everything.
>
> If we look at the PANOPLION (whole armor) in Eph 6, the attack
> weapons like spears, arrows and stones are conspicuously
> absent which would suggest that this whole armor is for protection
> rather than attack.
>
> Can the interpretation of an offensive attack weapon be defended for
> the right hand of 2 Cor 6:7?
>
> Iver Larsen
___________
Plummer in his 1915 ICC commentary on 2 Cor notes
He adds TWN DECIWN KAI ARISTERWN to intimate that he is thoroughly
equipped; his panoply is complete. On the right hand, etc. (AV, RV), is
ambiguous; for the right hand, is better, i.e. right-hand and
left-hand weapons, offensive and defensive armour, the shield being
carried on the left arm. Chrys. interprets ARISTERA as afflictions, which
not only do not cast down but fortify. So also Thdrt.; DECIA DE KALEI TA
DOKOUNTA QUMHRH, ARISTERA DE TA ENATIA. But the meaning of success and
failure ne prosperis elevemur, nec frangamur adversisis alien to the
passage and to N.T. usage.
Plummer, A. (1915). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Second
epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. (198). New York: Scribner.
Thrall in the 2004 edition of the ICC writes
The further description of the weapons as for the right hand and the
left could mean that they are both offensive (the sword carried in the
right hand) and defensive (the shield carried in the left). But it would
probably overload the metaphor to suggest some specific connection
between types of weaponry and aspects of Pauls spiritual warfare. It is
better to suppose that he is simply indicating the completeness of his
spiritual equipment.
Thrall, M. E. (2004). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Second
Epistle of the Corinthians (462). London; New York: T&T Clark
International.
Harris in the NIGTC states
A hOPLON DECION is a weapon used in the right hand and a hOPLON ARISTERON
is a weapon used in the left, so that TA hOPLA TA DECIA KAI ARISTERA will
refer to weapons, presumably two in number,?? one for the right hand,
another for the left. The sword in the right hand (cf. Eph. 6:17) is used
for offense, the shield in the left (cf. Eph. 6:16) for defense.?? We
should not, however, take the next step and identify the sword as hH
MAXAIRA TOU PNEUMATOS and the shield as hO QUREOS THS PISTEWS as in
Ephesians 6, for that degree of specificity lies beyond the time of 2
Corinthians. But some commentators find in the qualification TWN DECIWN
KAI ARISTERWN simply a reference to Pauls readiness to repel an attack
from any quarter (Hughes 231) or the completeness of the equipment
provided by God (Barrett 188).??
Harris, M. J. (2005). The Second Epistle to the Corinthians : A
commentary on the Greek text (478). Grand Rapids, Mich.; Milton Keynes,
UK: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.; Paternoster Press.
While these may be impressive opinions, they are necessarily only
opinions which ** are not founded on any extant ancient text indicating
that it would refer to a sword and a shield, ** i.e. an offensive weapon
and a defensive one. I think in light of this that Thrall's comment that
"It is better to suppose that he is simply indicating the completeness of
his spiritual equipment" is best.
george
gfsomsel
___________
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