[B-Greek] Col. 1:16 and hOTI

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Mar 17 05:57:09 EST 2006


On Mar 16, 2006, at 11:43 PM, Mondo Pascal wrote:

> Good news!  This thread has nothing to do with hOTI in relation to  
> verse 15,
> a subject that has been beaten to death on this forum.

Thanks for at least giving us the reference. PLEASE when you raise a  
question such as this, DON'T send us groping for a GNT hard copy  
text, but  GIVE US THE TEXT;

Col 1:15 hOS ESTIN EIKWN TOU QEOU TOU AORATOU, PRWTOTOKOS PASHS  
KTISEWS, hOTI EN AUTWi EKTISQH TA PANTA EN TOIS OURANOIS KAI EPI THS  
GHS, TA hORATA KAI TA AORATA, EITE QRONOI EITE KURIOTHTES EITE ARCAI  
EITE EXOUSIAI; TA PANTA DI' AUTOU KAI EIS AUTON EKTISTAI.

> My question is this:  I have always understood hOTI to give as a  
> basis that
> which is stated in 16a.  (assuming A ends with EXOUSIAI).  Is this  
> correct
> or am I missing something?

Yes, I think that is a valid understanding. hOTI here is an indicator  
that what follows is explanatory of what precedes, and I would  
certainly extend this through ALL of verse 16, the final clause being  
a summation of the preceding formulation. hOTI is originally the  
neuter nom./acc. relative pronoun hO TI of hOS TIS conventionally  
spelled as one word to distinguish the conjunctive usage from the  
pronominal usage. Essentially it means "the fact that" or "the fact  
being that ..." -- equivalent to "inasmuch as ... " or "since ... "  
or 'because ..."



Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/




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