[B-Greek] EK PISTEWS EIS PISTIN Rom. 1:17
George F Somsel
gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Fri Aug 21 00:48:12 EDT 2009
It seems to me to indicate "to an even greater degree of faith."
george
gfsomsel
… search for truth, hear truth,
learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth,
defend the truth till death.
- Jan Hus
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From: Yancy Smith <yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net>
To: B-Greek B-Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 1:43:02 PM
Subject: [B-Greek] EK PISTEWS EIS PISTIN Rom. 1:17
Dear list,
Any opinions on this idiomatic phrase? I checked earlier B-Greek discussions, but didn’t see any thing on similar phrases outside the NT. That may be because I didn’t know how to search. I am working through Romans for a translation project and got hung up on EK PISTEWS EIS PISTIN, of course. Like a fly to sticky paper.
I noticed that commentaries often neglect similar LXX and Hellenistic idioms. The delightful exception is Robert Jewett’s _Romans_ in Hermeneia. He notes that “the parallels to this sequence of prepositions make clear that a progression, transformation, or movement is intended … and the classical parallels contain the same progressive element.” He lists as parallels,
Psalm 83:8 ἐκ δυνάμεως εἰς δύναμιν
EK DUNAMEWS EIS DUNAMIN.
Jeremiah 9:2 ἐκ κακῶν εἰς κακά
EK KAKWN EIS KAKA
2 Cor 2:16 ἐκ θανάτου εἰς θάνατον … ἐκ ζωῆς εἰς ζωήν
EK QANATOU EIS QANTATON
2 Cor 3:18 ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν
APO DOXHS EIS DOXAN (similar)
Jewett offers Suetonius _Galba_ 14.1 as a non-Biblical, Hellenistic parallel: “in abandoning one imperial choice after the next after the death of Nero, ‘some demon’ drove the soldiers “from treachery to treachery (ἐκ προδοσίας εἰς προδοσίαν) EK PRODOSIAS EIS PRODOSIAN.”
Jewett’s interpretation is interesting and innovative, “In view of Paul’s use of “faith” in 1:5, 8, 12, and 16 as appropriation of the gospel …, it is most likely that the progression in this verse refers to missionary expansion of the gospel, which relies on the contagion of faith.” Read this way it seems to concord well with “to the Jew first and also to the Greek” theme in 1:16 as well as the Habakkuk quote in 17b.
I hope this is not too much in the area of exegesis to qualify for the list!
Yancy Smith
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