[B-Greek] Rom 8:4, "That which is impossible to the law"
Donald COBB
docobb at orange.fr
Wed Aug 26 08:50:31 EDT 2009
Dear B-Greekers,
As I've been rereading Romans over the last couple weeks, I was struck once again by the beginning of Rom 8. Here are vv. 1-4:
1 Οὐδὲν ἄρα νῦν κατάκριμα τοῖς ἐν χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, 2 Ὁ γὰρ νόμος τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς ἐν χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἠλευθέρωσέν σε ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ τοῦ θανάτου. 3 Τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου, ἐν ᾧ ἠσθένει διὰ τῆς σαρκός, ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ υἱὸν πέμψας ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας κατέκρινεν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκί· 4 ἵνα τὸ δικαίωμα τοῦ νόμου πληρωθῇ ἐν ἡμῖν, τοῖς μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα.
OUDEN ARA NUN KATAKRIMA TOIS EN CRISTWi IHSOU, hO GAR NOMOS TOU PNEUMATOS THS ZWHS EN CRISTWi IHSOU HLEUQERWSEN SE APO TOU NOMOU THS hAMARTIAS KAI TOU QANATOU. TO GAR ADUNATON TOU NOMOU, EN hWi HSQENEI DIA THS SARKOS, hO QEOS TON hEAUTOU hUION PEMYAS EN hOMOIWMATI SARKOS hAMARTIAS KAI PERI hAMARTIAS KATEKRINEN THN hAMARTIAN EN THi SARKI· hINA TO DIKAIWMA TOU NOMOU PLHRWQHi EN hHMIN, TOIS MH KATA SARKA PERIPATOUSIN, ALLA KATA PNEUMA.
What most interests me is vv. 3-4. BDAG (2,b) understands Τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου, TO GAR ADUNATON TOU NOMOU, as "what is impossible for the law (God has done)" and refers to BDF, 263,2 "Τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου ‘the one thing the law could not do’, not abstract". This takes the sentence as a bit of an anacoluthon: "For, what was impossible to the law, in that it was impotent because of the flesh, God, sending his very own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh..., and as a sin offering, he condemned sin in the flesh"; an understanding that gives a good sense if not a little tortuous, as Paul jumps from thought to thought (but Paul is not here on his first broken sentence! He does it again just a few verses later, in 8:12-13). It's translated that way in several recent versions (NRS, NASB, NIV) and that's the way I've also understood it up to now.
I'm wondering, though, if other possibilities are viable contenders. Could Τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου, for instance, be understood as a kind of Accusative of reference? "For regarding the inability of the law, in that is was impotent because of the flesh". That would have the advantage of construing 3b-4 as a complete clause. It would also create an explanation in connection with v. 1, i.e., "There is therefore now no condemnation in Christ Jesus... (because) God condemned sin in the flesh". Other construals might also be possible.
I'm not necessarily advocating understanding this passage in another way than the usual one. But verse 4 seems to be difficult on any count, and it might be worth wrestling with it to see if more clarity can come out of it.
Anybody's thoughts?
Donald Cobb
Aix-en-provence
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