[B-Greek] Rom 8:4, "That which is impossible to the law"
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Wed Aug 26 13:54:01 EDT 2009
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald COBB" <docobb at orange.fr>
To: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: 26. august 2009 14:50
Subject: [B-Greek] Rom 8:4, "That which is impossible to the law"
> 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
In my view your alternative sounds much more appealing than the traditional
analysis for several reasons:
1. When ADUNATOS is used in the sense of "it is impossible" it is construed with
an accusative and infinitive. That is not the case here. There is no verb "to
do" and NOMOU is genitive. I am uncomfortable having to supply "to do" first and
then add "did" later as NIV does:
"For what the law was powerless *to do* in that it was weakened by the sinful
nature, God *did*..."
2. ADUNATOS is construed with a dative if it is something that a person cannot
do.
3. BAGD gives examples of TO ADUNATON meaning "inability":
1. act. powerless, impotent (since Epicharmus, Hdt., Eur.; inscr., pap., LXX).
...
b. subst. ... Dg 9:6b.—TO ADUNATON inability EIS TO TUCEIN 6a; TO KAQ' hEAUTOUS
ADUNATON EISELQEIN our own inability to enter 9:1.
Can someone give us the contexts referred to here?
If we take this option, ADUNATON is to be listed under the active sense 1 of
"powerless, impotent" rather than the passive sense 2 of "impossible". This fits
better with the genitive: the inability of the law.
It is still an unusual construction. How does one explain the rest of the
sentence?
Iver Larsen
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