[B-Greek] Semitic features in Eph 2:10 (Was Attraction of the Relative...)
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Wed Dec 16 00:59:09 EST 2009
I which I address what George wrote about my obsession with semitic influence.
> One must exclude any passages taken from the Apocalypse from consideration of whether there is Semitic influence on the NT since it seems to have been deliberately written in a Semitizing style.
and also
> Likewise, if a quotation or allusion to the LXX is under consideration that falls outside the purview of discussion as well since the LXX is translation Greek which at times attempts to slavishly follow the Hebrew.
Wow, OR allusion. Really? so what percent of the NT is outside the purview?
> I again note that the onus lies on you to support your case that there is any considerable influence from a Semitic background on the NT.
I'm not sure what you mean.
> What is required is a diligent consideration of the non-canonical literature in Koine of the period which would be considered to not have Semitic influence showing that the features such as attraction are NOT TO BE FOUND in them.
Fair enough. But I have NOT been saying that "attraction" is a result of semitic influence. Far from it. Rather, I have been saying that Ephesians 2:10 looks to me like a case built upon semitic model: relative phrase + infinitive (in this case a hINA imbed that functions as an infinitive) + preposition + pronomial suffix. Or, possibly a LXX model. So, I see no reason why the relative could not be [uncessesarily] strengthened based upon structure of "that you may walk in them" אֲשֶׁר תֵּלְכוּ־בָהֶם 'aSHeR .... TeLCU (HaLaCH) BaHeM. The assimilation of οἷς is to both ἐπὶ ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς and ἐν αὐτοῖς.
Now, I don't think that it changes the meaning of the verse much. I would English it this way:
For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should live out.
So, here is the case for Semitic influence. I think all the semitic-influenced pieces add up to a semitic influenced whole. The case is based upon a confluence of constituent parts all of which point to LXX or semitic influence.
A cursory search of the entire corpus of Greek literature reveals that the phrase "walk in works/work" is only found in the Pauline epistles (with pronoun Eph 2:10; Col. 1:10) or in passages in the church fathers influenced by him. Nevertheless, you can count the instances on one foot. And "walk" PERIPATEIN used in the sense of "to go about living" is hugely based upon LXX usage. Thus, BDAG, s.v. περιπατἐω 2 a lists three "sort of" examples of the meaning "walk" as in walk of life from Philodemus and Epictetus (with one quote from Simplicius) but says "Especially according to OT models, ἐν ὁδοῖς δικαιοσύνης. In the NT this use of the word is decidedly Pauline (the pastoral epp. do not have the word at all); elsewh[ere] it is reasonably common only in 2J and 3J live conduct oneself, walk, always more exactly defined.
A cursory search of the LXX reveals that, voilà, there are sufficient cases to serve as a model, as BDAG suggests. There are MANY other examples with synonyms of "walk" besides these.
4Reigns 20:3 περιεπάτησα ἐνώπιόν σου ἐν ἀληθείᾳ καὶ ἐν καρδίᾳ πλήρει καὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου ἐποίησα
I walked before you in truth and with a full heart and did what was good in your sight
Prov. 8:20
ἐν ὁδοῖς δικαιοσύνης περιπατῶ
καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τρίβων δικαιώματος ἀναστρέφομαι,
I walk in ways of justice
and along paths of what is right I wander
Eccl 11:9
Εὐφραίνου, νεανίσκε, ἐν νεότητί σου,
καὶ ἀγαθυνάτω σε ἡ καρδία σου ἐν ἡμέραις νεότητός σου,
καὶ περιπάτει ἐν ὁδοῖς καρδίας σου
καὶ ἐν ὁράσει ὀφθαλμῶν σου
καὶ γνῶθι ὅτι ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις ἄξει σε ὁ θεὸς ἐν κρίσει.
Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart do you good in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and by the sight of your eyes and know that of r all these things God will bring you into judgment.
So in Eph 2:2 ποτε περιεπατήσατε κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου and 2:10 ἵνα ἐν αὐτοῖς περιπατήσωμεν are either semitizing Greek or LXX Greek. It might be difficult, to tell the two apart, but since the semantic unit "walk in works" is NEVER found in the LXX, then the likelihood is that it is a Semitizing structure. The phrase "walk in them" is found in (Heb not LXX) 1 Kings 6:12 וְשָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֹתַי לָלֶכֶת בָּהֶם "and you will be careful in all my commandments to walk in them." The relative clause particle aSHeR "which" followed by "walk in it/them" is found 14 times in biblical Hebrew.
It is only found in Greek in Ephesians 2:10 and later passages dependent upon it.
Yancy Smith, PhD
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Y.W.Smith at tcu.edu
yancy at wbtc.com
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