[B-Greek] Philippians 1:28

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Mon Jul 20 04:44:41 EDT 2009


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donald COBB" <docobb at orange.fr>
To: "Elizabeth Kline" <kline_dekooning at earthlink.net>; "greek B-Greek" 
<b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: 20. juli 2009 07:33
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Philippians 1:28


>I think the hOTI that follows clears up things to a good extent: Paul says
> in v. 29 "for (hOTI) it has has been freely given to you [...] also to
> suffer on his behalf", the hOTI developing what precedes. Vv. 27-28 talk
> generally of a situation of opposition (cf. ὑπὸ τῶν  ἀντικειμένων, hUPO TWN
> ANTIKEIMENWN, "those who oppose").
>
> I would venture to say that καὶ τοῦτο ἀπὸ θεοῦ, KAI TOUTO APO QEOU, refers
> globally to the hostility towards the readers, in whch it has been "freely
> given" (i.e., by God) to suffer for Christ. The demonstrative, then, does
> not refer back to a specific word (ENDEIXIS, SWTHRIA, etc.) but to the
> general situation Paul is evoking.

It is quite common that the neuter TOUTO can refer to a whole sentence or a 
concept as a whole. It is actually rare that TOUTO refers to one particular 
neuter noun.

A demonstrative like TOUTO may refer to something outside the text in the real 
world. Linguists call this (phenomenon, concept) deixis. Usually, it refers to a 
concept already introduced (anaphoric usage), but at times it serves to 
highlight a concept that is being introduced afterwards. (The same kataphoric 
usage applies to EN TOUTWi, especially in John's writings).

I was tempted for these verses to suggest that it refers to the whole concept of 
ἀξίως τοῦ εὐαγγελίου
τοῦ Χριστοῦ πολιτεύεσθε AXIWS TOU EUAGGELIOU TOU CRISTOU POLITEUESQE (see texts 
below), but I agree with Ronald that the focus in this context is how to live 
and respond when faced with opposition. I also agree that the hOTI clause in v. 
29 helps to explain what Paul is saying. This (suffering) is from God in the 
sense that it is part of the grace of God not only to believe, but also so 
suffer for him.

A related question is the sense of hOTI. It is possible to see the TOUTO here as 
kataphoric: And this is from God, namely, that it was given to you by grace not 
only to believe, but to suffer for him.

When I looked at the attempts of translation in various standard English 
versions, I was rather appalled to see how poorly they have handled it. As I see 
it, KJV, RSV and NIV are pretty meaningless, NET is both mistaken and 
meaningless while TEV has a strange twist, and NLT is simply wrong, just to 
mention a few.

Iver Larsen

>
 >> Phil. 1:27 Μόνον ἀξίως τοῦ εὐαγγελίου
>> τοῦ Χριστοῦ πολιτεύεσθε, ἵνα εἴτε
>> ἐλθὼν καὶ ἰδὼν ὑμᾶς εἴτε ἀπὼν
>> ἀκούω τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν, ὅτι στήκετε ἐν
>> ἑνὶ πνεύματι, μιᾷ ψυχῇ συναθλοῦντες
>> τῇ πίστει τοῦ εὐαγγελίου  28 καὶ μὴ
>> πτυρόμενοι ἐν μηδενὶ ὑπὸ τῶν
>> ἀντικειμένων, ἥτις ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς
>> ἔνδειξις ἀπωλείας, ὑμῶν δὲ
>> σωτηρίας, καὶ τοῦτο ἀπὸ θεοῦ·  29 ὅτι
>> ὑμῖν ἐχαρίσθη τὸ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ, οὐ
>> μόνον τὸ εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύειν ἀλλὰ
>> καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πάσχειν,  30 τὸν
>> αὐτὸν ἀγῶνα ἔχοντες, οἷον εἴδετε
>> ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ νῦν ἀκούετε ἐν ἐμοί.
>>
>>  PHIL. 1:27 MONON AXIWS TOU EUAGGELIOU TOU CRISTOU POLITEUESQE, hINA
>> EITE ELQWN KAI IDWN hUMAS EITE APWN AKOUW TA PERI hUMWN, hOTI STHKETE
>> EN hENI PNEUMATI, MIAi YUCHi SUNAQLOUNTES THi PISTEI TOU EUAGGELIOU 28
>> KAI MH PTUROMENOI EN MHDENI hUPO TWN ANTIKEIMENWN, hHTIS ESTIN AUTOIS
>> ENDEIXIS APWLEIAS, hUMWN DE SWTHRIAS, KAI TOUTO APO QEOU· 29 hOTI
>> hUMIN ECARISQH TO hUPER CRISTOU, OU MONON TO EIS AUTON PISTEUEIN ALLA
>> KAI TO hUPER AUTOU PASCEIN, 30 TON AUTON AGWNA ECONTES, hOION EIDETE
>> EN EMOI KAI NUN AKOUETE EN EMOI.
>>




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