[B-Greek] Philippians 1:28
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Mon Jul 20 09:22:48 EDT 2009
Donald EGRAPSE,
> 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.
I agree with Donald and Iver, the TOUTO is a DEICTIC pronoun referring
to the hostility of the opponents, but I would add that it also refers
both the the opportunity afforded by that hostility but especially to
the results of that hostility, the resistance and unified endurance of
the beleivers to which Paul alludes. That resistance is encouraged by
Paul's words, STHKETE ... MIAi YUCHi SUNAQLOUNTES THi PISTEI TOU
EUAGGELIOU." Resistance on the part of those who were considered in
some measure (however small) as non-patriotic or enemies of Rome would
be interpretted as a 'demonstration' of their rapidly approaching
demise APWLEIAS, they would suffer the consequence of their obstinate
refusal to abandon the worship of a Judean Rabbi turned divine being.
People loyal to Rome were under oath to persecute those they suspected
of not being loyal to Rome. On the other hand, Paul interprets their
resistance in the light of the gospel as a proof of their salvation,
SWTERIAS. The TOUTO refers to the entire situation as the opportunity
to turn opposition and supposed destruction into salvation. The whole
statement is very likely ironic, because the unbelieving opponents
would have interpreted the suffering of the believers as "APO QEOS"
just as the on-lookers in the servant song of Isaiah 53 interpreted
the suffering of the servant as of one "smitten by God."
Yancy Smith, PhD
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Y.W.Smith at tcu.edu
yancy at wbtc.com
5636 Wedgworth Road
Fort Worth, TX 76133
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