[B-Greek] Ephesians 2:8 - Anaphoric Use of the Article

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Fri Jul 24 08:47:18 EDT 2009


On Jul 24, 2009, at 8:15 AM, rhutchin at aol.com wrote:

>
> Is it possible that the introduction of the article in 2:8  
> (THi...CHARITI) could be read/translated as, "For the grace by which  
> you are saved, (it is) through faith...not works..."?
>
> It seems to be that the claim of anything anaphora in theis verse  
> adds nothing to our understanding of the verse and only confuses  
> matters.? Hendricksen's reference to this is the footnote should  
> have been accompanied by a discussion about what it adds to our  
> understanding of the verse and why anyone should even care about it.

For my part, I don't think that the article in 2:8 is itself  
anaphoric. I DO think, however, that THi CARITI in 2:8 clearly refers  
back to CARITI ESTE SESWiSMENOI in 2:5 and to TO hUPERBALLON PLOUTOS  
THS CARITOS AUTOU in 2:7; I don't see how we can doubt that there is a  
recurrent emphatic reference to CARIS in this passage that is  
recapitulated in verse 8.

5 καὶ ὄντας ἡμᾶς νεκροὺς τοῖς  
παραπτώμασιν συνεζωοποίησεν τῷ  
Χριστῷ, _ χάριτί ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι _  6  
καὶ συνήγειρεν καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν  
τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ,  7  
ἵνα ἐνδείξηται ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσιν τοῖς  
ἐπερχομένοις τὸ ὑπερβάλλον πλοῦτος  
τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ ἐν χρηστότητι  
ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.  8 Τῇ γὰρ  
χάριτί ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διὰ  
πίστεως· καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν,  
θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον·  9 οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων, ἵνα  
μή τις καυχήσηται.
5 KAI ONTAS hHMAS NEKROUS TOIS PARAPTWMASIN SUNEZWOPOIHSEN TWi  
CRISTWi, _ CARITI ESTE SESWiSMENOI _ 6 KAI SUNHGEIREN KAI SUNEKAQISEN  
EN TOIS EPOURANIOIS EN CRISTWi IHSOU, 7 hINA ENDEIXHTAI EN TOIS AIWSIN  
TOIS EPERCOMENOIS TO hUPERBALLON PLOUTOS THS CARITOS AUTOU EN  
CRHSTOTHTI EF᾿ hHMAS EN CRISTWi IHSOU. 8 THi GAR CARITI ESTE  
SESWiSMENOI DIA PISTEWS· KAI TOUTO OUK EX hUMWN, QEOU TO DWRON· 9 OUK  
EX ERGWN, hINA MH TIS KAUCHSHTAI.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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