[B-Greek] 2Cor. 1:21-22

Elizabeth Kline kline_dekooning at earthlink.net
Tue Jun 9 15:30:36 EDT 2009


2Cor. 1:21 ὁ δὲ βεβαιῶν ἡμᾶς σὺν ὑμῖν  
εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ χρίσας ἡμᾶς θεός,  22  
ὁ καὶ σφραγισάμενος ἡμᾶς καὶ δοὺς  
τὸν ἀρραβῶνα τοῦ πνεύματος ἐν ταῖς  
καρδίαις ἡμῶν.

2Cor. 5:5 ὁ δὲ κατεργασάμενος ἡμᾶς εἰς  
αὐτὸ τοῦτο θεός, ὁ δοὺς ἡμῖν τὸν  
ἀρραβῶνα τοῦ πνεύματος.

2COR. 1:21 hO DE BEBAIWN hHMAS SUN hUMIN EIS CRISTON KAI CRISAS hHMAS  
QEOS,  22 hO KAI SFRAGISAMENOS hHMAS KAI DOUS TON ARRABWNA TOU  
PNEUMATOS EN TAIS KARDIAIS hHMWN.

2COR. 5:5 hO DE KATERGASAMENOS hHMAS EIS AUTO TOUTO QEOS, hO DOUS  
hHMIN TON ARRABWNA TOU PNEUMATOS.

Occasionally the consensus reading of a text is so well established  
that no alternative is even suggested. Reading M.J. Harris:2005 (2cor  
NIGTC) on 2Cor. 1:21-22 one might conclude that taking  hO DE BEBAIWN  
hHMAS ...  QEOS as a verbless predication is the only viable option  
(see also 2Cor 5:5). The only question up for discussion seems to be  
which constituent is the subject.

But looking into the 19th century (Alford, Meyer) we discover some  
disagreements. Meyer cites two scholars who prefer to read hO DE  
BEBAIWN hHMAS ...  QEOS as the subject, with everything in between  
" ... " modifying the subject and hO KAI SFRAGISAMENOS as the  
predicate).

Reading outside the biblical greek texts, one can discover plenty of  
examples where a complex subject is split with modifiers placed  
between the components of the subject. I am not saying this is the  
best way to read 2Cor. 1:21-22, but it should at least be considered  
as an option worth looking at even if, at the end of the day, we end  
up joining the consensus.


Elizabeth Kline







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