[B-Greek] 1 Peter 3:21 - for real, finished, at last

Liz Winter ebwinter at yahoo.com
Tue Mar 3 14:34:30 EST 2009


Hello, all.
 
Please forgive my multiple messages. My computer and I are not getting along. Here is my question:
 
I Peter 3:21 explains that baptism, prefigured by Noah and the flood, is "OU SARKOS APOQESIS hRUPOU ALLA SUNEIDHSEWS AGAQHS EPERWTHMA EIS QEON."
 
I'm struggling with the best translation of SUNEIDHSEWS AGAQHS EPERWTHMA EIS QEON and confused by what I'm finding as I research. Sample translations - KJV: "the answer of a good conscience toward God." NIV: "the pledge of a good conscience towards God" (with a note offering "response" as an alternate translation of "pledge.") ESV: "the appeal to God for a good conscience." 
 
As I researched the definition of EPERWTHMA, everything I found was along the lines of questions, requests, appeals. My Liddell and Scott defines it as “a question.” I didn’t find the term anywhere else in the NT, so it’s hard to compare, but where EPERWTAW is used it seems to be consistently about asking, inquiring, demanding, NOT answering, responding, pledging. 
 
However, my NT Greek lexicon gave “promise” as one of the definitions of EPERWTHMA and multiple translations have taken this route.
 
The ESV “appeal to God for a good conscience” makes most sense to me, but clearly not to many translators. What do you think?
 
Best, 
 
Liz

--- On Tue, 3/3/09, Liz Winter <ebwinter at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Liz Winter <ebwinter at yahoo.com>
Subject: [B-Greek] 1 Peter 3:21
To: B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 1:22 PM

Hello, all.
 
I Peter 3:21 explains that baptism, prefigured by Noah and the flood, is
"OU SARKOS APOQESIS hRUPOU ALLA SUNEIDHSEWS AGAQHS EPERWTHMA EIS
QEON."
 
I'm struggling with the best translation of SUNEIDHSEWS AGAQHS EPERWTHMA
EIS QEON and confused by what I'm finding as I research. KJV: "the
answer of a good conscience toward God." NIV: "the pledge of a good
conscience towards God" (with a note offering "response" as an
alternate translation of "pledge.") ESV: "the appeal to God for a
good conscience."
 
As I researched the definition of EPERWTHMA, 


      
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