[B-Greek] metaphors in 2Cor 3-4

Elizabeth Kline kline_dekooning at earthlink.net
Thu Feb 11 14:05:02 EST 2010


On Feb 9, 2010, at 3:20 PM, Yancy Smith wrote:

> The form of the conditional statement is straightforward enough (apart from the temporal/conditional polysemy of hHINIKA) but the content is metaphorical. It cannot represent a real state of affairs if it has to do with veils and reading and hearts all the rest. And here, I think, is where the breakdown in meaning occurs ...

Yancy's comments about misunderstanding metaphors kept coming to mind as I took yet another look at Paul's use of figurative language in 2Cor 3-4. In this context Paul seems to be weaving a complex web of metaphors having to do with visual perception.

2Cor. 3:7 Εἰ δὲ ἡ διακονία τοῦ θανάτου ἐν γράμμασιν ἐντετυπωμένη λίθοις ἐγενήθη ἐν δόξῃ, ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι ἀτενίσαι τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον Μωϋσέως διὰ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ τὴν καταργουμένην, 
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2Cor. 3:7 EI DE hH DIAKONIA TOU QANATOU EN GRAMMASIN ENTETUPWMENH LIQOIS EGENHQH EN DOXHi, hWSTE MH DUNASQAI ATENISAI TOUS hUIOUS ISRAHL EIS TO PROSWPON MWUSEWS DIA THN DOXAN TOU PROSWPOU AUTOU THN KATARGOUMENHN,  
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Here Paul introduces TO PROSWPON MWUSEWS noting that MH DUNASQAI ATENISAI TOUS hUIOUS ISRAHL EIS TO PROSWPON MWUSEWS. What might appear at first as just an historical detail, MH DUNASQAI ATENISAI ... on further reflection looks like the beginning of a thread "the inability of TOUS hUIOUS ISRAHL to fix their eyes on, to see, to understand, to look at, to perceive ... ".   In Paul's metaphor this inability to "see" begins at the giving of the Sinai covenant and continues ACRI THS SHMERON ... hEWS SHMERON   2Cor 3:14-15.  
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 2Cor. 4:3 εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔστιν κεκαλυμμένον τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἡμῶν, ἐν τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις ἐστὶν κεκαλυμμένον,  4 ἐν οἷς ὁ θεὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἐτύφλωσεν τὰ νοήματα τῶν ἀπίστων εἰς τὸ μὴ αὐγάσαι τὸν φωτισμὸν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ. 
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2Cor. 4:3 EI DE KAI ESTIN KEKALUMMENON TO EUAGGELION hHMWN, EN TOIS APOLLUMENOIS ESTIN KEKALUMMENON,  4 EN hOIS hO QEOS TOU AIWNOS TOUTOU ETUFLWSEN TA NOHMATA TWN APISTWN EIS TO MH AUGASAI TON FWTISMON TOU EUAGGELIOU THS DOXHS TOU CRISTOU, hOS ESTIN EIKWN TOU QEOU.
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In 2Cor 4:4 the visual metaphor is used with TA NOHMATA,  hO QEOS TOU AIWNOS TOUTOU ETUFLWSEN TA NOHMATA TWN APISTWN which suggests to me the possibility that we might also read 2Cor 3:14  EPWRWQH TA NOHMATA AUTWN as a visual metaphor, see Job 17:17. 
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2Cor. 3:14 ἀλλὰ ἐπωρώθη τὰ νοήματα αὐτῶν.
2Cor. 3:14 ALLA EPWRWQH TA NOHMATA AUTWN.
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Job 17:6 ἔθου δέ με θρύλημα ἐν ἔθνεσιν γέλως δὲ αὐτοῖς ἀπέβην  7 πεπώρωνται γὰρ ἀπὸ ὀργῆς οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου πεπολιόρκημαι μεγάλως ὑπὸ πάντων
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Job 17:6 EQOU DE ME QRULHMA EN EQNESIN GELWS DE AUTOIS APEBHN  7 PEPWRWNTAI GAR APO ORGHS hOI OFQALMOI MOU PEPOLIORKHMAI MEGALWS hUPO PANTWN.
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It appears that the "state of affairs" represented under these various visual metaphors is for Paul a condition that obtains from Moses at Sinai ACRI THS SHMERON ... EN TOIS APOLLUMENOIS.

 




Elizabeth Kline
 






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