[B-Greek] Colossians 1:16 TA PANTA ... EITE ... EITE

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Sat Feb 20 02:44:43 EST 2010


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elizabeth Kline" <kline_dekooning at earthlink.net>
To: <nicky_dejong at sil.org>
Cc: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: 20. februar 2010 08:30
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Colossians 1:16 TA PANTA ... EITE ... EITE


>
> On Feb 19, 2010, at 11:20 AM, Nicky de Jong wrote:
>
>> I am trying to understand how the third part of Col. 1:16 relates to the rest 
>> of the verse.
>>
>>
>>
>> ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς,
>>
>> τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα,
>>
>> εἴτε θρόνοι εἴτε κυριότητες εἴτε ἀρχαὶ εἴτε ἐξουσίαι·
>>
>> τὰ πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται·
>>
>> hOTI EN AUTWi EKTISQH TA PANTA EN TOIS OURANOIS KAI EPI THS GHS,
>>
>> TA hORATA KAI TA ANORATA,
>>
>> EITE QRONOI EITE KURIOTHTES EITE ARCAI EITE EXOUSIAI·
>>
>> TA PANTA DI’ AUTOU KAI EIS AUTON EKTISAI·
>>
>>
>>
>> Mostly it is said that the EITE … EXOUSIAI phrase amplifies only TA ANORATA. 
>> Why would this be the preferred understanding? Is there anything in the 
>> grammar that justifies that? Since the first and fourth parts have TA PANTA I 
>> would assume that the EITE phrase applies to both TA hORATA and TA ANORATA.
>
> Not all questions are resolved by grammar. In this case EITE QRONOI EITE 
> KURIOTHTES EITE ARCAI EITE EXOUSIA all refer to entities which are known by 
> the original intended audience to be TA ANORATA. It is a question of 
> reference, not syntax.

What is the basis for this claim? QRONOI is obviously a metonym for those 
sitting on thrones. It is used often in the NT, but never referring to angels or 
demons. It implies both rulership and judgment. I am aware that BAGD suggests: 
"name of a class of supernatural beings", but there is no Biblical evidence 
given for such a contention, nor can I see any reason to impute this to Col 
1:16.

ARCAI and EXOUSIAI in themselves can refer to either human or spiritual rulers. 
In Luk 12:11 and Tit 3:1 the context indicates human rulers, but in Rom 8:38, 
Eph 3:10, 6:12, Col 2:15 it apparently refers to heavenly or spiritual rulers. 
Because of the affinity between Colossians and Ephesians, I would take the last 
two of the four words as referring to spiritual powers, the ANORATA, but I don't 
see any grammatical, contextual or lexical reason to take the first two to be 
anything but powers on earth, the hORATA EPI THS GHS.

Iver Larsen 




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