[B-Greek] Form versus Meaning (Was Meaning of EIS in Galatians 6:8
Donald Cobb
docobb at orange.fr
Wed Jun 30 00:39:36 EDT 2010
I'm a little surprised no one up to this point has taken εἰς EIS other
than in a "geographical" sense.
I would translate it as denoting either purpose "with a view to" or
reference "with respect to." Both of these are standard uses of the
particle in Paul and elsewhere (see, e.g., BDAG). Perhaps the problem is
with taking SPEIRW EIS together, rather than considering that Paul
perhaps doesn't carry the metaphor of "sowing/reaping" beyond the verbs
themselves.
At any rate, if the metaphor might just work with the first member of v.
8 (ὅτι ὁ σπείρων εἰς τὴν σάρκα ἑαυτοῦ, hOTI hO SPEIRWN EIS THN SARKA
hEAUTOU), I have a hard time seeing how it would fit in the second (ὁ δὲ
σπείρων εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα, hO DE SPEIRWN EIS TO PNEUMA).
"Sowing with a view to the flesh/Spirit" or "sowing with respect to the
flesh/Spirit" seems to me at any rate much easier and more satisfying in
terms of meaning than wanting to maintain the "base meaning" of EIS
here, and it doesn't require a redefinition of the particle with regard
to its usual usage.
Donald COBB
Aix-en-Provence, France
> Paul uses Spirit as the impetus for freedom from law and circumcision (the "flesh" of Jewish ethnicity) in the first part of the letter. But in 5:13ff he uses Spirit as the inhibitor of the evil impulses associated with Gentile flesh, or ethnicity. So it appears that just if the Gentile believers submit to circumcision that would the same effect as their practicing inhereted paterns of magic, idolatry, or sexual sin, or carrying on with contentions that destroy community and love. A life corrupted by the “flesh” in these ways cannot “inherit the Kingdom of God” (5:21). In this sense, “sowing into the flesh” means nothing less than “giving an opportunity to the flesh” (5:13), and the very opposite of “crucifying the flesh” (5:24). In either case, the end will be φθορά FQORA (“eternal destruction”).
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