[B-Greek] PAS and POLUS

James Ernest j.d.ernest at bc.edu
Tue Jan 18 09:07:48 EST 2011


> PAS with article = ALL
> without article = MANY

Really? Who made that rule? (Rules like this always remind me of Lucy's
"little-known facts." When Charlie Brown asks her how, if they're
little-known, she comes to know them. "I make 'em up.")

> the argument was made that because 'many' does not mean 'all', then
> the use of POLUS in Romans 5:19 necessarily limits the scope of PAS in
v. 18.

You could just as plausibly say that the scope of POLUS (which in a
one-versus-many context could quite naturally imply "all") is limited by the
preceding PAS: "all" always has a frame of reference (all what? or all who?)
Doesn't the Adam/Christ discussion in Romans 5 occur in the context of a
Jews/all-humanity discussion in the epistle as a whole?

I don't know what "all" means in the context of the conversation that
prompted the initial post. If it's an argument about universalism (in the
sense of the salvation of every individual human), I don't think Paul is
addressing that question here. If you want to address it, Sam, you'll have
to do so in the context of a larger exegetical, hermeneutical, and
theological project. Lexicon entries and rules about articles (especially
bogus rules) won't help you (or, in this case, your opponents).

James Ernest



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