Re: Eph 2:9-10 OUK EX ERGON, AUTOU GAR ESMEN POIHMA

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Fri Jul 03 1998 - 14:52:29 EDT


At 7:31 AM -0400 7/03/98, Jonathan Robie wrote:
>Is there an intended parallelism between ERGON and POIHMA here?

Yes, I would say so: I think this is very much like yesterday's parallelism
between TO BLEPOMENON and EK FAINOMENWN.

They are
>similar in their basic meaning:
>
>Eph 2:9-10 OUK EX ERGON, AUTOU GAR ESMEN POIHMA
>
>Is this making the point that salvation is "not by (our) work, we are his
>work"?

But a bit stronger, methinks. ERGON means "product," "achievement," while
POIHMA has more of an overtone of "work of art," "artistic creation."
Moreover, POIHMA echoes the LXX use of POIEW for God's original creative
work. (Gen 1:1 EN ARCHi EPOIHSEN ...).

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

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