[B-Greek] when syntax doesn't get you there -- Eph 4:9b
Elizabeth Kline
kline_dekooning at earthlink.net
Mon Mar 29 13:00:29 EDT 2010
On Mar 29, 2010, at 3:36 AM, yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net wrote:
> For the ancient Christian preachers like Paul NOT to address Christ's victory over death in terms of that world would be simply astounding.
Thank you Yancy and Bryant for your contributions.
After a fresh look a Hoenher's treatment, I agree with most of what he says. I agree that the THS GHS is probably partitive. However, I think the early church got this one right and will continue to hold that the referent of KATEBH EIS TA KATWTERA [MERH] THS GHS is a decent into the underworld since C.E. Arnold makes an excellent case for this in terms of the cultural presuppositions of the target audience.
Why all the fuss and bother of this? Primarily it is a matter of the order in which we do things. IMO syntax analysis is not primary. It doesn't come first. By the time I get to syntax analysis the meaning of the text has already been more or less determined by constructing a semantic representation of the situation. If you want this boiled down into a formula, meaning precedes form. You don't find the meaning by fussing about the form of the text.
Elizabeth Kline
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