[B-Greek] 1 Tim4:10 and Gal. 6:10 PANTAS and PANTWN ANQRWPWN

yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Thu May 6 08:32:54 EDT 2010


The parallel in Gal. 6:10 and 1 Tim 4:10 is striking and seems to be a feature of Pauline style (without prejudicing the authorship of the Pastorals). Ἄρα οὖν ὡς καιρὸν ἔχομεν, ἐργαζώμεθα τὸ ἀγαθὸν πρὸς πάντας, μάλιστα δὲ πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους τῆς πίστεως. Paul makes a general appeal: ἐργαζώμεθα τὸ ἀγαθὸν πρὸς πάντας … (“let us do the good to all mankind …”). The broadly understood exhortation ἐργαζώμεθα τὸ ἀγαθόν (“let us do good”) is a practical counterpoint to the exclusive ethnically Jewish, “doing the works of the Law” against which Paul argued in the Galatians.  This is "faith working/expressed through love" (Gal. 5:6), a “fruit of the Spirit” (cf. 5:22).  Paul expects the believers to do good to all mankind. Perhaps this is linked to his understanding of the universal character of God’s redemption. If God’s redemption in Christ is for all nations, the Christian community is obliged to disregard all ethnic, national, cultural, social, sexual, and even religious distinctions within the human community redeemed by Christ (Gal. 3:26-29), but also for those outside the faith. This is an imitation of God, who shows no partiality. So believers show no partiality in their love for others.
But it is remarkable that Paul's appeal modifies it with qualification: μάλιστα δὲ πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους τῆς πίστεως (“but especially towards those who belong to the household of the faith”). This paradox seems very much like the paradox of 1 Tim 4:10. In Galatians the phrase “members of the household of faith” certainly refers to fellow Christians. In the same way that the “household” is tiny by comparison to "all people," "those who believe" also represent a smaller group within πάντων ἀνθρώπων just as πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους τῆς πίστεως represents a smaller group within πρὸς πάντας. In this case the "intensification" function is one of whole to part.

Yancy Smith, PhD
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Y.W.Smith at tcu.edu
yancy at wbtc.com
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