ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ

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Larry Wise
Posts: 19
Joined: April 8th, 2013, 12:03 pm

ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ

Post by Larry Wise »

Greetings,

2 Peter 3:4 καὶ λέγοντες ποῦ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ; ἀφ᾽ ἧς γὰρ οἱ πατέρες ἐκοιμήθησαν, πάντα οὕτως διαμένει ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως.

When I do a parse search on ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ from 2 Peter 3:4 I arrive at an apparent conflict with John 19:25, among others, which is one resultant in the search.

John 19:25 has the same parse: Εἱστήκεισαν δὲ παρὰ τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ ἀδελφὴ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ, Μαρία ἡ τοῦ Κλωπᾶ καὶ Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή.

I propose that ἡ ἐπαγγελία of 2 Peter 3:4 is not τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, but a feature associated with τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ. During His παρουσίας the ἐπαγγελία was to bring about some changes that had evidently not yet occurred and the scoffers did scoff. That the παρουσίας αὐτοῦ was in place is not challenged, but the associated changes related to the ἐπαγγελία are under comment by the scoffers.

As additional confirmation, this parsing pattern is also found in Mark 15:26, Ephesians 1:18, Revelation 11:19 and 14:7. When evaluating and translating ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ in 2 Peter 3:4, why is παρουσίας made to be the ἐπαγγελία? If this is to be the case, then from John 19:25 “the sister” of the mother of Him would be His mother.

Thank you for your constructive input.
Larry Wise
timothy_p_mcmahon
Posts: 259
Joined: June 3rd, 2011, 10:47 pm

Re: ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ

Post by timothy_p_mcmahon »

I don't think other interpreters are taking παρουσίας as in apposition to ἐπαγγελία, but, rather, that they're taking ἐπαγγελία as referring by metonymy to the realization of the promise, similar to such texts as Hebrews 10:36, ινα το θελημα του θεου ποιησαντες κομισησθε την επαγγελιαν.

On an exegetical level, I'm not sure how the scoffers would have believed that the παρουσία of Christ was 'in place'.
David Lim
Posts: 901
Joined: June 6th, 2011, 6:55 am

Re: ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ

Post by David Lim »

Larry Wise wrote:When I do a parse search on ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ from 2 Peter 3:4 I arrive at an apparent conflict with John 19:25, among others, which is one resultant in the search.
The genitive has various meanings. In this case "ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ" means "the promise of his arrival" / "the promise that he will come". Morphology does not tell the whole story, and in many cases you need the context to tell you which sense of the genitive is used. Excluding use in grammatical constructions such as with verbs or prepositions, the genitive usually denotes possession in some sense, which applies to John 19:25. But "ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ" can't be interpreted that way and "επαγγελια" has an implicit verbal verbal idea that naturally takes "την παρουσιαν αυτου" as an object.
δαυιδ λιμ
George F Somsel
Posts: 172
Joined: May 9th, 2011, 10:11 am

Re: ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ

Post by George F Somsel »

It appears to me that what we have in ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας is a genitive of content. The promise consists in his coming which is the point of the quotation πάντα οὕτως διαμένει ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως. (It's always been this way and nothing ever changes.). In other words, the scoffers say that the coming of God to right the wrongs of the world is a vain hope.
george
gfsomsel



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Larry Wise
Posts: 19
Joined: April 8th, 2013, 12:03 pm

Re: ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ

Post by Larry Wise »

05-27-2013
timothy_p_mcmahon wrote: …ἐπαγγελία as referring by metonymy to the realization of the promise…
Hello Timothy, This may be accurate, but I believe it to be preferred to exhaust the “genitive” options prior to ascending the figure of speech pathway. I may need to examine this approach more carefully, in the meantime please bear with me. Thank you for your reply. Please add more clarification as needed.
David Lim wrote: …"επαγγελια" has an implicit verbal idea that naturally takes "την παρουσιαν αυτου" as an object…
Hello David, I would understand your approach as Verbal-objective Genitive. There is merit in this approach, though it seems to shift far away from the general adjective and possessive qualities of the genitive case. I understand the context sometimes will focus the direction away from these qualities, but I think staying as close as possible to basic genitive is best. Thank you for your time and consideration. Please add more clarification as needed.
George F Somsel wrote: … ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας is a genitive of content…
Hello George, I would understand your approach as Adjectival-content Genitive. There is merit in this approach. Thank you for your response. Please add more clarification as needed.

To the above I will add two more approaches:
textual note from NetBible wrote: “Grk “Where is the promise of his coming?” The genitive παρουσίας (parousia", “coming, advent, return”) is best taken as an attributed genitive (in which the head noun, promise, functions semantically as an adjective; see ExSyn 89-91)”
This I would understand this approach as Adjectival-attributed Genitive.
Wallace~From Greek Grammar Beyond the Basic, page 84 wrote: The partitive genitive is semantically the opposite of the genitive of appo¬sition. While the partitive designates the whole of which the head noun is a part, the genitive of apposition designates a particular within the class described by the head noun. The important thing to keep in mind here is that, though semantically opposite, sometimes they are structurally identi¬cal. (See under “Genitive of Apposition” for discussion and diagram).
This I would understand this approach as Adjectival-partitive Genitive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At this point I would tend to favor an Adjectival-form Genitive or Verbal-objective Genitive approach. Why would the partitive genitive not be a viable option? Since we are into semantic and contextual nuances it should be duly noted regarding the flow of the context before and after verse 4 (2 Peter 3), which has impact on the discussion at hand.

In 2 Peter 3:3 (τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες ὅτι ἐλεύσονται ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν [ἐν] ἐμπαιγμονῇ ἐμπαῖκται κατὰ τὰς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας αὐτῶν πορευόμενοι) a “timeframe” is provided in the context to which Peter will be illuminating. The timeframe is ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν (the last days) and those “last days” had not arrived at the time the epistle was written indicated by the future tense of ἐλεύσονται (shall be coming).

In verse 4 the “last days” (future tense) scoffers identify a particular promise that was yet unfulfilled. Here then is the main thrust of this tread: 1) Is "ἡ ἐπαγγελία” somehow “describing, or equal to” “τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ"? or, 2) Is “ἡ ἐπαγγελία” to be somehow “associated/related” with/to “τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ"?, or, 3) Something other?

In a contextual flow, verses 5-8 seem parenthetical to the topic raised by the scoffers and focuses attention on the scoffers rather than their pronouncement, except verse 8 which is targeted at the “beloved” (ἀγαπητοί).

Peter gets off his parenthetical track, moving the discourse along in verse 9: οὐ βραδύνει κύριος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ὥς τινες βραδύτητα ἡγοῦνται, ἀλλὰ μακροθυμεῖ εἰς ὑμᾶς, μὴ βουλόμενός τινας ἀπολέσθαι ἀλλὰ πάντας εἰς μετάνοιαν χωρῆσαι. To get back on track, he brings into play again “the επαγγελια", this time with a genitive form within the phrase “οὐ βραδύνει κύριος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας”. [For some reason Peter does not reference the genitive “παρουσίας” as in verse 4. Peter will move forward in his discourse to another parousia in verse 12 and other associated promises in verse 13.] Peter brings forward “the επαγγελια" from verse 4 to verse 9 to elaborate reasons for the scoffers’ folly.

Ἥξει δὲ ἡμέρα κυρίου ὡς κλέπτης, ἐν ᾗ οἱ οὐρανοὶ ῥοιζηδὸν παρελεύσονται στοιχεῖα δὲ καυσούμενα λυθήσεται καὶ γῆ καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔργα εὑρεθήσεται. (2Pe 3:10) The “επαγγελια" is identified in verse 10 as the “Ἥξει ἡμέρα κυρίου”. It is this, the “ἡμέρα κυρίου”, which is “Ἥξει” (arriving-future tense), after the “last days” commence (vs. 3) and to which the scoffers spoke as an unrealized expectation.

“Ἥξει ἡμέρα κυρίου”, "ἡ ἐπαγγελία”, “ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν”, “ἐμπαῖκται” seem active and/or activated during “τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ”, but it seems none of these are His parousia. What viable impact does this approach, if any, have on the genitive parousia in verse 4?

Is this reasoning too far afield from the biblical new testament Greek?
Larry Wise
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