David,David Lim wrote:Iver, I'd agree on verse 24 but why do you take verse 16 with that particular sense that you propose? Do you have any examples of "εν" functioning with that sense? My reason for taking it the way I did was because "εν" is easily read to denote an (indirect) agent, which I think fits the context much better because that is precisely what the writer is trying to prove, that he is an agent of God in announcing the glad tidings to the nations.Iver Larsen wrote:Louw and Nida has 21 entries for ἐν.Wes Wood wrote:At this point I don't have much to add, but on my first quick read the author's usage of ἐν At the beginning of verse 16 and in verse 24 stood out to me. It is not necessarily what I would expect to see.
In verse 16 what makes most sense in the context is m to (experiencer): #90.56 he revealed his son to me.
In verse 24 I would choose k with regard to (specification): #89.5 they praised God with respect to me or possibly q because (reason): 89.26 they praised God because of me (i.e. what happened to me).
89.5 markers of an area of activity which bears some relation to something else - ‘in, about, in the case of, with regard to
89.26 markers of cause or reason, with focus upon instrumentality, either of objects or events - ‘because of, on account of, by reason of.
90.56 a marker of an experiencer of an event - ‘in relation to, with respect to, to.’
It is not uncommon for εν to denote the semantic role of Experiencer. The entry I referred to in Louw and Nida has the following examples:
90.56 ἐν: a marker of an experiencer of an event—‘in relation to, with respect to, to.’14 ἐποίησαν ἐν αὐτῷ ὅσα ἠθέλησαν ‘they did to him as they pleased’ Mt 17:12; καλὸν ἔργον ἠργάσατο ἐν ἐμοί ‘she has done a fine thing to me’ Mk 14:6; πᾶς οὖν ὅστις ὁμολογήσει ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ‘therefore everyone who confesses me before people’ Mt 10:32; οὐκ ἔγραψα δὲ ταῦτα ἵνα οὕτως γένηται ἐν ἐμοί ‘I have not written these things in order that this might happen to me’ 1 Cor 9:15; ἀποκαλύψαι τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν ἐμοί ‘to reveal his Son to me’ Ga 1:16.
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains. New York: United Bible Societies.
Almost all the meaning-based Bible translations I have checked agree, e.g. CEB, CEV, God's Word, Good News, The Message, NCV, NLT.
In the context, Paul is giving his testimony about his persecution of the church and 1:16 fits perfectly with his vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus as well as the task he was given at that time to preach to the Gentiles. So, if we read Galatains and Acts together, I can see no other reasonable option.