Paul Thomson wrote:Why do you say "there is no noun in the clause"? κλητοῖς (invitees) is a noun?
It seems to me that κλητοῖς is a verbal adjective, especially in connection with οὖσιν.
Paul Thomson wrote:If κατὰ πρόθεσιν were adjectival, then the invitees under consideration are those who are κατὰ πρόθεσιν, as opposed to the invitees who are not κατὰ πρόθεσιν. By this I would consider Paul to be equating those who love God to those invitees who are living/behaving according to God's purpose, and he would be saying that God works all things for good for such people. There are invitees who are not living/behaving according to God's purpose, but are misbehaving. These don't love God and cannot expect God to work all things for their good.
I'm not understanding the logic of the adjectival proposal, because when you paraphrase it, it is still adverbial "living according to God's purpose" or "behaving according to God's purpose." So the alternatives are not really adverbial vs. adjectival, but adverbial with a verb in the text (called) vs. adverbial with a verb not in the text (living/behaving). I think it simpler to go with the verb in the text instead of a verb not in the text.
Paul Thomson wrote:I thought that fronting a prepositional clause with a definite article indicates that it is adjectival to the noun, rather than adverbial to the verb. I have given the sense I would draw from the first sentence if the phrase is regarded as adjectival. It is those invitees who are conforming according to the purpose for whom God works all things together for good, not those invitees who are not conforming to his purpose.
I'm not aware of any such rule for fronting. In fact, I'm skeptical that it exists. Usually Greek uses word order for emphasis and other discourse effects, not for syntax. In other words, Greek is a discourse-configurational language, not a syntax-configurational language (like English). Perhaps you have some examples or citations to a grammar to explain what you mean.
I note here, that a third, non-textual verb is now being proposed to paraphrase the supposedly adjectival PP: "
conforming according to the purpose".
Paul Thomson wrote:Personally, since the phrase appears to me to be adjectival, I think Paul had A in mind, rather than B. Is that feasible? Or plausible?
I don't think "adjectival" quite describes your proposal, at least precisely. It seems to me that "adverbial for a supplied verbal notion" is closer to the essence of the proposal, and the supplied verb (whether living / behaving / conforming) seems motivated mainly to avoid "called according to God's purpose" as if it clearly supports a particular side in the predestination debate.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia