Referent in Eph 3:20

From: Andrew Kulikovsky (killer@cryogen.com)
Date: Mon Jul 14 1997 - 05:10:11 EDT


Filloi,

Who does "Now to him" refer to in Eph 3:20?

The Greek says:
TWi DE DUNAMENWi UPER PANTA POIHSAI UPEREKPERISSOU WN AITOUMEQA H
NOOUMEN KATA THN DUNAMIN THN ENERGOUMENHN EN hUMIN, AUTWi H DOXA EN TH
EKKLHSIA....

My translation:
And to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask for or
can possibly imagine according to the power at work within us, to Him be
glory in the church....

Now I personally see the TWi ("to Him") as referring to the Holy Spirit.
The whole context refers to the Spirit that indwells us in order that
Christ may dwell in our hearts (v. 17). It can't refer to Christ since
He is mentioned in the next verse - so I think it can really only refer
to the Spirit or God generally.

Note that the TWi ("to Him") can be taken as neuter or masculine - the
Spirit (PNEUMA) is neuter). Also, the NIV inserts "his" when refering to
the power at work within us - which is not in the Greek.

So what do others think?

cheers,
Andrew

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| Andrew S. Kulikovsky B.App.Sc(Hons) MACS
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