Re: Phillipians 2:1 PNEUMATOS - Big S or little S?

From: dalmatia@eburg.com
Date: Mon Sep 28 1998 - 18:13:46 EDT


Steve Long wrote:
>
> >Am I correct in thinking that the phrase:
> >"EI TIS KOINWNIA PNEUMATOS"
> >could be translated
> > 1) "if any fellowship of spirit" (ie our own spirits)
> >OR 2) "if any fellowship (with each other) that derives from the (holy)
> >Spirit"
> >OR 3) "if any fellowship with the (Holy) Spirit"
> >
> >Is it more likely, given that PNEUMATOS is antharous, that the first
> >option is correct? Would the presence of the article still leave us
> >uncertain between option (2) and option (3)?

> I'm wondering why it has to be one or the other and not all of the above.
> If we translate it as "spiritual fellowship", it need not be one or the
> other. Through our spirit we have fellowship with one another in the Holy
> Spirit and with the Holy Spirit. Maybe we should look at the lack of an
> article as inclusive rather exclusive. A commonality of our spirits with
> the Spirit of God. Making the noun PNEUMATOS into an adjective puts the
> focus back on the fellowship where it belongs.

As a general principle, I like to work syntactically outward from
centers in Greek phrases and sentences, and your idea of placing the
stress on KOINWNIA, where it lies between TIS and PNEUMATOS, accords
well with this approach. If TIS and PNEUMATOS were taken out of this
phrase, it would still work well, so that they can indeed be seen as
modifiers of KOINWNIA, which is distributive to them both, being in
the middle.

TIS PNEUMATOS by itself would, I believe, be grammatically
problematical, [if one were going to take them together as a unit], so
the lack of an article would seem to give this usage of PNEUMATOS a
rather broad brush, giving it the inclusive quality that you suggest.
Does the lack of an article indeed have this quality of broadening the
range of a term?

George

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