RE: b-greek digest: August 07, 1999

From: Carlton Winbery (winberyc@popalex1.linknet.net)
Date: Mon Aug 09 1999 - 15:16:46 EDT


Alan Wong responded to;
>From: "Dmitriy Reznik" <dpreznik@usa.net>
>Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 9:31:18
>X-Message-Number: 4
>
>> Dear friends,
>> Could you please help me in translating Eph 2:14-15:
>> 14 AUTOS GAR ESTIN H EIRHNH hHMWN O POIHSAS TA AMFOTERA EN KAI TO
>> MESOTOICON TOU FRAGMOU LUSAS THN ECQRAN EN TH SARKI AUTOU
>> 15 TON NOMON TWN ENTOLWN EN DOGMASIN KATARGHSAS, hINA TOUS
>> DUO KTISHi EN AUTW EIS hENA KAINON ANQRWPON POIWN EIRHNHN ...
>
>My dynamic translation is ... similar to the NASB, I've put "[]" around
>my amplifications, and I've subordinated the adverbial participles ...
>
>Eph 2.14 For he [himself] is our peace, [namely he is] the one who has
>made both one,
> [by his] having released the dividing wall [which separates them]
> and [by his putting to death] the enmity [between them]
> by his flesh,
> 15 [and by his] abolishing the law of commands with decrees,
>in order that he would create in him the two [as] one new man
> [by] his making peace ....
>
>I take "TO MESOTOICON TOU FRAGMOU" to be a subjective genitive,
>since MESTOICON is a compound of MESO & TOICOS. The adjective
>MESO has as a cognate verb MESOW. Applying Wallace's description
>of verbal gentives leads me to my conclusion. In the larger
>cultural context, I agree with Solomon. It's referring to the
>dividing wall between Jew & Gentile in the temple.

I cannot see how FRAGMOU could be a gen with a noun of action. I do not see
MESOTOICON as a noun of action but a thing, a middle wall. The genitive
then is simply a descriptive genitive, a separating wall.

>The exact meaning of the aorist participle in v.15 is not 100% clear
>in my mind, because it does lead to the whole can of worms of how
>you interpret Paul's view of the law. In the text itself, KATARGEW is
>used in a variety of senses in the universally accepted Pauline epistles
>(Rom. 3:3, 3:31, 4:14, 6:6, 7:2, 7:6; 1Co. 1:28, 2:6, 6:13, 13:8, 13:10,
>13:11, 15:24, 15:26; 2 Co. 3:7, 3:11, 3:13, 3:14; Gal. 3:17, 5:4, 5:11;
>2 Thess. 2:8), In the "deteuro-Paulines", it's in 2Tim 1:10 and here.
>The object of the prepositional phrase, DOGMA occurs also in Col 2:14.
>NA27 highlights Col 2:14; 2 Co 3:14, 5:17 and Mat 5:9 as crossreferences.
>This leads me to believe that Paul is talking metaphorically how Christ
>opens up the presence of God available to both Jew and Greek, and to
>constitute a the ones in Christ as a "new race" (as the church fathers
>would say).

I would see Paul as saying Jesus did these things; 1) made Jewish believers
and Gentile believers one by destroying the separating wall, the enmity by
means of his own flesh. 2) he made the law of commandments and dogma of no
effect (nullified, etc.). This he did so that he might create the two into
one new being, thus making peace. And so that he might reconcile both to
God by his cross, by putting to death the enmity by it (the cross).

This long sentence is typical of Ephesians, carried along by clauses,
appositional elements, and participles.

Dr. Carlton L. Winbery
Foggleman Professor of Religion
Louisiana College
winbery@andria.lacollege.edu
winberyc@popalex1.linknet.net
Ph. 1 318 448 6103 hm
Ph. 1 318 487 7241 off

---
B-Greek home page: http://sunsite.unc.edu/bgreek
You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu]
To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-329W@franklin.oit.unc.edu
To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu


This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:40:35 EDT