[b-greek] Re: PRWTON in Rom 1.16

From: Moon-Ryul Jung (moon@sogang.ac.kr)
Date: Mon Feb 18 2002 - 13:37:52 EST


[Carl]
> I think if DUNAMAI is changed back to DUNAMIS in the transcription to match
> the text of Paul, the problem ought to resolve itself: DUNAMIS GAR QEOU
> ESTIN EIS SWTHRIAN PANTI TWi PISTEUONTI, IOUDAIWi TE PRWTWN KAI hELLHNI.
> I've always understood DUNAMIS QEOU as the predicate noun for the
> understood carried-forward subject TO EUAGGELION: "It (the gospel) is God's
> power/possibility for salvation (open) to everyone who believes, both to
> Jewish (believing one) in the first place and no less to Greek (believing
> one)." PRWTON is adverbial to the dative IOUDAIWi. If there's an ellipsis
> at all, it's simply the want of an explicit subject because TO EUAGGELION
> is understood as carried forward from the preceding sentence. If there's
> anything at all a bit extraordinary here, perhaps it is the qualification


> of IOUDAIWi by the adverb PRWTON within a phrase so tightly linking
> IOUDAIWi and hELLHNI.

How can an adverb modify a noun? Adverbials modify verbs or adjectives,
but not nouns, as far as I know.

If we translate the verse as: The gospel is the power of God for
salvation to all who believe, first to the Jews, also to the Gentiles,

we can think of "first" as an adverb further modifying the
sentence "the gospel is the power of God for salvation".

Moon
Moon R. Jung
Sogang Univ, Seoul, Korea

 But isn't that the paradox of so much of the
> essential argument of Romans? i.e., that the saving power of the gospel
> addressed initially to Jewish believer is equally available to Gentile
> believer?
>
> --
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
> Most months:: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
> cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad@ioa.com
> WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

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