2 Cor 4:4 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ or the light of the glorious gospel of Christ?

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victor.vicveh
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2 Cor 4:4 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ or the light of the glorious gospel of Christ?

Post by victor.vicveh »

Hi everyone, in 2 Cor 4:4 there is the greek expression:

τὸν φωτισμὸν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστου (2 Cor. 4:4 NA28)

How do we understand these linked genitives?

What would be the best way to understand this verse?

the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ
or
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ?

Thank you for your time
Bruce McKinnon
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Re: 2 Cor 4:4 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ or the light of the glorious gospel of Christ?

Post by Bruce McKinnon »

Hi Victor,
Focussing on the Greek issue, I see little to choose between the two English translations of this phrase. It's clear which translation is the word for word rendition but ultimately they are saying much the same thing, admittedly with a very slight difference of emphasis.
I'll not comment on the wider interpretation of this verse.
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: 2 Cor 4:4 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ or the light of the glorious gospel of Christ?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

I've always read τῆς δοξῆς here as almost purely adjectival, so that "the glorious gospel" captures the sense best in English.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
Eeli Kaikkonen
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Re: 2 Cor 4:4 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ or the light of the glorious gospel of Christ?

Post by Eeli Kaikkonen »

But is there any way to decide? I don't agree with Bruce who said "I see little to choose". Glory of Christ and glorious gospel are two different things semantically (and maybe pragmatically, too, and discourse-wise). So we have two readings:

τοῦ εὐαγγελίου
--- τῆς δόξης
--- τοῦ Χριστου

and

τοῦ εὐαγγελίου
--- τῆς δόξης
--- ---- τοῦ Χριστου

Is the choice really ambiguous so that Paul would have said when asked, "well, it can be either of them, and they both are true", or would he have said "it's..."

And how can we know?
Daniel Semler
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Re: 2 Cor 4:4 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ or the light of the glorious gospel of Christ?

Post by Daniel Semler »

Here's what I've been thinking:
δόξα is a noun.
I get that you can use nouns in a sort of genitive of content fashion and you could do that here as it were I suppose.
And I get that adjectives are used substantivally but I don't know how often the reverse is the case.
That said, δόξα appears to be used in adjectival contexts or at least in contexts where the translation is rendered adjectivally. But should that be a lower priority in the order of choices where a noun is in question ?

And with that I was all set to go with "gospel of the glory of Christ ..."

Then I read the passage from the start of chapter 4. And I think now in context the opposite is more likely, in particular because of ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ at the end. Somehow a glorious gospel seems to better capture the notion of being an image of God. Also the shining of the light that introduced the phrase lends support to the idea that the gospel itself is glorious or filled with glory or reflects glory etc.

I realize this is not a grammatical argument per se (and I don't want to get into exegesis) and I might recant the whole theory at my next reading of the passage, but .... a little more context to a snatch of text can be useful. Someone native to the language or able to read competently at speed (not me on either point) will pick up such indications more or less subconsciously I think, to Eeli's point.

Thx
D
Leonard Jayawardena
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Re: 2 Cor 4:4 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ or the light of the glorious gospel of Christ?

Post by Leonard Jayawardena »

2 Corinthians 4:4:

ἐν οἷς ὁ θεὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἐτύφλωσεν τὰ νοήματα τῶν ἀπίστων εἰς τὸ μὴ αὐγάσαι τὸν φωτισμὸν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ.

While the grammar may permit τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστοῦ to be rendered as either "the glorious gospel of Christ" and "the gospel of the glory of Christ," the two most definitely do not mean the same thing any more than, say, "the good gospel of Christ" and "the gospel of the goodness of Christ" would. The immediate as well as the wider context of this verse requires the translation "the gospel of the glory of Christ," which is one way the gospel of the NT is verbalized. The relative clause ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ, too, supports that translation. In 3:18 Paul had spoken of him and his readers of "with an unveiled face beholding τὴν δόξαν κυρίου" and being transformed "from glory to glory." In contrast, he says, "those perishing" are blinded, so they cannot see this "glory of Christ."

To say more than this (specifically the connection between the gospel and glory of Christ) would take us beyond the scope of this forum. ei tis thelei gnonai pleiona toutou, grapsato moi kat' idian :) (Hope that's good Greek!)
Jason Hare
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Re: 2 Cor 4:4 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ or the light of the glorious gospel of Christ?

Post by Jason Hare »

I'd certainly read it as "glorious gospel." The word δόξα freqently functions in this way. For more information on this use of the genitive, see Wallace Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics §6.2.a.5 on Attributive Genitive (Hebrew Genitive, Genitive of Quality).
The genitive substantive specifies an attribute or innate quality of the head substantive. It is similar to a simple adjective in its semantic force, though more emphatic: it “expresses quality like an adjective indeed, but with more sharpness and distinctness.” The category is very common in the NT, largely due to the Semitic mindset of most of its authors.

⟨Source: Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 86.⟩
He gives as examples:

Luke 18:6
ὁ κριτὴς τῆς ἀδικίας
judge of unrighteousness (= “unrighteous judge”)

Rom 6:6
τὸ σῶμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας
body of sin (= “sinful body”)

Rom 8:21
τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ θεοῦ
the freedom of the glory of the children of God (= “the glorious freedom of the children of God”)

Among others.

It should be clear that "the freedom of the glory of the children of God" doesn't mean that the children of God have glory that itself experiences freedom. Rather, "of the glory" is modifying it almost adjectivally. It is a glorious freedom!

This is the same thing that is happening in the verse that you're asking about. There should be no doubt that this is talking about a glorious gospel about Jesus, not a gospel that somehow announces the glory of Jesus. It is an attributive use of the genitive.
Jason A. Hare
The Hebrew Café
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Leonard Jayawardena
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Re: 2 Cor 4:4 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ or the light of the glorious gospel of Christ?

Post by Leonard Jayawardena »

In view of Romans 8:21, τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ θεοῦ, which Jason Hare
cited in his post, and, upon further exegetical reflection, now I think "the glorious Gospel of Christ" is the better rendering of τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστοῦ in 2 Cor. 4:4. The Gospel does have a connection with the glory of Christ, but in this passage δόξης is best taken as an attributive genitive.
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