2 questions on Eph 3:14-19

[Garrett Tyson]

I've been wrestling with Eph 3:14-21 and have two questions, if someone would be kind enough to help.


14 Τούτου χάριν κάμπτω τὰ γόνατά μου πρὸς τὸν [m]πατέρα, 15 ἐξ οὗ πᾶσα πατριὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ὀνομάζεται, 16 ἵνα [n]δῷ ὑμῖν κατὰ [o]τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ δυνάμει κραταιωθῆναι διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, 17 κατοικῆσαι τὸν Χριστὸν διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν ἐν ἀγάπῃ· ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ τεθεμελιωμένοι, 18 ἵνα ἐξισχύσητε καταλαβέσθαι σὺν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἁγίοις τί τὸ πλάτος καὶ μῆκος καὶ [p]ὕψος καὶ βάθος, 19 γνῶναί τε τὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν τῆς γνώσεως ἀγάπην τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ.



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1) Is Τούτου χάριν in verse 14 a forward pointing device, or does it refer back to the argument of chapter 2 (assuming 3:2-13 is a massive disgression)? Is there any objective way to make that decision? The same phrase is labeled as a forward pointing device in Titus 1:5 in Runge's data sets. It looks like it refers backward in 1 Macc. 12:45 and Jos. Ant. 4, 197.



2) Can multiple ἵνα be used to create numbered lists? The idea would be that Paul bends his knees for three main reasons (or with 3 main goals in mind) here:

a) ἵνα [n]δῷ ὑμῖν κατὰ [o]τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ δυνάμει κραταιωθῆναι διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, 17 κατοικῆσαι τὸν Χριστὸν διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν ἐν ἀγάπῃ· ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ τεθεμελιωμένοι, 1
b) ἵνα ἐξισχύσητε καταλαβέσθαι σὺν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἁγίοις τί τὸ πλάτος καὶ μῆκος καὶ [p]ὕψος καὶ βάθος, 19 γνῶναί τε τὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν τῆς γνώσεως ἀγάπην τοῦ Χριστοῦ,
c) ἵνα πληρωθῆτε εἰς πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ.

Or is that really dumb?

Thanks,
Garrett

[Barry Hofstetter]

I can't really give an answer to the second question -- it's more about how you conceptualize and outline the text after you understand the syntax. For the first question, if τούτου is cataphoric, what reasons are being given in what follows? Nothing, really, and so it makes much better sense for it to be anaphoric.

[serunge]

I'd second Barry on question 1 regarding possible cataphoric reference. My charting takes 3:13 as signaling the close of a digression begun in 3:2, and takes 3:14 as the resumption of the theme suspended in 3:1. If there is a viable option for an anaphoric reading versus cataphoric, I'd recommend giving the tie to the anaphoric one.

On question 2, the repetition of ἱνα is indicative (wa wa wa), suggesting that the clauses may well be a series rather than bulleted parallel ones. The parallel reading would be much more likely if ἱνα was not repeated. The fact that it is repeated may well be intended to counter such a reading. This does not make it a slam dunk, but does tilt things against the parallel reading IMO.

[Garrett Tyson]

I'd second Barry on question 1 regarding possible cataphoric reference. My charting takes 3:13 as signaling the close of a digression begun in 3:2, and takes 3:14 as the resumption of the theme suspended in 3:1. If there is a viable option for an anaphoric reading versus cataphoric, I'd recommend giving the tie to the anaphoric one.

On question 2, the repetition of ἱνα is indicative (wa wa wa), suggesting that the clauses may well be a series rather than bulleted parallel ones. The parallel reading would be much more likely if ἱνα was not repeated. The fact that it is repeated may well be intended to counter such a reading. This does not make it a slam dunk, but does tilt things against the parallel reading IMO.

Thank you for the help on deciding on the anaphoric vs. cataphoric.

I'm not quite sure I understand what you're saying about how authors would set up clauses as series or as parallels. Basically, if Paul had wanted to tell them he has three basic goals/hopes/whatever for them, he'd use one ἱνα, and then use 2 kai statements with subjunctives afterward to make them parallel? Is there a passage somewhere that does something like this, as an example?

I knew I'd wrestled with something like this earlier, and I think I found the passage tonight. Galatians 4:4-5:

ὅτε δὲ ἦλθεν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου, ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ,

γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός, γενόμενον ὑπὸ νόμον,

ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον ἐξαγοράσῃ

ἵνα τὴν υἱοθεσίαν ἀπολάβωμεν.

But that's the only one I found with a quick and dirty skim through the search engine.

[Garrett Tyson]

I can't really give an answer to the second question -- it's more about how you conceptualize and outline the text after you understand the syntax. For the first question, if τούτου is cataphoric, what reasons are being given in what follows? Nothing, really, and so it makes much better sense for it to be anaphoric.

Thanks Barry

[Alanpaul]

I’d agree that τούτου χάριν refers back not forward; but there seems a good case for taking the reference to be not to verse 1, but to verse 13 (διὸ αἰτοῦμαι μὴ ἐνκακεῖν ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσίν μου ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ἥτις ἐστὶν δόξα ὑμῶν). The prayer in verse 14 would then follow on directly from the Paul’s hope that Ephesians would not be discouraged by his sufferings. This would appear to be the more natural reading, whereas the widely preferred alternative must assume that the author was either in a somewhat disorganized state of mind at the time, or was too busy to revise and polish the first draft of the letter.

Alan

[Stirling Bartholomew]

I’d agree that τούτου χάριν refers back not forward; but there seems a good case for taking the reference to be not to verse 1, but to verse 13 (διὸ αἰτοῦμαι μὴ ἐνκακεῖν ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσίν μου ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ἥτις ἐστὶν δόξα ὑμῶν). The prayer in verse 14 would then follow on directly from the Paul’s hope that Ephesians would not be discouraged by his sufferings. This would appear to be the more natural reading, whereas the widely preferred alternative must assume that the author was either in a somewhat disorganized state of mind at the time, or was too busy to revise and polish the first draft of the letter.

Alan

I also have reservations about the "gap theory" (long digression). Assuming the author is dictating to a scribe, polishing the first draft may have not been an option. I dictated 20 page papers in college and they were not revised. Started dictating papers in seventh grade so I had lots of practice. There were no word processors, so revision was labor intensive.

[Stirling Bartholomew]

This calls for a macro level analysis:

From W. J. Larkin Baylor Handbook 2009

Paul appears to be introducing a prayer report in 3:1, but digresses into giving two grounds (3:2-7, 8-13) for his opening declaration of his status (note Τούτου χάριν is picked up again at 3:14). Probing such disruptions in the discourse aids syntactic analysis and enables one to see the writer’s concerns and interests more clearly. Parallelism marks the flow of discourse in both the expository and hortatory portions of Ephesians, consistent with the flowery, ornamented style. The opening eulogy presents in parallel three specific grounds for declaring God’s blessedness (1:3-6, 7-12, 13-14). In 2:11-22 Paul presents two conclusions with intervening grounds for them (2:11-13; 2:14-18; 2:19-22). The digression of 3:2-13 contains two parallel statements of the grounds for Paul’s status as a prisoner of Messiah Jesus (3:2-7, 8-13). In the ethical section, parallelism in presenting commands occurs in several ways. There is the common pattern of negative plus positive command with rationale following (4:25-32; 5:6-14; 5:15-20). Such commands may be clustered together in parallel segments (5:6-10//5:11-14; 5:15-17//5:19-20, with 5:18 as a transitional bridge).