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Greek Exegesis: Galatians 2:15-17 Alvin Shaul GK352, Lyons Final Exam May 10, 2005 What you will submit at the beginning of the final examination period (10:30 AM, May 12) is: � Your polished translation of Galatians 2:15-17 (identify the sources of borrowed phrases). o And we who are by nature Jews are not Gentile sinners, having known that no man is justified by means of the works of the law except through the agency of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, even we placed our faith in Christ Jesus, in order that we might be justified by means of the faithfulness of Christ and not by means of the works of the Law, since by means of the works of the Law, no flesh will be justified. But if while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were also found to be sinners, then is Christ a servant of Sin? May such a thought never arise! � An explanation of the interpretive decisions related to your treatment of: 1. the absence of a verb in 2:15 and in the conclusion clause in 2:17 a. 2:15: The absence of the verb ???? is commonly omitted and thus must be inferred. In my translation, this must be inferred twice in the opening phrase. b. The force of the clause in 2:17 is �then is Christ also!?...�. The verb is not necessary because of the punctuation; it is a question. c. �we ourselves were also found to be sinners�. It too must be inferred. 2. the presence of nominative forms of the pronouns ?????? (in 2:15 and 16) and ????? (in 2:17) a. 2:15, 16:this occurrence represents predicate nominatives: We=who are by nature Jews; also, The word we is emphatic and serves to emphasize the sharp contrast which Paul is about to make between the Jew and the Gentile. In the word we, Paul includes himself, Peter, and the Jewish Christians at Antioch in contrast to the Gentile Christians. b. 2:17: Once again, �we ourselves� is used for emphasis. Also, it represents the Jews, a formal group of people, used in a subjective nature. 3. ??????? in 2:16 a. �yet, having known�Jesus Christ� borrows its subject from the following phrase, �even we believed in Christ Jesus�. ??????? is a conditional participle setting the condition for �our� belief in Christ Jesus. 4. ?? / ?? in 2:15 and 16 and in contrast to ??? in 2:16 a. ?? should be translated �by means of� while ??? is used in terms of agency �through the agency of the faithfulness of Christ Jesus�. 5. the three instances of ?? ????? ????? in 2:16 a. the continued usage is meant to add emphasis and clarity to Paul�s message. Each of the uses represent a �failed� means by which to attain justification. 6. ??? ?? in 2:16 a. �The construction ??? ?? serves as a negative condition (Matt. 10:13) or exception clause (Luke 13:3), meaning �unless,� �if not,� or �except� (Young 184). b. ***see note 1 below. 7. ??????? ?????? ??????? and ??????? ???????? in 2:16 and in contrast to ?? ??????? 2:17 a. I could translate ??? ??????? ?????? ??????? in terms of agency: �through the agency of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ� while translating ?? ??????? ??????? in terms of means �by means of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ�. However, both could adequately be defined in terms of means. In contrast to ?? ?????? in verse 17, this should best be understood in terms of Association. It could also be seen in terms of manner, as �in Christ� rather than �in the law�. Still more, it could be seen as in the agency of Christ, rather than the agency of the law (Young 96). 8. the four instances of ??? in 2:15-17 a. the first acts as a comparative conjunction. It states what they are and what they are not. b. the second is Ascensive and should be translated �even�. c. The third again is comparative. It compares what we are justified by and what we are not justified by. d. The last is used adjunctively and should be translated �also� 9. ?????? ??? ??????? ??????? ???????????? in 2:16 a. ????? ??? ??????? ?????? ????????????: ????? represents the Jews in general. The importance of this statement is that the Jews believed in Christ. ???????????? + ??? should be at least thought of as �placed our faith into� Christ Jesus, even if not translated as such. As such, it represents a preposition of figurative space. ???????????? is aorist, active: thus, it is something they (the Jews) have done and continue to do. 10. the passive voice of the verbs ???????????, ????????????, ????????????? (in 2:16), ???????????? and ????????? in 2:17 a. ???????????: In this case, the agent is being omitted because it is obvious from the context. (Young 136) b. ????????????: The passive here is used to emphasize the agent Jesus Christ, or the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. (Young 136). c. ?????????????: this too emphasizes an agent, only it emphasizes what will not be the agent, namely, the works of the law. (Young, 136) d. ????????????: The infinitive is functioning as an adjective and is anarthrous. (Young 175). The passive voice could be seen as emphasizing the agent (Christ) or thematizing the subject (the faithfulness of Christ). e. ?????????: the passive here represents Paul�s awareness that �if he ever was a sinner because of the law�, he no longer is. Paul�s point is that sin is not derived from disobeying the Law, rather from disobedience to Christ. 11. the different tenses of the verbs ???????????, ????????????, and ????????????? in 2:16 a. ???????????: the present here is gnomic. Man isn�t now and never will be justified by the Law. This could also be seen as the �present of existing results� (Young 110, 112). b. ????????????: This is a constative aorist as it �expresses the action as a complete whole without regard for the time it took to accomplish it.� In this case the action is being justified. (Young 122-123) c. ?????????????: Predictive future. It predicts that no flesh will be justified by the law (Young 117). 12. the forces of the conjunctions ??? and ??? in 2:16 a. ???: Purpose clause, �in order that we might be justified�� b. ???: Grounds, �since by the works of the law� (Young 190). 13. ????? ???? in 2:16 a. ?? ????? ???? is an idiom for �nothing� or �no� , therefore, �no flesh�. It should not be interpreted as English would tempt, that �not all� means �some�. Rather, it carries the forces of �none of the whole�. 14. the verbal forms of ?????????? and ???????????? in 2:17 a. ??????????: This is an adverbial participle of time, �while seeking� (Young 153). b. ????????????: as seen above in #10, : The infinitive is functioning as an adjective and is anarthrous. 15. the case of ???????? in 2:17 a. it is the predicate nominative to ???????. 16. ?? ??????? in 2:17 a. I believe Paul�s thought here in using gevnwmai would best translate as �may such a thought never arise!� That is, may it never come into being. Simply �certainly not� or �never� does not carry the force of gevnwmai unless there is a idiom at work here that I am not aware of. ***NOTE 1 2:16: I do not believe it follows that because no one will be or can be justified by the works of the Law, that the Law is totally void. I believe �un-voidness� is Paul�s emphasis when he says at the beginning of the verse that �no one can be justified by means of the works of the law except through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.� Both the construction ??? ?? and the Genitive forms of ??????? ????? ??????? give reason to this interpretation. Paul�s emphasis is the faithfulness of Christ to us in the fulfillment of the Law, not the total degradation of the Law. Bibliography: Aland, B., Aland, K., Black, M., Martini, C. M., Metzger, B. M., & Wikgren, A. 1993, c1979. The Greek New Testament (4th ed.). United Bible Societies: Federal Republic of Germany Wuest, K. S. 1997, c1984. Wuest's word studies from the Greek New Testament : For the English reader . Eerdmans: Grand Rapids Young, Richard A. Intermediate New Testament Greek: A Linguistic and Exegetical Approach. 1994, Broadman & Holman Publ., Nashville, TN. |