[B-Greek] Ephesians 2:8
Steven Lo Vullo
themelios at charter.net
Mon Jul 4 21:11:33 EDT 2005
On Jun 17, 2005, at 9:16 PM, Eddie Mishoe wrote:
Sorry I am so late getting into the fray on this topic. I somehow got
behind by about 400 e-mails. I have been knocking off a few at a time,
mainly from the end of the list, but have finally gotten around to
reading them all.
> I would say that it does NOT include "faith." In fact,
> I would go so far as to say that the neuter TOUTO
> avoids reference to "faith" (and grace!). The neuter
> pronoun references the conceptual level of the
> SUBJECT, not the subordinate elements. TOUTO
> references the SUBJECT "salvation." The concept of
> salvation does not originate from man. TOUTO makes no
> statement regarding "grace" or "faith." The
> relationship between faith (and/or grace) and
> salvation is unaddressed in this passage.
Hi Eddie:
I think this answer evidences an undue dependence on a rather
subjective and overly complicated linguistic assumption. You say that
the neuter TOUTO actually **avoids** reference to "faith." This seems
to imply that Paul's use of the neuter rather than the feminine pronoun
is purposely designed to avoid reference to faith. Would you similarly
claim that TA TRIA TAUTA in 1 Cor 13.13 **avoids** reference to PISTIS,
ELPIS, AGAPH? Here we have the same demonstrative pronoun in the
**neuter** plural with three **feminine** antecedents. It seems that
abstract concepts like faith, hope, and love can indeed be thought of
as "things." If faith can be thought of as a "thing" in 1 Cor 13.13,
why can it not be thought of in the same way in Ep 2.8?
I have actually seen this phenomenon several times. What still comes to
my mind is Anabasis 1.5.10, not because it is the only example I have
seen, but because it was the first I have seen outside the NT:
EPI TOUTWN DIEBAINON KAI ELAMBANON TA EPITHDEIA, OINON TE EK THS
BALANOU PEPOIHMENON THS APO TOU FOINIKOS KAI SITON MELINHS; TOUTO GAR
HN EN THi CWRAi PLEISTON.
"on these [rafts] they would cross and get provisions--wine made from
the date of the palm tree and bread made of millet, for this was very
abundant in the country."
Here the antecedent of TOUTO (neuter) seems clearly to be MELINHS
(feminine). The GAR clause offers background information for why the
bread was made of millet--millet was abundant in the country. Though
the gender is feminine, millet is thought of as a thing and so it is
proper to use the neuter demonstrative.
Some may argue that the antecedent of TOUTO is SITON and that SITON is
in fact neuter singular. One should remember, though, that Xenophon
uses the neuter only in the plural (e.g., Anabasis 2.3.27; 7.3.10), not
in the singular (e.g., Anabasis 1.5.6; 2.3.14; 2.4.27; 3.4.18; 5.4.27;
6.5.20; 6.6.37; 7.4.5). Other works of Xenophon seem to follow this
same convention.
============
Steven Lo Vullo
Madison, WI
MAR student
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
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