Sunday, November 06, 2016

Partitive Genitives and Colossians 1:15 (Omar)

While ἐκ + the genitive might be employed by a writer to "more sharply define" the partitive nuance of the head noun, this construction is by no means required for a particular construction to be partitive (or "wholative"). Daniel B. Wallace in fact shows that the partitive genitive "is a phenomenological use of the genitive that requires the head noun to have a lexical nuance indicating portion" (Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, page 84).

Example:

καὶ τὸ δέκατον τῆς πόλεως ἔπεσεν (Revelation 11:13).

There are a number of other factors involved when one is trying to identify which constructions are instances of the partitive genitive. See Wallace, pp. 84-86.

We also find an excellent discussion of the partitive genitive in David Aune's commentary on Revelation (pp. Volume 1: clxxi-clxxiii).

He demonstrates that John uses the partitive genitive as object of the verb in three distinct ways:

(1) With the simple genitive.

(2) With the preposition ἐκ + the genitive.

(3) Coupled with the preposition ἀπό + the genitive.

I also encourage you to consult C. F. D. Moule's discussion concerning the partitive genitive in An Idiom of New Testament Greek (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). Vide pp. 42-43.

One example Moule provides in his short treatment of the partitive genitive is Romans 15:26: κοινωνίαν τινὰ ποιήσασθαι εἰς τοὺς πτωχοὺς τῶν ἁγίων τῶν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ.

My contention is that there's no doubt πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως could be an instance of the partitive genitive. Whether one chooses to understand Colossians 1:15 as such is another matter, but the use or non-use of ἐκ + the genitive does not wholly determine whether the construction is partitive or not. The context as well as lexical semantics must decide the question.

ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως (Colossians 1:15 W-H)

καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος, τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἡ ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων (Colossians 1:18 W-H)

Some want to make much of the fact that the Greek preposition ἐκ appears in 1:18, but not in 1:15.

ἐκ in 1:18 could be used to emphasize Jesus' resurrection from the dead, as one friend of mine has suggested; but there is another explanation that may also account for ἐκ without resorting to a Trinitarian alternative.

Petr Pokorny (Colossians. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1991, page 84) writes in ftn. 153 concerning 1:18:

"MSS P46, Aleph (first hand), and others omit ἐκ = from. The sentence reads the same way in Rev 1:5. The meaning is not altered thereby."

Revelation 1:5 has ὁ πρωτότοκος τῶν νεκρῶν. It evidently means the same thing that Colossians' πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν does, as the MSS evidence indicates. It just seems that ἐκ is normally used when the resurrection of Jesus Christ is under consideration. See John 21:14; Rom 4:24; 6:4; 10:7; Col 2:12; Gal 1:1; 1 Pet 1:3, 21.

Meyer's NT Commentary on Colossians 1:18: "comp. Revelation 1:5, where the partitive genitive τῶν νεκρ. (not ἐκ. τ. ν.) yields a form of conceiving the matter not materially different."

11 comments:

Duncan said...

http://www.csntm.org/Manuscript/View/GA_P46

Duncan said...

http://www.lib.umich.edu/reading/Paul/

Duncan said...

http://matt13weedhacker.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/papyrus-p46-colossians-116-20.html

Duncan said...

http://www.csntm.org/Manuscript/View/GA_P46_Mich

This is the relevant fragment.

Edgar Foster said...

Thanks, Duncan. So glad that we have these papyri online, and I've visited the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin before. One of my most cherished memories.

Best,

Edgar

Omar Meza Solano said...

Many thanks Edgar for such excellent help and availability and thanks also to Duncan for the link.

Edgar Foster said...

You're quite welcome, Omar. Best to you.

Omar Meza Solano said...

Hi Edgar, do you have information on Acts 3:15 and the word ἀρχηγὸν translated by Principal Agent?

If you could also give me some lexical about this translation

Thanks in advance

Edgar Foster said...

Omar,

here is something that a friend researched and wrote. I hope this material assists you:

Friberg Greek Lexicon: 3719 avrchgo,j, ou, o` (1) strictly one who goes first on the path; hence leader, prince, pioneer (HE 2.10); (2) as one who causes something to begin, originator, founder, initiator (HE 12.2)

United Bible Society: 895 avrchgo,j , ou/ m leader, pioneer, founder, originator

Louw Nida: 774 avrchgo,j
avrchgo,j, avrchgo,n, adjective, leading, furnishing the first cause or occasion: Euripides, Hipp. 881; Plato, Crat., p. 401 d.; chiefly used as a substantive, o`, h`, avrchgo,j (avrch, and a;gw);

Thayer's: 1. the chief leader, prince: of Christ, Acts 5:31; (Aeschylus Ag. 259; Thucydides 1, 132;. The Septuagint Isa. 3:5f; 2 Chr. 23:14, and often).

2. "one that takes the lead in anything (1 Macc. 10:47, avrchgo,j lo,gwn eivrhnikw/n) and thus affords an example, a predecessor in a matter": th/j pi,stewj, of Christ, Heb. 12:2 (who in the prominence of his faith far surpassed the examples of faith commemorated in Heb. 11) (others bring this under the next head; yet cf. Kurtz at the passage). So avrchgo,j a`marti,aj, Micah 1:13; zh,louj, Clement of Rome, 1 Cor. 14, 1; th/j sta,sewj kai, dicostasi,aj, ibid. 51, 1; th/j avpostasiaj, of the devil, Irenaeus 4, 40, 1; toiauthj filosofi,aj, of Thales, Aristotle, met. 1, 3, 7 (p. 983{b} 20). Hence,

3. the author: Acts 3:15; th/j swthri,aj, Heb. 2:10. (Often so in secular authors: tw/n pa,ntwn, of God (Plato) Tim. Locr., p. 96 c.; tou/ ge,nouj tw/n avnqrw,pwn, of God, Diodorus 5, 72; avrchgo,j kai, ai;tioj, leader and author, are often joined, as Polybius 1, 66, 10; Herodian, 2, 6, 22 (14, Bekker edition)). Cf. Bleek on Heb. vol. ii. 1, p. 301f.*

Strong;s :747 archegos {ar-khay-gos'}
Meaning: 1) the chief leader, prince 1a) of Christ 2) one that takes the lead in any thing and thus affords an example, a predecessor in a matter, pioneer 3) the author
Origin: from 746 and 71; TDNT - 1:487,81; adj
Usage: AV - prince 2, captain 1, author 1; 4

JLM said...

How do you respond to a trinitarian that says the partitive genitive in Colossians is an assumption and that it is a Genitive subordination. How do you refute that?

It's not used in a Partitive sense though, you're inferring that, it could be a genitive of comparison, which would exclude the prōtotokos from the same, it could be a genitive of place, defining the sphere of the firstborn’s authority, also "of" and "over" isn't in the grammar to make him part of the noun governing it, where exactly are you getting this from?

Many scholars are in favor of the comparative genitive view. Dr. Grillmeier writes concerning the passage saying: "It is used to describe the preeminent position of Christ in the whole world, therefore prōtotokos should not be read as a temporal definition"


“My friend, Frank, took me to the airport.” In the latter, it is clear that my friend and Frank are one and the same person. If, on the other hand, I would have said, “My friend and Frank took me to the airport” (separating “”My friend” and “Frank” with a conjunction), it would be clear that my friend and Frank are two separate people. By not including “and” or any other conjunction between the two phrases in Colossians 1:15, Paul helps us to see that he is describing the same thing in two different ways. So, to help understand what Paul meant by “firstborn of all creation”, we can consider the meaning of “image of the invisible God.”

They say Genitive of Comparison I believe

Edgar Foster said...

Please see the lengthy thoughts here: https://fosterheologicalreflections.blogspot.com/2016/11/question-from-omar-regarding-colossians.html

My own view is that the verse is potentially a partitive genitive, but I understand that there are other possibilities according to Greek grammar. Could it be a genitive of comparison? It could be. But why think that?

There will always be disagreement about this passage because more than grammar is driving the discussions. Besides, grammar alone isn't going to help us ascertain the answer. But we can certainly say that some possibilities are more likely than others. For one thing, look at how "firstborn" is used in the LXX.

As for the example about "My friend" and "Frank," it just doesn't hold up when you consider actual examples in Greek from the NT. Asyndeton (zero anaphora) is found in the NT, but the non-use of a conjunction doesn't necessarily mean that two terms are similar or overlapping. For example, see Galatians 5:19-23 and 1 Cor. 3:12-13. I think 1 Timothy 1:17 is another instance where asyndeton does not indicate that terms mean roughly the same thing.