Appendix
1a
The Conjunctive Kai in Ephesians 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to
the saints which are at Ephesus,
and to the faithful in Christ
Jesus: Ephesians 1:1 KJV
by Steve Santini
|
Some
scholars doubt that the Greek word translated and in the first verse of Ephesians means and. They base this conjecture on the irregular definitions of the underlying Greek conjunction kai. Lexicons primarily define kai as such: Friberg
and Louw Nida - coordinating
conjunction; Thayer and Lidddell Scott - copulative
conjunction and Bullinger - conjunction of
annexation. Kai is translated as and in over eighty-five percent of its usages and also in about another ten percent of it usages.
In the remaining five percent of its usages it is translated as even, likewise, both, namely, that is and but. When it is translated other
than and or
also it is usually accompanied with a
modifying adverb or particle. This is not the case with the first verse of
Paul's Ephesians letter. In the places where kai is translated other than and or also and is not accompanied by a
modifying adverb or particle the understanding of the subject would have been
accomplished just as well if it were translated according to its fundamental
meaning as and
or also. The translation of kai as but is an unfounded liberty outside the
annals of translation principles. If Paul would have meant but, he would have used either the
moderately contrasting Greek conjunction de
or the strongly contrasting Greek conjunction alla. So, the subtle assertion
of some that kai
does not mean and in the opening
verse of the Apostle Pauls Ephesians letter is quite misleading. Others,
also circumventing the reality that Paul was addressing two differing groups in
his Ephesians letter, write that the phrase "to the saints which are at Ephesus
and to the faithful in Christ Jesus" is the figure of speech hendiadys. This would be true only if hendiadys strictly classical
Greek definition of hen dia duoin, meaning one by
means of two were employed. This is not the case. Modern day theologians use expanded definitions and their
diluted explanations that came into being to accommodate scholarly
criticisms of the works of Renaissance playwrights and poets.
This has given grammarians and morphologists license to
claim that, in meaning, the second noun becomes an adjective modifying
the first noun thereby erasing the original power of the figure itself. Consequently, we now have translations that
change the scripture by dropping the underlying Greek conjunction kai and/or by
changing the word faithful from a noun to a modifier
of the word saints and reinforcing
the error by changing the word order and/or adding words not in, or implied by, the Greek texts. Ephesians 1:1 1550 Stephens Greek Text: Pau/loj avpo,stoloj
VIhsou/ Cristou/ dia. qelh,matoj qeou/ toi/j a`gi,oij toi/j ou=sin evn
VEfe,sw| kai. pistoi/j evn Cristw/|
VIhsou/ Mistranslations 1952
Revised Standard Version: Paul, an
apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the
saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus: 1984
New International Version: Paul, an
apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the
saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 1984
New International Version (Britain): Paul,
an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the
saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 1989
New Revised Standard Version: Paul, an
apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the
saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 1996
New Living Translation: This letter is
from Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. It is written to
God's holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus 2001
English Standard Version: Paul, an
apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the
saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: . One the other hand, some of these same
translators do not mistranslate the same grammatical construction that is found
in Paul's salutation to the church in Colossae. 1952
Revised Standard Version: To the saints
and faithful brethren in Christ at Colossae: 1989 New
Revised Standard Version: To the saints
and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae 2001
English Standard Version: To the saints
and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: The apostle Paul also employed the kai in II Thessalonians to distinguish between the saints and
the faithful. When he shall come to
be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because
our testimony among you was believed) in that day. 2 Thessalonians 1:10 The Greek
word translated believe in this verse
comes from the same root word translated as faithful
in the first verses of Ephesians and Colossians. For the reasons why the mistranslation
of the first verse of Ephesians, one can only scratch their head. But it is
certain that, at the least, those that applied the erroneous translations did
not understand the revelation of the two parts of his one body's broken loaf given to the Apostle Paul otherwise they would
have never taken such liberties. The
Apostle Paul's Great Mystery of Christ and the Church Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to
the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ
Jesus: Ephesians 1:1 |