Subject: eph 1:4-5 what is predestination, chosen |
Bible Note: Hi Edwin, This is a very interesting passage you've brought up. There is a bit of disagreement between translations on this one. The word "elect" is actually grammatically joined with "sojourners" in the previous verse which is where it also appears in actual word order: 1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the choice sojourners of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (YLT) The grammatical construction is: Peter apostle (Nominative subject of the sentence) of Jesus Christ (Genitive Noun - describes Peter's apostleship) to the chosen (adjective - describes Diaspora) expatriates (adjective - describes diaspora) of the Diaspora (genitive noun - describes Peter's apostleship) The place names are the same as Diaspora. This could be paraphrased as: Peter, the one sent by Jesus Christ to the chosen expatriates of the Dispersion, of Pontus, of Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, according to God's foreknowledge. . . There isn't a way grammatically to determine if this is saying Peter was sent according to foreknowledge, or if the expatriates were chosen according to foreknowledge. I don't think this is actually an outright statement that we are elect according to foreknowledge, although it certainly could be. Love in Christ, Mark |