![]() 5 So "this" refers to the whole previous clause, "By grace ye have been saved through faith." 6 This is the common gender used when a phrase or clause is the antecedent. However, the neuter gender is used for the pronoun. Such a form would be ambiguous, since it could refer to either grace or faith, but likely be referring to the nearest referent, and thus faith. 4 So if "this" referred to either grace or faith individually, it should be in the feminine gender-and there is no reason it would not have been had such been the intention. Greek syntax matches gender of pronouns to the antecedent it refers to. τοῦτο (this) has a grammatical gender of neuter in Greek.πίστεως (faith) has a grammatical gender of feminine in Greek.χάριτί (grace) has a grammatical gender of feminine in Greek.Three key things help determine what the gift from God is: 3 English uses them too, and can reflect this here, a bit awkwardly, like so:įor by grace ye have been saved through faith, and this not of you-the gift of God! Not of works, that no one can boast. But verbless clauses are very common in Hebrew, 2 and since Paul thinks in Hebrew, he (and the other NT writers) do such in Greek as well. It is the second of these verbless clauses that is translated "it is" in the ESV translation you give (neither the "it" nor the "is" are in the text). ![]() There are some verbless clauses here, represented by the inclusion of "" in the above translation. Of God the gift: not of works, in order that not anyone may boast. ![]() for by grace ye have been saved through *the* faith, and this not of you. Note I've use the old English " ye" to reflect the 2nd person plural nominative form, and "you" as the objective form of the plural (like the KJV, which modern English has lost distinction of with the "you" being both singular and plural). ![]() Since the article follows a preposition, the addition of the article is rather insignificant (as a word used with a preposition can be and often is deemed definite even without the article). The variant is found in the majority text and will be noted here by asterisks, like so: *τῆς*. There is a textual variant here, but it is not relevant to the discussion. The Greek text gives a fairly clear clue as to what is being referred to (its just one's theology that tends to get in the way of seeing it). So, those are the options I see-what is described here as the gift of God? It strikes me as an especially Pauline approach. This would have Paul saying that we are saved by faith, but even that faith itself is a gift. The second case seems to be making more of a point in the second statement, where the others use the second statement as a clarification of the first. This rendering seems to yield the most cohesive argument. In the third case, Paul would be pitting salvation based on works against salvation by grace. This would make this whole statement focused on grace: "By grace you are saved. It seems too much a matter of course, almost tautological, to be what Paul would have in mind here. I don't see anything in any of those statements that would contradict other scripture. Honestly, looking at all three laid out, they all are pretty reasonable. it is the gift of God" or "you have been saved. And it is not your own doing is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." it is the gift of God" or "For by grace you have been saved through faith.
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