A Study of "Eis"
Farrell Till jftill@midwest.net
Wed, 8 Oct 1997 12:55:21 -0500 (CDT) (00876354921, 199710081755.MAA15547@cdale3.midwest.net)
TILL
In another posting, Matt has contended that Acts 2:38 states only that the
people were to be baptized as an indication of their repentance. In support
of his position, he cited a passage of scripture where the Greek word "eis"
(translated "for" in Acts 2:38) probably didn't mean "in order to." It was
late when I was responding to this posting, and I didn't have time to do a
more detailed analysis of the word "eis," and so I will now do that.
I did point out that "eis" was a word like the English word "for" in that it
was used in various ways. Its meaning must therefore be determined by
context, and I believe that the context of Acts 2:38 shows that Peter meant
for the people to understand that baptism was a commandment that they had to
obey in order to receive the remission of their sins. Most often in the NT
"eis" was used to mean "toward" or "in the direction of" or "in order for or
to." In the KJV or the ASV, where the English word "unto" appears, the word
in Greek was often"eis." Here are just a few examples of how "eis" was used
in that sense. Since the word in question was used by the writer of Acts, I
will first look at some examples of how he used the word.
Acts 1:12, Then they [the apostles] returned unto [eis] Jerusalem from the
mount called Olivet.
Acts 4:3, And they laid hands on them, and put them in ward unto [eis] the
morrow...
Acts 7:3, And [God] said to him [Abraham], get out of your land and from
your kindred, and come into [eis] the land which I shall show you.
Acts 7:26, And the day following he [Moses] appeared to them [Egyptian men]
and would have set them at [eis] peace again....
Acts 7:39, To whom [Moses] our fathers would not be obedient but thrust him
from them and turned back in their hears unto [eis] Egypt....
Acts 9:1, But Saul breathing threats and murder toward [eis] the disciples....
Acts 9:6, Rise up and go to [eis] the city, and it shall be told you what
you must do....
Acts 22:4, And I persecuted way as far as death, binding and delivering up
both men and women to [eis] prisons....
Acts 22:7, And I fell to [eis] the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me,
Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
Acts 22:10-11, And the Lord said to me, Arise and go into [eis] Damascus,
and there you will be told about all things which are appointed to you to
do. And as I did not see, from the glory of that light, being led by the
hand by those being with me, I went into [eis] Damascus.
There are just too many uses of "eis" in the NT to look at even a fraction
of them, but these are sufficient to show that the writer of Acts often used
the word to point in the direction of. Perhaps Matt can cite some cases
where the word was used to point back to. He has cited the following
passage of scripture, which is very damaging to his position on "eis." I
snipped it without comment before, but now I want to look at it carefully.
>MATT
>No it does not Farrell, but I will not waste any further time trying to
>extract an answer from you. On the assumption that we both understand God's
>Word to mean a communication of by God to man then I would offer the
>following verses in answer to your question:
>
>"13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
> 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and
>how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how
>shall they hear without a preacher?
> 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How
>beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and
>bring glad tidings of good things!
> 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who
>hath believed our report?
> 17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
>
>
TILL
Matt didn't identify the source of this quotation, but it is found in Romans
10. I want to look at the five preceding verses to which I will add the
word "eis" where it appeared in the Greek text.
>10:1 Brothers and sisters, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is
that they may be [EIS] saved.
>2 I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened.
>3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and
seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God's righteousness.
>4 For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be [EIS]
righteousness for everyone who believes.
>5 Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that
"the person who does these things will live by them."
>6 But the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not say in your
heart, 'Who will ascend into [EIS] heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down)
>7 "or 'Who will descend into [EIS] the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ
up from the dead).
>8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, on your lips and in your
heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
>9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
>10 For one believes with the heart unto [EIS] righteousness and one
confesses with the mouth unto [EIS] salvation.
>11 The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame."
>12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is
Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.
>
TILL
In verses 10 and 11, I have substituted the marginal reading of
Hendrickson's Interlinear Bible because the NRSV is so modern in its
translation that it destroys the literal meaning. The NRSV says that one
believes with the heart and is justified and one confesses with the mouth
and is saved, but "unto righteousness" and "unto salvation" are more literal
translations of the Greek expressions.
I would ask Matt to notice how often Paul used the word "eis" in the obvious
sense of "in the direction of." His usage of "eis" twice in verse 10 is
very significant. Would Matt argue that Paul was here saying that one
believes "as an indication of" his righteous? I doubt it. That would put
him in the position of saying that one is righteous or saved before he believes.
The point is that there is no support at all for Matt's quibble on what "for
the remission of sins" meant in Acts 2:38. It meant that the people should
be baptized for or in the direction of having their sins remitted. I'm
sorry, Matt, but the NT teaches that baptism is essential for salvation. If
what I have said so far isn't enough to convince you, I can give you much
more. At the very least, Matt should admit by now that the Bible is not
"crystal clear" about what is necessary to be saved.
Farrell Till
Skepticism, Inc.
jftill@midwest.net