P. Derek Overfield PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

'disarming' • If Christ is the subject then the
meaning must be 'stripping off from himself', or
'divesting himself (of) I.
If God is the subject
t , s::.
~ r en a.7(8Xu't)OI-la.L must be in the middle voice, a
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situation that is not without its own peculiar problem.~~u
If Christ is the subject then the question becomes
'divesting himself of what?'
. . h . f 1 h th d' h . . . III
tles are lS es or 1e powers an aut Orltles.
The first of these possibilities seems to us to lay
itself open to a dualistic interpretation of the
death of Christ that is as theologically unacceptable
to us as surely i °c
"\vould have been to Paul himself.
7he second possibility seems to liS equally unacceptable
theologically;
nOl.v:"lere else in scri.i:ycure do We fi.nd
ev~d2~C2 to suggest that i.t was eve~ ~21i2v2d t~at
the I pOl.vers and authori. ties' were atCcached to Ch~i.st
in such a way that he should be able to disrobe himself
of them.
We therefore, in spite of the lack of al'"ly
exact parallels, consider 6.7CE:X000iJ.C.~
to be a verD Ul
the middle voice, and thus we understand the subject
of the verb to be God.
interpret
This also means that we
,
tv a.~,"C) (2:15) as I in him' I meaning Ch:;:-ist. 112
•
We therefore translate the verse in question as follows
'He (God) disarmed the principalities and powers and
made a public example of them, leading them in a
triumphant procession in him (Christ)'
The only two possibili-
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