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

3.2.2 xo/taSq.C vet"
Ka .. t~CVelY
: is the complete opposite of
&~aCve~geographically,
spatially and cultically.
In the LXX the term appears most frequently with
"th h" 141 t" 1142 " "f"
e1 er a geograp 1C or spa la s1gn1 1cance.
A more useful occurrence,in that it provides us with
a more plausible parallelism to the Pauline use of
the term, is Gen 11:5 with its reference to God
r."I ':'"\ ,,..., ....
, M1:! I : I •
"j •
) descending to see the
city and tower which had been built on the earth.
This example, as unique as it is in OT literature,
does provide a possible source for the use of
xo:ml3a.CveLV
to describe the descent of God to earth.
In the NT, particularly in the Synop~ics
and Acts,
xa:ta.l3a.CveLV occurs in the same sense as in
the LXX, that is, with either a geographic or spatial
significance.
In the Gospel of John however, the
word has specific theological significance. Here the
143
is equivalent to the Incarnation of Jesus;
the direct contrast between the ascent and the descent
is seen by John as proof of the Incarnation.
In the Pauline Corpus
xa.-ra.I3a.C velV occurs
only on three occasions: Rom 10:6-8;
Eph 4:8-10 and
1 Thess 4:16. It has been argued that the XO(t6..~,,~
theme as distinct from the actual occurrence of the
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