gengwall

Back to arguments.

Neo’s claim that vss. 8-15 is a chaistic, and that the antecedent of his “all Christian women” in vs. 15 is all Christian women in vs. 9, requires that the shift in focus has changed from the congregation at Ephesus to the church as a whole. Yet he provides no indication of when this presumed shift took place. Chapter 1 clearly ends still in Ephesus, and chapter 2 begins with “therefore, I exhort you”. The “therefore” retains the connection to what has just preceeded in Chapter 1 and subsequently keeps the focus in Ephesus. Vss. 2:1-2:9 are an unbroken narrative on proper behavior for those Ephesians (with Paul as an example) in dealing with the circumstances and people in their midst. I see no expansion beyond the Ephesus city limits in Paul’s exhortations, unless the somewhat dubious clause “I will therefore that men pray every where” is somehow seen to instantaneously shift the focus from Ephesus to the entire globe.

So, if the “women” in vss. 9-10 are Ephesian women only, then the case that “they” in vs. 15 are all Christian women simply blows up. He must first prove that Ephesus is no longer the focus in vss. 8-10 or his “chiastic structure” is but a house of cards.

(BTW – he also doesn’t explain why Paul’s carefully constructed chiastic coldly abandons the men from vs. 8. In reality, if the chiastic analysis was true, there would be a verse 16 dealing with all Christian men.)