Thursday, June 25, 2020

Craig Koester on the meaning of Hebrews 11:3 and how it is not a "proof-text" for creation ex nihilo


 

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. (Heb 11:3 NASB)

 

Heb 11:3 is a common proof-text for creation ex nihilo. In his Anchor Bible commentary on Hebrews, Craig Koester is quick to note that:

 

Some argue that the visible “has come into being” where nothing existed before. The preposition ek would mean that God created the visible world “out of nothingness” . . . It is not clear, however, that invisibility means nonexistence. (Craig R. Koester, Hebrews: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary [AB 36; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001], 474, emphasis in bold added)

 

Instead, Koester argues that “what cannot be seen” refers to the power of God’s word:

 

The elements in 11:3 are presented in a chiastic pattern in which “what cannot be seen” corresponds to “the word of God” (Ellingworth).

 

(1) was fashioned

(1’) came into being

(2) the universe

(2’) that which can be seen

(3) by the word of God

(3’) by what cannot be seen

 

Although “word” is singular and “what cannot be seen” is plural, the neuter plural could convey a singular idea (Smyth, Grammar §1003). The plural generalizes what was said about the word into a principle capable of broader application (Zerwick, Biblical Greek §7). Similar generalizing occurs in 11:5, where the author moves from Enoch to “the one who approaches God" t” “those who seek him.” The dative case of “word” corresponds to the ek that modifies “what cannot be seen,” indicating cause: “by” (BAGD, 235 [3e]). Thus the creative power of God’s word is an invisible force that produces visible results (P.E. Hughes, Commentary, 452; Rose, Wolke, 156-59). (Ibid., 474)

 

For articles discussion creation ex materia vs. ex nihilo, see:



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