In interpreting the phenomenon of a compound subject and a singular verb as an avowal of Christ's oneness with the Father and/or his deity, it may be suggested that these commentators have gone beyond the text itself. A. T. Robertson has listed a number of examples of a plural subject with a singular verb that cast doubt upon the above interpretations. Ja 53 has two masc. sing. nouns, each with the def. art .. joined by kai ('and') together with a sing. verb: ό χρυσός ύμων καί ό άργυρος κατίωται ('Your gold and silver has become corroded' [lit.]). In Μκ 441 one finds καί ό άνεμος καί ή θάλασσα ύπακούει αύτω ( ... even wind and sea obeys [lit.] him'). Mt 518 reads εως αν παρέλθη ό ούρανός καί ή γή (' ... till heaven and earth passes [lit.] away . . .'). Jn 1222 records έρχεται 'Ανδρέας καί Φίλιππος (' ... Andrew and Philip goes [lit.] . .. '). In Mt 619 one reads that σής καί βρώσις αφανίζει ( ... moth and rust corrupts [lit.] ... '). Paul writes (1 Cor 1550) σάρξ καί αίμα βασιλείαν θεού κληρονομήσαι ού δυνατι('. . . flesh and blood is not able [lit.] to inherit the kingdom of God ... '). In none of these examples would it be appropriate to suggest that, because the compound subjects occur with singular verbs, they are united in such a fashion as to be one entity in any respect. They are individual distinct entities, although they may in some instances be viewed jointly or they may be spatially co-mingled in their existence (e.g., 'flesh and blood').
In Ja 53. Mt 518 and Mk 441
the Greek structure of ο . .
.και . . . ο(η) .
. . further emphasizes the individuality of the compound subjects. The
repetition of the definite article, Robertson states, occurs in order to
express 'distinctness' and .... that they [that to which the cited passages may
refer] are treated as separate'. The Thessalonian verse in question has this
precise structure: ό θεός ··· καί ό κύριος ··· κατευθύναι.
In view of the above examples it is dubious that on the
basis of grammar one should interpret .... God and our Lord ... ' as one.
having essential equality, or mystically united. any more than one would so
view 'moth and rust', 'wind and sea', 'heaven and earth', ' Andrew and Philip'.
or 'flesh and blood'. Nevertheless, one must account for the compound subject
with its twofold occurrence of the definite article in conjunction with a
singular verb. Quite simply, the repeated definite article suggests that Paul
viewed God the Father and Jesus his Lord as two individual entities, whereas
the singular verb suggests that he held God and Jesus in some very close
relationship. Paul's views on their interrelationship must be delineated from
other texts, however suggestive one may feel this passage to be.
One may ask what would have been the significance if Paul
had used the plural verb in this prayer. Most obviously a compound subject, each
part of which had the definite article, used with a plural verb would have
indicated that Paul was praying to two beings: (1) God his Father, and (2)
Jesus his Lord. However, because of Paul's view of Jesus Christ as expressed
elsewhere (e.g., Ro 95, Col 115-20, 29). a
view which attributes deity to Christ, it is highly dubious that Paul would
have addressed himself in prayer to God his Father and Jesus his Lord in a way
which might have left his readers the option of interpreting him as saying that
God the Father and Jesus his Lord were two different gods.
Consequently, in view of his beliefs which he has
expressed elsewhere in Scripture and the demands of the construction in 1 Th 311,
it may be suggested that Paul employed the unusual syntax of a compound
subject, of which each element's distinctive nature is maintained by the ‘ο . . . και
. . . ο . . . ‘ construction,
together with a singular verb which maintained the intimacy of the two
elements, in order to avoid either a complete separation or a complete merging
of the two to whom he prayed: his God and his Lord. (James A. Hewett, “1 Thessalonians
311,” The Expository Times 82, no. 2 [November 1975]:54)
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