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The First Contribution to the Xou Debate: A Study of Ephesians 3.12

The Queen’s College, Oxford OX1 4AW

The phrase u u uou, contained in Eph. 3.12, is the first extant witness to Xou terminology in the post-Pauline period. It has often been argued that the absence of the definite article from the seven authentic Pauline texts used in the debate is significant in showing that an objective genitive was intended in those cases. However, this paper suggests that the presence of the article in Eph. 3.12 supports the notion that the author of Ephesians understood Pauline terminology in a subjective sense and made this explicit by supplying the definite article. Moreover, a subjective reading is shown to cohere with the theological insight that the author presents, namely that believers enjoy salvation, along with its cosmological implications, as a consequence of Christ’s obedience in going to the cross, his own act of faithfulness. This reading raises the important possibility that the author of Ephesians has in fact understood the apostolic ou references correctly, and as in Ephesians the authentic Pauline phrases should be understood as subjective genitives.

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