Mark S. Gignilliat, «Working Together with Whom?
Text-Critical, Contextual, and Theological Analysis of
sunerge1= in Romans 8,28», Vol. 87 (2006) 511-515
Who is actually working together with whom in Romans 8,28? The overall sense
of the text is rather straightforward. For the ones loving God, good is the ultimate
end of all things. The clarity stops here, however, as exegetes wrestle with the
actual syntactic understanding of the verb and subject of sunerge1=. This short note
advances an argument which seeks to show God as the subject of the intransitive
verb sunerge1= with an understanding of the Spirit of Romans 8,26-27 as the one
with whom God is working.
514 Mark S. Gignilliat
One pressing question remains, however. If qeov" is the subject, stated or
implied, with whom then is he working (16)? This answer to this particular
question is where this article is seeking to advance a new notion. It is
grammatically possible to understand God’s working together with toi'"
agapwsin to;n qeovn (cf. Jas 2,22). But this is awkward contextually and tends
j '
to lose the theocentricity of Paul’s thought. It also loses the beneficiary idea
associated with the ones loving God. In other words, it does not follow for
human agency to be associated with the sun because of the extra nos
emphasis of God’s salvific work in Christ in this section. Nor do humans have
the capacity to work in such a way that all things are in their realm of
influence, the all things realm is the realm of God (17). Paul is speaking
exclusively about God’s definitive and gracious movement toward his people,
and this should offer some control on our interpretation and translation.
It is proposed here that v. 28 follows from vv. 26-27 according to Pauline
logic, and the one with whom God is working for the good of those who love
God is the one who in v. 27 is kata; qeo;n ejntugcavnei uJpe;r aJgivwn (18). It is, after
all, the Spirit who is the one intereceding on behalf of God’s people, and he
intercedes kata; qeovn. Contextually, one already observes the synergetic
relationship between the work of the Spirit and the work of God. Therefore,
the change of subject taking place in v. 28 from pneu'ma to qeov" is real but not
disjunctive (19). The collaborative idea associated with the verb sunergei' is
between the Spirit’s activity on behalf of the saints according to God’s will (v.
27), and God’s providential care for his people via the Spirit’s activity. God’s
people in Christ are the beneficiaries of God’s working together with the
Spirit on their behalf.
On these grounds, it is possible to see a Trinitarian dynamic up and
running in Rom 8,28 where the work of God and the Spirit overlap in a
perichoretic way. When one enters into discussions of God’s providence from
a doctrinal perspective, we are immediately in the realm of creation and
God’s preserving of his creation via the Spirit. Romans 8,28 is contextually
placed in Paul’s theological reflection about creation, suffering, the limits of
humanity, and the sufficiency of the Spirit’s interceding for and preserving of
creation and God’s people. This reading highlights the climactic role Rom
8,28 plays in its context. In all things, God is working together with the Spirit
for the good purposes of his people.
*
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In light of the grammatical, textual, logical and theological issues at hand,
this reading makes good sense in Paul’s overall argument in this context. At
(16) We are assuming the transitive idea (cf. NASB) does not do justice to the
synergistic idea of this verb and is an unknown usage in Greek literature (see GIENIUSZ,
Romans 8:18-30, 255; J.G. GRIFFITHS, “Romans viii.28â€, ExpTim 49 [1938] 474-76).
(17) Thanks to Dr. Tee Gatewood for this insight.
(18) Cf. n. 14.
(19) In this light, the sensibilities, but not the conclusion, of Black and Fee are affirmed.
(20) Thanks to Dr. Frank Thielmann, Dr. Tee Gatewood, Dr. Gregg Morrison, and Dr.
Jonathan Pennington for offering helpful comments on this article.