Kittle eis G1519 [in, into, until, etc.

] Details Originally spatial, this word takes on theological significance in the NT. A. The Spatial Use of eis. 1. The Cosmic and Soteriological Sense. In the NT eis expresses the living connection between divine and cosmic realities. In Greek thought the gods belong to the cosmos. Even dualism makes only a static distinction. Hades is another place; it is not God's world. Even in circles which speak of an ascent of the soul, eis plays only a minor role. Formally the OT speaks in a similar way, as though, when God comes down, he were simply changing place within the same reality (cf. Gen. 18:21; Ex 3:8). Yet his superiority over all creatures is strongly asserted, as in Ex 33:18ff.; Isa 6, so that heaven cannot contain him (1Kg. 8:27) and his presence is the willed and gracious address of the covenant God (vv. 28ff.). Judaism thus develops an aversion to anthropomorphic statements and carries the divine transcendence almost to the point of straining the link between God and the world except for a firm belief in providence. Thus the LXX paraphrases Ex 15:3 and Ex 24:10, Jubilees omits God's walking in the garden in its rendering of Ge 3, Palestinian Judaism posits a series of heavens, and apocalyptic works begin to place greater weight on the preposition eis, e.g., in the coming of angels to the world, or in relation to apocalyptic vision. The NT inherits the distinction between the divine and human worlds but bridges the gulf with the concept of fulfilment in Christ. In this context eis takes on a new significance as follows. a. "Into the world" delimits earthly creation from all other reality. We all come into the world (Jn 1:9). Sin and death come into the world (Ro 5:12); there is perhaps a hint of a transcendent background here, though cf. "through one man." b. Divine love comes into the world to bring salvation. The NT links this with the preexistent Son, although faith focuses more on the goal than the origin. In this regard eis is not present in the Synoptics and is rare in Paul (cf. Ro 10:6; Phil 2:5ff.). The thought of God's sending, however, gives it great importance in John (cf. 1Jn 4:9), as does that of the Logos himself coming into the world (Jn 11:27). As the Father sent the Son into the world, so the Son sends his disciples (Jn 17:18). In the light of the incarnation (Jn 1:14), this derived mission takes on an eternal quality. c. The Christ who came down for our salvation passes through humiliation into the heavenly world of God. This receives greater emphasis in the NT than preexistence (cf. Lk 24:5; Acts 1:11; Heb 9:24; Eph 4:8ff., and materially Ac 3:21; Ro 1:4; Phil 2:9ff.). A prior journey to the nether regions may be presupposed, as in Ro 10:7 and especially 1Pe 3:19; 4:6 (but not Eph 4:9). d. The divine act of salvation forces us to decide where our own path is to lead, either through unbelief and disobedience to destruction (Mt 7:19; 5:29-30; 3:10; Rev 19:20; Mt 13:42; 5:25; 8:12; 25:46), or through faith and obedience to life (Mt 7:14; 25:21; Lk 16:22; Mt 5:20; 2Pe 1:11), which is present even now (Jn 5:24); these references usually contain a spatial as well as a stronger or weaker figurative element. 2. The Psychological Sense. a. eis denotes the intrusion of good or bad influences into the center of personality, e.g., demons in Mt 9:25, evil from Satan in Jn 13:2, Satan in Lk 22:3, a wicked purpose from God himself in judgment in Rev 17:17, the Spirit of God in 1Th 4:8; Ga 4:6, and cf. the prodigal's return to himself in Lk 15:17. b. With verbs of sending or speaking, eis denotes address; cf. Jesus in Mt 15:24, God in Ac 2:22, the gospel in Mk 13:10, and cf. also Lk 7:1; 2Co 10:16; 1Pe 1:25. By its regular use of such constructions, which are good Greek but rest on the Hebrew, Christianity shows itself to be a religion of the word. c. eis may also describe a situation, e.g., being led into temptation (Mt 6:13), or shut up in disobedience (Ro 11:32), or having

every thought brought captive into Christ's sphere (2Co 10:5). This is perhaps also the point in Ro 6:17; cf. Ro 5:2; Ga 1:6. B. The Temporal Use of eis. 1. When a point of time is given, the sense is "until" (cf. Mt 10:22; 2Ti 1:12). When a period is mentioned, the sense is "for" (cf. Lk 12:19). 2. More common in the NT is the use in which an action is performed with a view to some end, e.g., caring for the day in Mk 6:34, being sealed for the day of redemption in Ep 4:30, being pure or laying a good foundation for the day of Christ in Phil 1:10; 1Ti 6:1; cf. 1Pe 1:5; Ga 3:23-24. In such cases the reference is usually eschatological. C. The Modal Use. eis sometimes denotes intensity, e.g., Jn 13:1("to the utmost" as well as "to the end"); Heb 7:25; 2Co 10:13 (where the distinction between justifiable and unjustifiable boasting is qualitative); 2Co 4:17 ("in excess to excess" in the sense of beyond all comparison). D. eis in a Logical Connection. 1. Very occasionally eis states a reason, e.g., "in view of" in Ro 4:20; cf. Mt 12:41; 2Co 10:16; Ga 6:4 where, after testing, the self, not others, must provide reason for boasting. 2. eis denotes appointment, as in Mt 5:22; 1Co 11:22; Col. 2:22; Jms 5:3; Rev 22:2. a. Divine appointment: the angels are appointed to minister to the heirs of salvation (Heb 1:14), Moses as a witness (Heb 3:5), Scripture for instruction (Ro 15:4), Paul to publish good news (Ro 1:1), believers to salvation (1Th 5:9), sonship (Ep 1:5), or a living hope (1Pe 1:3-4), others to destruction or ignoble use (Ro 9:21ff.; 2Ti 2:20). b. Human appointment: missionaries are appointed to do God's work (Ac 13:2); believers are to take the bread and wine in remembrance of Christ (1Co 11:24-25), and to do all things to God's glory (1Co 10:31) . 3. Consecutive and final eisa eis may denote the directing of an action to a specific end, whether intentionally or incidentally. a. With a noun or pronominal accusative it usually has a final sense (cf. D.2.), as in "for a witness to them" (Mk 1:44) or "in memory of her" (Mk 14:9). Thus the gospel is God's power "to salvation" (Ro 1:16), Christ is an expiation "to show God's righteousness" (Ro 3:25), Paul's mission aims at the obedience of faith (Ro 1:5), eternal life (1Ti 1:16), and edification (Eph 4:12), and God's praise and glory (Eph 1:6; Ro 15:7) are the goals of God's saving action. The use may also be consecutive, as in 1Co 11:17; Rev 13:3; 2Co 7:9-10; Ro 10:10; 13:4, where the result, not the purpose, is indicated; cf. Col 1:11, where endurance and patience are the result of strengthening. Yet the line is a fine one and sometimes precise differentiation is impossible; cf. Ro 14:1; 1Co 12:13 ("one body" is either the purpose or the result); Ro 13:4 (wrath is either purpose or result). "To faith" in Ro 1:17 seems to be final, but "to glory" in 2Co 3:18 is consecutive; neither follows OT analogies such as Je. 3:9; Ps 84:7. b. With nominal accusative or accusative and infinitive eis is mainly final though sometimes consecutive. Ro 12:3; Mt 20:19, etc. are final, as are Ro 1:11; Heb 2:17; Jms 1:18, but Heb 11:3 is consecutive (cf. Ro 6:12; 2Th 2:10), and both uses may be found in Ro 4:11-12 (consecutive), 16 (final), and 18 (consecutive). As regards guilt, the theological question arises whether it is an immanent result or a divine purpose. "To make them believe" in 2Th 2:11 might be consecutive but is probably final in view of the final clause that follows, but Ro 1:20 cannot be final, since the point is to show the ground of the complaint, and we should thus render: "So that they are without excuse" E. The eis of Personal Relationship. 1. eis denotes relationship as such in a neutral sense, "with reference to," "relative to" (cf. 1Co 4:6; Ep 5:32). This is probably the meaning in Lk 12:21 (rich in relation to God) and Ro 5:18 (with effect upon all). 2. eis may denote hostile relationship, either a. enmity against God, the Son of Man, the Spirit, or God's messengers in the form of sin (cf. Lk 15:18; Ro

8:7; 1Co 8:12; Mk 3:29 [blasphemy]), or b. enmity against others as persecution (Jn 15:21) or wrongdoing (Mt 18:15; 1Co 8:12). The NT does not use eis for God's reaction to sin or sinners; God is not our enemy. 3. eis denotes a friendly relationship a. between believers (Ro 12:10; 16:6; 1Co 16:3), b. between God and us (Ro 5:8) or God and believers (2Co 1:11; 1Pe 1:10), and c. between us and God: we were created for God (1Co 8:6), and we are to repent toward God (Ac 20:21) and to believe in (eis) God or Christ, into whom, or whose name, we are baptized. (It should be noted that believing in Christ is rare in the Synoptic Gospels, Acts, and Paul, but common in John's Gospel, where it is found over 30 times between 2:11 and 17:20.) . F. Individual Points and Questions of Hebraisms. 1. eis may occur where one would expect en, e.g., when being in a place results from movement to it, e.g., Mt 2:23; Mk 1:39; Mk 1:9 (dipping into the Jordan is suggested here); 2Co 1:21. This interchangeability of eis and en is not a Hebraism but is Homeric. Most of the instances are in Luke and Acts (Ac 7:12 etc.). 2. eis can denote the predicate with verbs of becoming (Mt 21:42), being (Mk 10:8), holding (Mt 21:46), etc., or the result with verbs like gather (Jn 11:52), perfect (Jn 17:23), reckon (Ro 4:3). This again is not just a Hebraism. 3. eis can replace the genitive or dative (1Pe 1:11; 1:4; Ep 3:16); this is common usage in the Koine and modern Greek. [A. OEPKE]