"For" As Used In Acts 2:38 (Continued from the Front Page)

The Grammar of Acts 2:38

In the Warren/Ballard Debate, Mr. L. S. Ballard introduced the idea that repent (second person plural) and be baptized (third person singular) "...cannot have the same subject or nominative....Peter was saying to all those who repented into life, 'everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,' not in order to obtain the remission of sins... " (p. 146). Consider the comments of some noted grammarians.

1. "Marvin K Franzmann, Concordia Seminary, 'As regards the expression in Acts 2:38, it is grammatically possible to connect 'eis aphesin' with both verbs." (Warren/Ballard Debate p. 163).

2. "J. W. Wilmarth, a great outstanding Baptist scholar, 'This interpretation compels us"--that is, to try to separate the two verbs--"either to do violence to the construction, or to throw the argument or the course of thought in the context into complete confusion. Indeed we can hardly escape the latter alternative if we choose the former. For those who contend for the interpretation 'on account of remission' will hardly be willing to admit that Peter said 'Repent' as well as 'be baptized on account of remission of sins.' This is too great an inversion of natural sequence. Yet to escape it we must violently dissever 'repent' and 'be baptized' and deny that 'eis' expresses the relation of 'repentance' as well as 'baptism' to forgiveness of sins. But the natural construction connects the latter with both the preceding verbs. It enforces the entire exhortation, not one part of it to the exclusion of the other, as Hackett says." (Warren/Ballard Debate pp 163, 164).

3. "Henry J. Cadbury, member of the Revised Standard Version Committee,...has this to say,...'The grammar of the sentence in Acts 2:38 is perfectly regular and better Greek than if the author had kept the second person plural 'baptize' after using the singular 'each.' I have no doubt that another author would have written 'Do ye repent,' and 'be ye baptized,' each of you. But this writer seems to have preferred the less loose construction. I think that there would be no essential difference in meaning.' Whether you said 'Do ye repent, and be ye baptized each of you,' or as it stands exactly, there would be no essential difference in meaning." (Warren/Ballard Debate, p.164).

The meaning of "For"

According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, "for" has a number of meanings, two of which are (1) because of and (2) purpose. Note these examples: (1) He went to jail for (because of ) murder and (2) he went to the store for (in order to get) a loaf of bread. However, the word eis (eis) which is translated "for" (KJV) or "unto' (ASV) in Acts 2:38 never looks backward, only forward, which gives it the concept of "purpose" in Acts 2:38.

Consider carefully the definition given eis by recognized authorities:

1. Arndt And Gingrich, "f. to denote purpose in order to, to: ...for forgiveness of sins, so that sins might be forgiven Mt. 26:28; cf. Mk. 1:4; Lk. 3:3; Ac 2:38...,"

2. eis with verbs of motion, "But the usual idiom with eis was undoubtedly with verbs of motion when the motion and the accusative case combined with eis ('in') to give the resultant meaning of 'into,' 'unto,' 'among,' 'to,' 'towards' or 'on,' 'upon,' according to the context. This is so common as to call for little illustration." (Grammar, A.T. Robertson, p. 593)

3. Thayer, "...to obtain the forgiveness of sins, Acts 2:38..." (Lexicon, p. 94).

What about the scholars who indicate that eis may mean "because of"?

1. "5. Aim or Purpose." "...this is the idea in Mt. 26:28, ....eis aphesin amartion. But it by no means follows that the same idea is expressed by eis aphesin in MK. 1:4 and Ac. 2:38 (Cf. Mt. 10:41), though that may in the abstract be true. It remains a matter for the interpreter to decide." (Grammar, A.T. Robertson, p. 595).

2. Of Mt. 12:41, where the Ninevites "...repented at the preaching of Jonas...," Mr. Robertson says, "...it is absurd to take eis as 'into' or 'unto' or even 'to..." (Grammar, p. 593).

3. Again, Mr. Robertson says of eis, "...that the preposition does not of itself mean 'into' even with verbs of motion. That is indeed one of the resultant meanings among many others." (Grammar, p. 593).

4. Mr. J. R. Mantey's statement quoted in the Dana and Mantey Grammar where he said, "The sentence [metanoesen eis to kerugma ion] metanoesen eis to kerugma ion (repented at the preaching of Jonah. Also, note that [metanoesen] metanoesen, third person singular, should be [metanosan] metanosan, third person plural, GM) in Mt. 12:41 and Lk. 12:32 (should be Lk. 11:32, GM) is forceful evidence for a causal use of this preposition. What led to their repentance? Of course, it was Jonah's preaching." (P. 104). What is overlooked is the preceding paragraph where Mr. Mantey said, "When one considers in Ac. 2:38 repentance as self-renunciation and baptism as a public expression of self-surrender and self-dedication to Christ, which significance it certainly had in the first century, the expression [eis aphesin ton amartion umon] eis aphesin ton amartion umon (unto the remission of your sins, GM) may mean for the purpose of the remission of sins. But if one stresses baptism, without its early Christian import, as a ceremonial means of salvation, he does violence to Christianity as a whole, for one of its striking distinctions from Judaism and Paganism is that it is a religion of salvation by faith while all others teach salvation by works."

Question: Did the Ninevites repent "because of" the preaching of Jonah? Yes! Is that what Mt. 12:41 and Luke 11:32 teach? NO! Indeed, Jonah's going to Nineveh and preaching helped bring about the repentance of the Ninevites. But, Matthew 12:41 and Luke 11:32 do not say that. They say that the Ninevites repented eis (unto or into) the benefits of Jonah's preaching or in order to comply with Jonah's preaching. Their repentance looked FORWARD to something NOT BACKWARD.