Editing Ephesians 3:9 (section)

====Myths and Mistakes concerning κοινωνία====
In the book ''Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism'' by [[Elijah Hixson]] and [[Peter Gurry|Peter J. Gurry]], it has a section about by S. Matthew Solomon about κοινωνία in [[Philemon 1:6]]:

::From “participation” to “ministry.” Philemon 6 is by far the most difficult verse in the book to understand in terms of vocabulary and syntax. As Paul continues his thanksgiving section, he provides a purpose clause that gives an object to his ambiguous prayer from the second half of Philemon 4, stating, “so that the participation of your faith may become effective in the knowledge of every good thing which is in us in Christ.” Most manuscripts in the Greek tradition read κοινωνία (koinōnia, “participation”). Some manuscripts (01c, 0150, 1874, 1881, and others), though, read διακονία (diakonia, “ministry”) in place of “fellowship” or “participation.” The overwhelming support of early and reliable witnesses gives precedent to “participation” over “ministry,” making the second reading the focus of our discussion here. Scribal considerations must be examined as well. The specific meaning of κοινωνία here has been the subject of some debate. Modern scholars have provided a range of meanings for the term: “association,” “communion,” “sharing,” “participation,” “partnership,” “contributions,” “fellowship,” and others.<sup>31</sup> Modern difficulties in understanding the meaning of κοινωνία may shed light on why διακονία can be found in some manuscripts. Perhaps ancient and medieval readers and scribes shared the same difficulty and sought to clarify the verse by changing κοινωνία to διακονία to avoid ambiguity. Another important aspect to consider is strictly a letter issue: the two terms share several common letters in Greek. A careless scribe initially could have made the change from participation to ministry unintentionally. In this case, ministry could have stayed in the tradition, as the noun makes sense in the flow of Paul’s letter. Whichever way the variant arose, the presence of ministry in the textual tradition points to difficulties in interpretation throughout the centuries. Perhaps this variant reading can help us in interpretation. In this particular instance, past readers struggled with the meaning of the word participation. Some readers, though, were comfortable with the term ministry or service of faith here. This variant reading helps us to understand that this activity of faith that Paul was praying would become effective was certainly connected to the church and involved an act of service or ministry, not simply a passive type of fellowship. The addition of work. Continuing in Philemon 6, Paul prays that the participation of Philemon’s faith will be effective “in the knowledge of every good thing.” The ambiguous use of ἀγαθοῦ (agathou, “good thing”) here led to the addition of a clarifying noun, ἔργου (ergou, “work”). In this case, “every good” became “every good work.” Once the reading made its way into the tradition, it remained, being found in more than 120 manuscripts.<sup>32</sup> 

::In their discussion on the variant, Barth and Blanke comment that a very small group of manuscripts added the noun. That the noun has been added to more than 120 Greek manuscripts demonstrates the need for full collations of the entire Greek tradition. <sup>33</sup> The only letters lacking the phrase are 1 Corinthians, Galatians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians.

::Although found in all these manuscripts, the addition appears to be secondary in light of external evidence. Scribal and authorial considerations must be examined as well. In terms of inscriptional probabilities (i.e., what Paul might have written), the addition of work might appear to go against the grain in terms of what Paul usually communicated to his congregations. Although Paul emphasizes salvation being free from “works of the law,” good works more broadly is not a concept foreign to his teaching. Paul uses a form of the phrase ἔργον ἀγαθόν (ergon agathon, “good work”) twelve times in his letters, each time in a positive sense (Rom 2:7; 2 Cor 9:8; Eph 2:10; Phil 1:6; Col 1:10; 1 Tim 2:10, 5:10; 2 Tim 2:21; 3:17; Titus 1:16; 3:1).33 In this instance, therefore, it is possible that Paul could have penned “every good work.”

::In terms of transcriptional probabilities, scribes might have added work to clarify the somewhat ambiguous good. “Of all good” or “of every good thing” is open ended, which could have led some scribes to insert a clarifying noun. Conversely, if work were present initially, its deletion (thus creating a more ambiguous phrase at the end of an already awkward verse) seems less likely. Also, six of the twelve instances of the phrase “good work” occur in the Pastoral Epistles, located right before Philemon in most manuscripts. Due to close proximity, scribes could have added work to good to correct the perceived error of its absence because they were accustomed to seeing the phrase. The secondary nature of the phrase “every good work” makes it a prime candidate for a variant that can be used as commentary for this particular verse. The original text “every good” by itself cries out for something to complete the thought. In this case, scribes inserted work, giving the otherwise ambiguous phrase some kind of tangible action or result. Paul’s prayer was that the participation of Philemon’s faith would become effective in the knowledge of not just all goodness but specifically good deeds and actions. That this reading found staying power in about 20 percent of the Greek manuscript tradition indicates its acceptance as a legitimate way to understand the text here. (<small>''Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism'' by Elijah Hixson and Peter J. Gurry. Pages 184-185</small>

The above is important when we consider διάκονος in the context of [[Ephesians 3:7]].