Essential Connections
because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:7-8 NASB
Hostile/ cannot – You will recall that “the mind set on” is the translator’s attempt to render Paul’s single word, phrónēma, as an active verb even though it is really a noun. Now we discover the same modification with the word échthra. Paul doesn’t write “is hostile.” Literally, he writes “because the phrónēma the sarkós (flesh) échthra (hostility).” In English it might mean the same thing as “the flesh is hostile,” but the Greek phrase doesn’t include the copula. Paul seems to be saying something more than “the flesh is hostile.” He seems to be saying that this particular kind of self-serving existence (phrónēma) exudes hostility. In fact, it cannot be described in any other way than pure hostility toward God. Paul is constructing a Hebrew syntax in Greek. In Hebrew, what we call attributes are attached to objects like this: “the car is red.” That construction assumes two independent things: a car and the color red. The attribute “red” is connected to the object “car” by the use of the copula (“is”). The construction implies that “red” is not essential to “car.” It is arbitrarily attached, and it can just as easily be detached (“the car that was red is now blue”). But that isn’t the way Hebrew thinks. In Hebrew, objects do not exist independently of their “attributes.” They are the attributes, just as an object in Hebrew does not exist without fulfilling its purpose. For example, a candle is not a candle until it fulfills its purpose, namely, providing light. It has to be lit to be a candle. A “red car” is not the same as a “blue car” simply because it has been painted blue. It is no longer the same object because being red wasn’t just an accident. It was essential to what it means to be “red car.”
This is the idea Paul is communicating in his Greek construction. It’s not that this particular state of the flesh is hostile toward God, as if we could simply modify its current state and remove the hostility. No, what Paul is saying in his Hebrew/Greek is that phrónēma is échthra. They are the same thing. “Red car” is not just a car that is red. It is car-redness. It is what it is. In like manner, phrónēma, the self-serving commitment, doesn’t just happen to be hostile toward God. It is hostility itself. It is what hostility really means.
In Hebrew, échthra is the translation of ʾôyēḇ. “Basic to the usage is that Gentiles do not alternate between hostility and friendship but are in constant opposition to both Israel and God.”[1] It is this constant state of opposition, regardless of apparent neutrality, that Paul emphasizes. Gentiles might look as if they are not openly at war with God, but the truth is much more terrifying. As long as phrónēma holds sway, échthra exists. This is why Paul can claim that phrónēma is unable (“cannot”) please God. It isn’t a matter of simple incapacity. It’s not as if, with just a little more spiritual effort, the man of the flesh can turn things around and repair the relationship. No extra prayer, tithing, charity, or meditation will do the trick. Phrónēma is hostility! Redness is the car. They can’t be separated. There is a solution, but it is not a blue paint job. It is a completely different car. The redness has to go to the junkyard.
Topical Index: phrónēma, mind, échthra, hostility, Romans 8:7-8
[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 285). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
