course of philosophical development a cosmic hierarchy of all existents which leads in an unbroken line of participation to a higher world (on Plotinus see TDNT II 830). The theological aspect of this idea of cosmic participation found classical expression in OrigenÆ s Platonic restatement of the doctrine of creation (cf. J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, 19684, 128 ff.). OT Heb. has no special word for echo4. What is expressed by echo4 in Gk. is expressed in Heb. by the dat., a pronoun, a preposition or a circumlocution, such as saying that someone or something is in the hand or hands of someone ('al yad{ or biyd{e= etc.). echo4 is found 12 times in the LXX for these expressions. In all, it is used to translate over 50 different Heb. expressions. echo4 occurs more than 500 times in the LXX. But a large number of these instances come in passages which have no Heb. original. It is the same with the compounds metecho4, metoche4, and metochos as with koinwnevw etc. The words appear only in the later writings of the OT. metecho4 is used to translate expressions which in Heb. use only prepositions. metoche4 and metochos mostly translate words connected with the root h[a4b{ar (tie, unite). The words are used in these passages in basically the same sense as in earlier Gk. literature. Their theological significance is not, however, to be derived from the Gk. but from Heb. usage against its OT background. At the heart of the OT message stands the confession that God has chosen his people. It is his possession. The reverse is also true. He is his peopleÆ s God (Psa_33:12; Psa_144:15; cf. Hos_2:21-25; Covenant). Therefore, there shall be no other gods beside him (Exo_20:2 f.). Because Yahweh is the God of his people, he is strength, rock, fortress and saviour of the individual (e.g. Psa_18:3; Psa_27:1). God is the inheritance of the Levites (Deu_10:9; Eze_44:28; and often). Hence, IsraelÆ s confession: ô Our God is a God of salvationö (Psa_68:20; cf. Psa_73:25). Esther prayed: ô I have no helper beside youö (Est_4:17t LXX). For similar expressions in Maccabean and post-Christian literature see TDNT II 817, 822 f.
GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 3—PAGE 19