18 οὐ γὰρ τολμήσω τι λαλεῖν ὧν οὐ κατειργάσατο Χριστὸς διʼ ἐμοῦ εἰς ὑπακοὴν ἐθνῶν, λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ, 19 ἐν δυνάμει σημείων καὶ τεράτων, ἐν δυνάμει πνεύματος [θεοῦ]· ὥστε με ἀπὸ Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ κύκλῳ μέχρι τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ πεπληρωκέναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ, 20 οὕτως δὲ φιλοτιμούμενον εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός, ἵνα μὴ ἐπʼ ἀλλότριον θεμέλιον οἰκοδομῶ, 21 ἀλλὰ καθὼς γέγραπται·
οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη περὶ αὐτοῦ ὄψονται,
καὶ οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασιν συνήσουσιν.
18 for I will not be bold to say anything of which things Christ did not achieve through me unto obedience of the nations, by word and work, 19 in power of signs and omens, in power of Breath [of God]; so that from Jerusalem and in a circle until Illyricum I have fulfilled the good news of the Christ, 20 but striving eagerly to spread the good news thus: not where Christ was named, in order that not upon a foundation of another I might build, 21 but just as it has been written:
“To those whom it was not announced concerning him, they will see,
and those who have not heard, they will understand.”
This ‘decidedly clumsy sentence’ (Cranfield) can be a bit difficult.
The negated future τολμήσω (from τολμάω, “I am bold”, “I dare”; see note on 5:7; cf. τολμηρότερον in v. 15) is translated variously; NET: “I will not dare”; NRSV, NIV: “I will not venture”; NASB: “I will not presume”). The present infinitive λαλεῖν (from λαλέω) is complementary with τολμάω. λαλέω probably refers to Paul’s “boasting” (v. 17). The indefinite pronoun τι is the direct object of the infinitive; after a negative, τι is translated, “anything”.
The antecedent of the plural relative pronoun ὧν is effectively τι; the switch to the plural is to highlight multiple things. EGGNT points out that ὧν is equivalent to ἐκείνων ἅ. ὧν is the genitive direct object of the aorist κατειργάσατο (from κατεργάζομαι, “I work, produce, accomplish”; see note on 1:27), of which Χριστὸς is the subject. The clause is literally, “I will not dare to speak anything which [things] Christ did not accomplish”. Most translations remove the second negation and insert “except” (e.g., NRSV: “except what Christ has accomplished”). The instrumental prepositional phrase διʼ ἐμοῦ modifies κατεργάζομαι. The prepositional phrase εἰς ὑπακοὴν indicates result (“resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles”, NASB; NIV: “in leading the Gentiles to obey God”). ἐθνῶν is subjective.
The datives λόγῳ and ἔργῳ are instrumental. Most commentators take them to modify κατειργάσατο Χριστὸς διʼ ἐμοῦ, referring to the speech and actions of Paul (so NIV: “leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done”). But it is also possible to connect them with ὑπακοὴν, referring to the obedient speech and actions of Gentiles (translations such as HCSB’s “to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed” can be taken either way).
τό τέρας (16x) is, “portent, omen, wonder” (BDAG), always found in the plural and alongside σημεῖα. τέρατα denotes the supernatural, σημεῖα that which points to a higher truth; together the terms denote what we call “miracles”. Both prepositional ἐν δυνάμει phrases are taken by most translations as instrumental, the same way as the datives λόγῳ and ἔργῳ. However, the change in construction may indicate that Paul had a different sense in mind for the δυνάμει clauses, and it may be best to translate ἐν as locative (e.g., “by word and deed, in the power of ...”, NASB).
The genitives σημείων and τεράτων with the first δυνάμει can be taken as product (EGGNT), epexegetical or attributive (Findlayson). The category of subjective genitive works not only for σημείων and τεράτων but also for πνεύματος with the second δυνάμει. [θεοῦ] modifies πνεύματος as a possessive/partitive genitive, or genitive of source. As EGGNT notes, the shortest reading (πνεύματος) is the least attested, and πνεύματος θεοῦ may be original; πνεύματος ἁγίου is clearly an assimilation to the most common wording.
ὥστε introducing a dependent clause is, “so that” (BDAG). ὥστε + infinitive indicates result. με is the accusative subject of the infinitive πεπληρωκέναι below.
The ἀπὸ ... μέχρι construction defines outermost limits on a spectrum (“from ... as far as ...”).
ὁ κύκλος (8x) “circle”, always in the dative κύκλῳ, could refer to a circuit around Jerusalem (“Jerusalem and surrounding areas”), although Cranfield notes that for this we would have expected τῆς κύκλῳ χώρας, and thus here it probably goes with μέχρι to denote a circuit from start to end (“Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum”; so ICC). Ἰερουσαλὴμ is the starting point of Paul’s efforts; τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ is the genitive object of μέχρι (“as far as Illyricum”), a region to the north of the Adriatic Sea, between Italy and Greece. The spatial prepositional phrases modify the perfect infinitive πεπληρωκέναι (from πληρόω). τὸ εὐαγγέλιον is the direct object of πληρόω; τοῦ Χριστοῦ is an objective genitive. For the article with Χριστοῦ, see note on 7:4. Paul is unlikely to mean by the verb πληρόω “completed preaching the Gospel” as if there was nowhere left to preach between Illyricum and Jerusalem. Most translations take πληρόω to refer to “fully preaching” the Gospel, although Cranfield considers this idea ‘altogether unlikely’. ICC takes Paul to mean ‘only that everywhere there were centres from which Christianity could spread’ (ESV: “I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel”), which accords with Paul’s ‘trailblazing’ strategy as revealed in the next verse. BDAG suggests, “bring (the preaching of) the gospel to completion (by proclaiming it in the most remote areas)”.
οὕτως (“in this way”) is best taken to modify εὐαγγελίζεσθαι below, cataphoric to the οὐχ ... Χριστός clause (Cranfield).
φιλοτιμέομαι (3x), from φίλος “loving” + ἡ τιμή “honor”, is literally “I love honor”; the term was used to refer to philanthropists whose ambition was to outdo one another in public acts of generosity; NRSV: “I make it my ambition” (sim. NIV; NASB: “I aspired”). However, ICC says the term eventually came to lose its original sense of honor-seeking and ambition, and came to denote only “eager striving”. NET’s “I desire to” and HCSB’s “My aim is” may be a little mild. The present participle φιλοτιμούμενον can be taken to modify the present infinitive εὐαγγελίζεσθαι (from εὐαγγελίζω) indicating manner, while the infinitive indicates a second result after ὥστε in verse 19. Alternatively, since the other two occurrences of φιλοτιμέομαι in the NT are followed by a complementary infinitive, εὐαγγελίζεσθαι may be complementary with the participle, while the participle modifies πεπληρωκέναι in verse 19. The participle matches the accusative case of the implied subject of the infinitive, με.
ὀνομάζω (10x), from τό ὄνομα, is, “I name”. The negated locative adverb ὅπου modifies the aorist passive ὠνομάσθη, whose subject is Χριστός. Cranfield suggests the aorist is equivalent to an English pluperfect. “Where Christ has been named” may indicate not simply “where Christ is known” (BDAG) but “where Christ has been called upon in worship” (ICC, Cranfield).
The clause οὐχ ὅπου ὠνομάσθη Χριστός modifies εὐαγγελίζω above, and is the referent of οὕτως.
ἵνα μὴ + subjunctive indicates negative purpose.
ὁ θεμέλιος (16x) is, “foundation” (cf. θεμελιόω, 5x, “I lay a foundation”). The spatial prepositional phrase ἐπʼ ... θεμέλιον, modified by attributive ἀλλότριον (“belonging to another”; see note on 14:4), modifies the present subjunctive οἰκοδομῶ (from οἰκοδομέω “I build”).
ἀλλὰ indicates strong contrast.
For καθὼς γέγραπται, see note on 1:17. What follows comes from the LXX of Isaiah 52:15.
ἀναγγέλλω (14x), from ἀνά + αγγελλω, is “disclose, announce, proclaim, teach” (BDAG). οἷς is the indirect object of the negated impersonal aorist passive ἀνηγγέλη (“to whom it was not proclaimed”). The antecedent of the relative pronoun is the implied subject of the future ὄψονται (from ὁράω, fut. root οπ-), literally, “They, to whom it was not proclaimed, will see”; most translations have something like, “Those who were not told”. ἀναγγέλλω is modified by the prepositional phrase περὶ αὐτοῦ (“told about him”).
οἳ is the subject of the negated perfect ἀκηκόασιν (from ἀκούω). The antecedent of the relative pronoun is the implied subject of the future συνήσουσιν (from συνίημι “I understand”).
