* ON THE PREPOSITIONS ANTI AND HUPER
The
basic idea of anti is “facing.” This may be a matter of opposition,
unfriendliness or antagonism, or of agreement. These meanings are exemplified
in compounds of the preposition with verbs, and in nouns. The following are
instances: antiparerchomai in Luke 10:31,32, where the verb is rendered “passed
by on the other side,” i.e., of the road, but facing the wounded man; antiballo
in Luke 24:17, where the anti suggests that the two disciples, in exchanging
words (see RV marg.), turned to face one another, indicating the earnest nature
of their conversation. The idea of antagonism is seen in antidikos, “an
adversary,” Matt. 5:25, antichristos, “antichrist,” 1 John 4:3, etc.
There is
no instance of the uncompounded preposition signifying “against.” Arising from
the basic significance, however, there are several other meanings attaching to
the separate use of the preposition. In the majority of the occurrences in the
NT, the idea is that of “in the place of,” “instead of,” or of exchange; e.g.,
Matt. 5:38, “an eye for (anti) an eye”; Rom. 12:17, “evil for evil”; so 1
Thess. 5:15; 1 Pet. 3:9, and, in the same verse, “reviling for reviling.” The
ideas of substitution and exchange are combined, e.g., in Luke 11:11, “for a
fish ... a serpent”; Heb. 12:16, “for one mess of meat ... his own birthright.”
So in Matt. 17:27, “a shekel (stater) ... for thee and Me,” where the phrase is
condensed; that is to say, the exchange is that of the coin for the tax demanded
from Christ and Peter, rather than for the persons themselves. So in 1 Cor.
11:15, where the hair is a substitute for the covering.
Of
special doctrinal importance are Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45, “to give His life a
ransom (lutron) for (anti) many.” Here the substitutionary significance,
“instead of,” is clear, as also with the compound antilutron in 1 Tim. 2:6,
“who gave Himself a ransom (antitutron) for (huper) all”; here the use of
huper, “on behalf of,” is noticeable. Christ gave Himself as a ransom (of a
substitutionary character), not instead of all men, but on behalf of all. The
actual substitution, as in the passages in Matthew and Mark, is expressed by
the anti, instead of, “many.” The unrepentant man should not be told that
Christ was his substitute, for in that case the exchange would hold good for
him and though unregenerate he would not be in the place of death, a condition
in which, however, he exists while unconverted. Accordingly the “many” are
those who, through faith, are delivered from that condition. The
substitutionary meaning is exemplified in Jas. 4:15, where the KJV and RV
render the anti “for that” (RV, marg., “instead of”).
In Heb.
12:2, “for (anti) the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,” neither
the thought of exchange nor that of substitution is conveyed; here the basic
idea of facing is present. The cross and the joy faced each other in the mind
of Christ and He chose the one with the other in view.
In John
1:16 the phrase “grace for grace” is used. The idea of “following upon” has
been suggested, as wave follows wave. Is not the meaning that the grace we
receive corresponds to the grace inherent in Christ, out of whose fullness we
receive it?
The
primary meaning of huper is “over,” “above.” Hence, metaphorically, with the
accusative case, it is used of superiority, e.g., Matt. 10:24, “above his
master” (or teacher); or of measure in excess, in the sense of beyond, e.g., 1
Cor. 4:6, “beyond the things that are written”; or “than,” after a comparative,
e.g., Luke 16:8; Heb. 4:12; or “more than,” after a verb, e.g., Matt. 10:37.
With the genitive it means “on behalf of, in the interests of,” e.g., of
prayer, Matt. 5:44; of giving up one's life, and especially of Christ's so
doing for man's redemption, e.g., John 10:15; 1 Tim. 2:6, “on behalf of all”
(see under Anti); 2 Thess. 2:1, “in the interest of (i.e., 'with a view to
correcting your thoughts about') the Coming.” The difficult passage, 1 Cor.
15:29, possibly comes here. With an alteration of the punctuation (feasible
from the ms. point of view), the reference may be to baptism as taught
elsewhere in the NT, and the verse may read thus: “Else what shall they do
which are being baptized? (i.e., what purpose can they serve?); (it is) in the
interest of the dead, if the dead are not raised at all. Why then are they
baptized in the interest of them?” That is to say, they fulfill the ordinance
in the interest of a Christ who is dead and in joint witness with (and
therefore, in the interest of) believers who never will be raised, whereas an
essential element in baptism is its testimony to the resurrection of Christ and
of the believer.
In some passages huper may be used in the substitutionary sense, e.g., John 10:11,15; Rom. 8:32; but it cannot be so taken in the majority of instances. Cf. 2 Cor. 5:15, in regard to which, while it might be said that Christ died in place of us, it cannot be said that Christ rose again in the place of us.