* ON THE PARTICLE KAI
(a) The
particle kai, “and,” chiefly used for connecting words, clauses and sentences
(the copulative or connective use), not infrequently signifies “also.” This is
the adjunctive, or amplificatory, use, and it is to be distinguished from the
purely copulative significance “and.” A good illustration is provided in Matt.
8:9, in the words of the centurion, “I also am a man under authority.” Other
instances are Matt. 5:39,40; 8:9; 10:18; 18:33; 20:4; Luke 11:49; 12:41,54,57;
20:3; John 5:26, “the Son also,” RV; John 7:3; 12:10; 14:1,3,7,19; 15:9,27;
17:24; Acts 11:17; Rom. 1:13; 6:11; 1 Cor. 7:3; 11:25; 15:30; Gal. 6:1; Phil.
4:12, “I know also,” RV; 1 Thess. 3:12. In 1 Cor. 2:13 the kai phrase signifies
“which are the very things we speak, with the like power of the Holy Spirit.”
This use
includes the meanings “so,” or “just so,” by way of comparison, as in Matt.
6:10, and “so also,” e.g., John 13:33; cf. Rom. 11:16. In Heb. 7:26 the most
authentic mss. have kai in the first sentence, which may be rendered “for such
a High Priest also became us.” Here it virtually has the meaning “precisely.”
(b)
Occasionally kai tends towards an adversative meaning, expressing a contrast,
“yet,” almost the equivalent of alla, “but”; see, e.g, Mark 12:12, “yet they
feared”; Luke 20:19; John 18:28, “yet they themselves entered not.” Some take
it in this sense in Rom. 1:13, where, however, it may be simply parenthetic.
Sometimes in the English versions the “yet” has been added in italics, as in 2
Cor. 6:8-10.
(c) In
some passages kai has the meaning “and yet,” e.g., Matt. 3:14, “and yet comest
Thou to me?”; Matt. 6:26, “and yet (RV 'and,' AV, 'yet') your Heavenly Father
feedeth them”; Luke 18:7, “and yet He is longsuffering”; John 3:19, “and yet
men loved the darkness”; John 4:20, “and yet we say”; John 6:49, “and yet they
died”; 1 Cor. 5:2, “and yet ye are puffed up”; 1 John 2:9, “and yet hateth his
brother.” The same is probably the case in John 7:30, “and yet no man laid
hands on Him”; some rule this and similar cases out because of the negative in
the sentence following the kai, but that seems hardly tenable.
(d) In
some passages it has a temporal significance, “then.” In Luke 7:12 the kai,
which is untranslated in the English versions, provides the meaning “then,
behold, there was carried out”; so Acts 1:10, “then, behold, two men stood.”
This use is perhaps due to the influence of the Septuagint, reflecting the
Hebrew idiom, especially when idou “behold” follows the kai.
(e)
There is also the inferential use before a question, e.g., Mark 10:26, “then
who can be saved?” RV. This is commonly expressed by the English “and,” as in
Luke 10:29; John 9:36.
(f)
Occasionally it has almost the sense of hoti, “that,” e.g., Matt. 26:15 (first
part); Mark 14:40 (last part); Luke 5:12,17, where, if the kai had been
translated, the clause might be rendered “that, behold, a man ...,” lit., “and
behold ...”; so ver. 17; see also Luke 9:51, where kai, “that,” comes before
“He steadfastly set”; in Luke 12:15, “take heed that ye keep.” What is said
under (d), regarding the influence of the Septuagint, is applicable also to
this significance.
(g)
Sometimes it has the consecutive meaning of “and so”: e.g., Matt. 5:15, “and so
it shineth”; Phil. 4:7, “and so the peace ...”; Heb. 3:19, “and so we see.”
(h) The
epexegetic or explanatory use. This may be represented by the expressions
“namely,” “again,” “and indeed,” “that is to say”; it is usually translated by
“and.” In such cases not merely an addition is in view. In Matt. 21:5, “and
upon a colt” means “that is to say, upon a colt.” In John 1:16 the clause “and
grace for grace” is explanatory of the “fullness.” In John 12:48, “and
receiveth not My sayings,” is not simply an addition to “that rejecteth Me,” it
explains what the rejection involves, as the preceding verse shows. In Mark
14:1, “and the unleavened bread” is perhaps an instance, since the Passover
feast is so defined in Luke 22:1. In Acts 23:6 the meaning is “the hope,
namely, the resurrection of the dead.” In Rom. 1:5 “grace and apostleship” may
signify “grace expressed in apostleship.” In Eph. 1:1 “and the faithful” does
not mark a distinct class of believers, it defines “the saints”; but in this
case it goes a little further than what is merely epexegetical, it adds a more
distinctive epithet than the preceding and may be taken as meaning “yes
indeed.”
For the
suggestion as to the epexegetic use of kai in John 3:5, “water, even the
Spirit,” see WATER.
In
regard to Titus 3:5, “the renewing of the Holy Ghost” is coordinate with “the
washing of regeneration,” and some would regard it as precisely explanatory of
that phrase, taking the kai as signifying “namely.” Certainly the “renewing” is
not an additional and separate impartation of the Holy Spirit; but the scope of
the renewal is surely not limited to regeneration; the second clause goes
further than what is merely epexegetic of the first. Just so in Rom. 12:2, “the
renewing of your mind” is not a single act, accomplished once and for all, as
in regeneration. See under RENEW, B. The Holy Ghost, as having been “shed on
us,” continues to act in renewing us, in order to maintain by His power the
enjoyment of the relationship into which He has brought us. “The man is
cleansed in connection with the new order of things but the Holy Ghost is a
source of an entirely new life, entirely new thoughts; not only of a new moral
being, but of the communication of all that in which this new being develops
itself ... He ever communicates more and more of the things of this new world
into which He has brought us ... 'the renewing of the Holy Ghost' embraces all
this ... so that it is not only that we are born of Him, but that He works in
us, communicating to us all that is ours in Christ” (J. N. Darby). Both the
washing and the renewing are His work.
(i) The
ascensive use. This is somewhat similar to the epexegetic significance. It
represents, however, an advance in thought upon what precedes and has the
meaning “even.” The context alone can determine the occurrences of this use.
The following are some instances. In Matt. 5:46,47, the phrases “even the
publicans” and “even the Gentiles” represent an extension of thought in regard
to the manner of reciprocity exhibited by those referred to, in comparison with
those who, like the Pharisees, were considered superior to them. In Mark 1:27,
“even the unclean spirits” represents an advance in the minds of the people
concerning Christ's miraculous power, in comparison with the authority
exercised by the Lord in less remarkable ways. So in Luke 10:17. In Acts 10:45,
the kai, rendered “also,” in the phrase “on the Gentiles also,” seems necessary
to be regarded in the same way, in view of the amazement manifested by those of
the circumcision, and thus the rendering will be “even on the Gentiles was
poured out the gift”; cf. Acts 11:1.
In Rom.
13:5, the clause “but also for conscience sake” should probably be taken in
this sense. In Gal. 2:13, the phrase “even Barnabas” represents an advance of
thought in comparison with the waywardness of others; as much as to say, “the
Apostles closest associate, from whom something different might be expected,
was surprisingly carried away.” In Phil. 4:16 there are three occurrences of
kai, the first ascensive, “even”; the second (untranslated) meaning “both,”
before the word “once”; the third meaning “and.” In 1 Thess. 1:5, in the cause
“and in the Holy Ghost,” the kai rendered “and,” is ascensive, conveying an
extension of thought beyond “power”; that is to say, “power indeed, but the
power of the Holy Spirit.” In 1 Pet. 4:14 “the Spirit of God” is “the Spirit of
glory.” Here there is an advance in idea from the abstract to the personal. The
phrase “the Spirit of God” does more than define “the Spirit of glory”; it is
explanatory but ascensive also.
When preceded or followed by the conjunction ei, “if,” the phrase signifies “even if,” or “if even,” e.g., Mark 14:29; Phil. 2:17; 1 Pet. 3:1.