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Helps by the Way.
The Greek Prepositions.
pp. 139-141
Dia.--The primary idea of this preposition, governing the genitive case, is expressed
by the word "through," and this idea may be seen in the English words which contain it,
e.g., diagonal, diameter, diaphragm, &100: The following passages will suffice to show this
local meaning of "going through," viz., Matt. 12: 1; 19: 24; John 4: 4; I Cor. 10: 1.
The transition is simple from this idea of motion through to the secondary idea of a
channel or medium through which the desired result is attained. Examples abound; we
cite only a few: John 1: 7; Acts 1: 2; 13: 38; Rom. 3: 24; Eph. 2: 8; Col. 1: 20.
Something is willed and something is accomplished, and the medium through which the
will is carried into effect is expressed by the word dia. Winer observes:--
"Dia but rarely indicates the causa principalis (I Cor. 1: 9), in other words, is but
rarely equivalent to hupo or para. Even when it does indicate the causa principalis it
does not denote the author as a source of an act as such, but strictly as the individual
through whose agency or favour, &100:, one has obtained something (without specifying
whether it flows from him directly or indirectly).
The mediatorial work of Christ in its many phases constantly calls for this preposition
(see Rom. 5: 1; Eph. 1: 7; Phil. 1: 11, &100:). Such passages as I Cor. 15: 21; Mark 2: 27;
I Cor. 11: 9 should be studied to catch the bearing of this preposition upon the teaching,
remembering that I Cor. 15: 21 must not be translated without due consideration of, say,
the same preposition if In I Cor. 11: 9. (Mark 2: 27 and I Cor. 11: 29 have the accusative
case - see below). The ek pisteõs and the dia tes pisteõs of Rom. 3: 30 show "the
uncircumcised as justified by the direct and unqualified instrumentality of the identical
faith which operates in the case of the circumcised."
Matt. 1: 22 (A.V.) reads, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by
the prophet." The English reader could not be positive as to whether the prophet spoke or
the Lord spoke. The R.V. attends to the meaning of the prepositions more carefully here
and reads, "spoken by (hupo) the Lord through (dia) the prophet." This witness to the
verbal inspiration of Scripture is found in (R.V.) Matt. 2: 5, 15, 23; 4: 14; 8: 17;
12: 17, &100:, in all which places "through" is a better rendering of dia than "by." "With
patience" (Rom. 8: 25), if rendered "through patience," would show that patience is the
medium whereby faith and hope are enabled to bridge the interval of waiting (see also
Heb. 12: 1).
When dia is applied to time the basic idea of motion through is still retained, and can
be felt in the word "during." See "during all their life" (Heb. 2: 15); "during forty days"
(Acts 1: 3); "during the night" (Acts 5: 19). Sometimes the sense demands the word
"after," but even then the idea of going through the stated time is retained. "After three
days" (Matt. 26: 61, so Mark 2: 1; Gal. 2: 1).
Dia governing an accusative case indicates primarily the ground of an action, and the
aim or end only in a secondary way. Consider Matt. 15: 3; Rev. 12: 11; Rom. 4: 25.