Dictionaries :: Kai

Kai:

(I) 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 Mat 8:9, in the words of the centurion, "I also am a man under authority." Other instances are Mat 5:39, 40; 8:9; 10:18; 18:33; 20:4; Luk 11:49; 12:41, 54, 57; 20:3; Jhn 5:26, "the Son also," RV; Jhn 7:3; 12:10; 14:1, 3, 7, 19; 15:9, 27; 17:24; Act 11:17; Rom 1:13; 6:11; 1Cr 7:3; 11:25; 15:30; Gal 6:1; Phl 4:12, "I know also," RV; 1Th 3:12. In 1Cr 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 Mat 6:10, and "so also," e.g., Jhn 13:33; cf. Rom 11:16. In Hbr 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, Mar 12:12, "yet they feared"; Luk 20:19; Jhn 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 2Cr 6:8, 9, 10.

(c) In some passages kai has the meaning "and yet," e.g., Mat 3:14, "and yet comest Thou to me?"; Mat 6:26, "and yet (RV 'and,' AV, 'yet') your Heavenly Father feedeth them"; Luk 18:7, "and yet He is longsuffering"; Jhn 3:19, "and yet men loved the darkness"; Jhn 4:20, "and yet we say"; Jhn 6:49, "and yet they died"; 1Cr 5:2, "and yet ye are puffed up"; 1Jo 2:9, "and yet hateth his brother." The same is probably the case in Jhn 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 Luk 7:12 the kai, which is untranslated in the English versions, provides the meaning "then, behold, there was carried out"; so Act 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., Mar 10:26, "then who can be saved?" RV. This is commonly expressed by the English "and," as in Luk 10:29; Jhn 9:36.

(f) Occasionally it has almost the sense of hoti, "that," e.g., Mat 26:15 (first part); Mar 14:40 (last part); Luk 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 Luk 9:51, where kai, "that," comes before "He steadfastly set"; in Luk 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., Mat 5:15, "and so it shineth"; Phl 4:7, "and so the peace... "; Hbr 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 Mat 21:5, "and upon a colt" means "that is to say, upon a colt." In Jhn 1:16 the clause "and grace for grace" is explanatory of the "fullness." In Jhn 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 Mar 14:1, "and the unleavened bread" is perhaps an instance, since the Passover feast is so defined in Luk 22:1. In Act 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 Jhn 3:5, "water, even the Spirit," see WATER.

In regard to Tts 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 Mat 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 Mar 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 Luk 10:17. In Act 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. Act 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 Phl 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 1Th 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 1Pe 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., Mar 14:29; Phl 2:17; 1Pe 3:1.