Ephesians 2:8

[siliconwafer]

Ephesians 2:8 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."

Here is what Ephesians 2:8 says in the Greek New Testament: Τῇ γὰρ χάριτι ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διὰ πίστεως· καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν, θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον·

The Greek word "τοῦτο" is a demonstrative pronoun. What does this pronoun refer to? Does it refer to faith or to salvation?

[John Reece]

Ephesians 2:8 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."

Here is what Ephesians 2:8 says in the Greek New Testament: Τῇ γὰρ χάριτι ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διὰ πίστεως· καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν, θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον·

The Greek word "τοῦτο" is a demonstrative pronoun. What does this pronoun refer to? Does it refer to faith or to salvation?

From A Translator's Handbook on Paul's Letter to the Ephesians (United Bible Societies, 1982), by Robert G. Bratcher and Eugene A. Nida (brackets added):


The words that follow, "and this [καὶ τοῦτο] is not your own doing, it is the gift of God" (RSV), emphasize the divine initiative and activity. Some take "and this" [καὶ τοῦτο] (in verse 8) to refer to the preceding "faith," but it seems more likely that the Greek neuter pronoun refers to the whole preceding event, that is, salvation by God's grace through faith, and not just to faith (which in Greek is a feminine noun).