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G1762 · Greek · New Testament
ἔνι
eni
Verb (enclitic present)
there is in, it is present, there exists (within)

Definition

Eni (ἔνι) is a contracted form of enesti — it is present within, there is among. It appears in Paul's great equality passages (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11) to say "there is no" (Greek, Jewish/Greek, slave/free, male/female) — categories that have ceased to mark division in Christ.

Usage & Theological Significance

Paul's use of eni ("there is no...") in Galatians 3:28 is one of the NT's most radical social statements. The categories he negates — Jew/Greek, slave/free, male/female — were the great stratifying distinctions of ancient society. In Christ, eni (there is) no such division. This is not the erasure of identity but the erasure of hierarchy: all are "one in Christ Jesus." The eni construction — "there is no" — functions as a present-tense declaration: in the community of Christ, these distinctions no longer carry their old segregating power.

Key Verses

Galatians 3:28 There is neither [eni] Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 3:11 Here there is no [eni] Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
1 Corinthians 12:13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body — whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free.
Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all.
Ephesians 2:14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.

Word Study

Eni is the contracted, emphatic form — its shortness is its power. Where the longer form (enesti) would be expected, the abbreviated eni punches harder. The negative ouk eni = "it does not exist within" — not "it is less prominent" but "it has no existence" as a dividing force. This is eschatological present tense: the new creation's reality claimed in the present community.

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