greek

bible October 21, 2018

Is God delivering His wrath right now on us?

Paul writes in Eph 5:6:

for the indignation of God is coming on the Sons of unpersuadableness (loosely translated)

The verb is present tense, middle/passive voice which indicates that these people are already suffering …

bible May 17, 2018

Does Mark’s and Matthew’s use of Aramaic indicate Jesus spoke more than one language?

Mark and Matthew record Jesus speaking Aramiac from the cross:

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34 ESV)

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46 ESV)

All other times they record Jesus words using the Greek language. It is accepted that Aramaic was the language Jesus spoke. However, it is obvious that many, if not all of the Apostles were able to communicate in both Aramaic and Greek (and probably knew Latin). So it seems likely that Jesus also was able to speak in both Aramaic and Greek.

Mark and Matthew are purposeful to make the point that when Jesus quoted Psalm 22 He used Aramaic. Consequently they are purposeful to exclude any possible confusion or claim that Jesus quoted the Greek translation of the Psalm, which in the Septuagint is significantly different at that point: ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός μου πρόσχες μοι (O God, my God, take heed to me). Quoting the Greek lacks the personal pronoun at the beginning and would also have Jesus asking God to take heed of Him, something the Aramaic precludes.

While the use of the Aramaic quotation can be seen as purposeful to ensure Jesus correctly quotes the Psalm, it also gives reason to question the assertion that all of the other sayings of Jesus were exclusively spoken in Aramaic and translated into Greek.

What is the evidence Jesus spoke exclusively in Aramaic and never used the Greek language?

bible July 7, 2017

1 Corinthians 13:10 – When Does "The Perfect" Actually Come?

1. Question – Greek Grammar, the Subjunctive and ὅταν:

  • In 1 Corinthians 13:10 – Will “The Perfect” actually come to everyone – all at the same time?

  • Or, does the underlying Greek indicate a subjective experience? Could it be a subjective experience, (like dying and going to heaven, or Spiritual Maturity)?

2. Basis of the Question: ὅταν = ὅτε + ἄν

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, ὅταν – as long as, whenever; From hote and an; whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty); also causatively (conjunctionally) inasmuch as — as long (soon) as, that, + till, when(-soever), while.

3. The Text

1 Corinthians 13:10 – and whenever | ὅταν the perfect might come | ἔλθῃ – Subjunctive, the partial will fall away.

1 Corinthians 13:12 – “… presently, I know partially, and then I will intimately know, just fully just as I also have been fully known.”

Closely Related:

– 1 Corinthians 13:10 – What does Paul mean by “Completeness”?

– 1 Corinthians 13:10 – What does “The Perfect” Refer to?

– 1 Corinthians 13:10 – What Will Cease when “The Perfect” Comes?

– 1 Corinthians 13:8 – What is the Significance of the Intransitive verb “παύσονται”?

– 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 – What Does “ἐκ μέρους” Mean?

– 1 Corinthians 13:9 – What does “Out From” Mean?

theology June 15, 2017

"Overcome" vs "comprehend" in John 1:5

John 1:5 reads in the ESV:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

I recently heard the KJV quoted and was struck by the difference:

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

In the same vein as the ESV, other translations offer overpowered, extinguished, quenched, defeated. More in line with the KJV, other choices include understood and perceived.

The Greek for reference (NA28):

καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.

BDAG provides options for the meaning of καταλαμβάνω carrying both senses (abbreviations expanded):

1. to make something one’s own, win, attain…
2b. seize with hostile intent, overtake, come upon…
4a. learn about something through process of inquiry…

The lexicon mentions this verse in all three of the entries above, but all I could get out of that without having the referenced works at hand is that it seems to be an open question. How should we decide which of these the author intended?

bible May 7, 2017

Does πολιτείας imply citizenship status with Israel?

ὅτι ἦτε ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ χωρὶς Χριστοῦ ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς πολιτείας
τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ξένοι τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες καὶ
ἄθεοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ

(Eph. 2:12 TR)

Paul makes a statement that “once” the Gentiles, apart from Christ, have no “citizenship” in Israel, and are “strangers from the covenants of promise”-the benefits of citizenship.

Furthermore, in vs 19, he says,

“ἄρα οὖν οὐκέτι ἐστὲ ξένοι καὶ πάροικοι ἀλλὰ συμπολῖται τῶν ἁγίων καὶ
οἰκεῖοι τοῦ θεοῦ” implying, that such rights of citizenship are given in Christ.

Is this an accurate rendering of πολιτείας? Or is Paul simply making a rhetorical comparison, which the syntax allows him to do?

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bible April 2, 2017

In Luke 23:54 – Was Jesus Entombed Right Before the Sabbath Dawn?

Related:

– The meaning of παρασκευή (‘day of preparation’)

– Re. The Passover: Why do Christians Assert the Calendar Day Began at Sunset?

– Re. The Crucifixion: Possible to Correlate Timekeeping and Calendar Days?

– Historical Evidence that the Sabbath Rest Began at Sunset – Prohibiting Work During the Preceding Night?

1. Question – Word Study, Greek Semantics

Why is ἐπιφώσκω, (Dawn) translated completely differently in Matthew and Luke?

2. The Texts

NASB / Interlinear Matthew 28:1 – Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn, (ἐπιφωσκούσῃ) toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

NASB, Luke 23:54, Interlinear – It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin, (dawn?, ἐπέφωσκεν).

In English, the Idiom Seems Counter-Intuitive:

English Analogy: The Dawn of Christmas Eve.