Origin of the Word Παρουσία

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Vlad Kotenko
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Origin of the Word Παρουσία

Post by Vlad Kotenko »

The unabridged edition of Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, in the second paragraph of the entry on the Greek word παρουσία, says:

“Παρουσία, an abstract term based on πάρειμι, is found from Aesch., first in a very general sense. It is formed from παροντ-ία.”

I do not remember seeing any other lexicon say that the word παρουσία is formed from a certain word παροντ-ία. I was not able to find the meaning of that word.

Does anyone know what παροντ-ία means?

Is the dictionary correct in saying that παρουσία is formed from παροντ-ία?
Stephen Hughes
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Re: Origin of the Word Παρουσία

Post by Stephen Hughes »

You have not made a mistake.

The word is not in the dictionary to be found. The authour is demonstrating their knowledge of Historical Linguistics. Putting statements like that into reference works adds an air credibility and authority, because the knowledge contained seems to go further than just a reading knowledge of Greek. It is like an indirect way of saying, I know more than you, so I can teach you, or that you should believe what they say. Human social interactions have many such conventions, where one needs to show oneself to be of a certain standard, before being accepted (like wearing a bow-tie to a ball) without which, things don't happen smoothly (because of the social expectations of others). Writing and publishing is a form of social interaction, and people have to play games when writing to show off their knowledge and to impress others. Anyway, on the back cover, there might be a statement like, this book is designed for both beginners and scholars. If there is that statement, then the inclusion of παροντία is information of the scholars, rather than the beginners.

Imagine that at some later date there was a spelling reform in English- bringing the spelling closer into line with the (then) current pronunciation. One thing that would be changed is that the "ti" of "-tion" in a word like "salvation" or "nation" would be written as "ʃ". After the spelling reform "salvation" would no longer be included in dictionaries, but "salvaʃon" would. Then we could make a statement like "salvaʃon" is formed from "salvation".

A similar phenomenon has occurred in Greek, the biggest difference between my hypothetic story (above) and παρουσία is that there is no direct written evidence of the older "spelling" (ie earlier pronunciation) in the Attic dialect, (the pecursor to the Koine literary standard). The lack of evidence for the earlier periods of the Greek language (in the Ionic dialect area) has led to the need to reconstruct the earlier period based on evidence from nearby dialects or closely related languages, in which the changes hadn't taken place.

The word "salvation" is a connected sequence of individual bits (morphemes) that have undergone changes, but individual words also undergo changes. while the English word "fish" is spelt "fish" and pronounced "fish", we could look at a closely related language where it is spelt and spoken as "fisk", and then make a statement like "fish" is from "fisk". Information about etymology like this is also included in some dictionaries, but is not so useful for most people looking up words. There are other ways to contextualise meaning.

You can safely ignore the form παροντία, unless you have a particular interest in Historical Linguistics.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
cwconrad
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Re: Origin of the Word Παρουσία

Post by cwconrad »

Vlad wrote:The unabridged edition of Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, in the second paragraph of the entry on the Greek word παρουσία, says:

“Παρουσία, an abstract term based on πάρειμι, is found from Aesch., first in a very general sense. It is formed from παροντ-ία.”

I do not remember seeing any other lexicon say that the word παρουσία is formed from a certain word παροντ-ία. I was not able to find the meaning of that word.

Does anyone know what παροντ-ία means?

Is the dictionary correct in saying that παρουσία is formed from παροντ-ία?
While it’s true enough that παροντία isn’t a Greek word attestied in any extant text, I doubt that the author of that entry was trying to do anything more than show that the noun παρουσία is derived from the participle of the verb παρεῖναι. That linkage is helpful if one is clear that the verb παρεῖναι is commonly used in the sense of “arrive” or “appear on the scene.” It’s also helpful to be aware that the English word “advent” derives from the Latin equivalent (adventus) of παρουσία, and that it also means “arrival” or “coming”. So: the term is used traditionally in the church of the “coming” of Christ, sometimes of a future coming in glory — the “second coming” —, but also of the birth of Jesus, or the “first coming” -- and in the church's calendar of the season of the year when the original "coming" of the Lord heralds for believers a renewal of all that is implicit in the notion of the "coming."

I hope that’s helpful in response to your original question and doesn’t carry all that extra baggage that Stephen talks about.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Vlad Kotenko
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Re: Origin of the Word Παρουσία

Post by Vlad Kotenko »

Thank you for explaining the statement in TDNT about the origin of the word παρουσία. It appears that there is not enough information about what the word παροντ-ία means, and it is not clear why the author of the entry in the dictionary wrote that παρουσία is derived from παροντ-ία, since no references are given to confirm that, although the rest of the statement in the dictionary says: “It is formed from παροντ-ία as ἐξουσία is from ἐξοντ-ία and γερουσία from γεροντ-ία.”
cwconrad
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Re: Origin of the Word Παρουσία

Post by cwconrad »

Vlad wrote:Thank you for explaining the statement in TDNT about the origin of the word παρουσία. It appears that there is not enough information about what the word παροντ-ία means, and it is not clear why the author of the entry in the dictionary wrote that παρουσία is derived from παροντ-ία, since no references are given to confirm that, although the rest of the statement in the dictionary says: “It is formed from παροντ-ία as ἐξουσία is from ἐξοντ-ία and γερουσία from γεροντ-ία.”
The phonological explanation for the derivation of the extant form παρουσία from an assumed (but not surviving) original form παροντ-ία:
-- the ending -ια is one of several formatives used to create nouns from adjectives/participles
--the τ of παροντία shifts to σ before the following vowel ι: resulting form: παρονσία
--the ν between the vowel ο and the σ evanesces: resulting form: παρο-σία
--but that ο belonged to a long syllable (short vowel ο followed by double consonant or two consonants constitutes a long syllable), so to compensate for that, ο is lengthened to ου; this is what's called a "spurious diphthong" because it isn't a combination of ο + υ but rather it is a long closed omicron. The resulting form is παρουσία

It's an open question whether it's worthwhile to know about the phonetic process whereby the existing form παρουσία derives from an assumed early form that doesn't survive in any literary or epigraphic text, but the same process explains the dative plurals of participles and the 3rd-person plurals of ω-verb indicative active paradigms (e.g. λύοντι --⟩ λύουσι.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Stephen Hughes
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Re: Origin of the Word Παρουσία

Post by Stephen Hughes »

cwconrad wrote:carry all that extra baggage that Stephen talks about.
I think there is room for another pair of socks in my baggage - it's always good to take more socks.

Was the preposition actually joined to the verb at the period when παρουσία was (hypothetically) pronounced παροντία?

Rather than side-track this discussion too much, I have created a thread based on a pertinent question here at Tmesis of παρεῖναι.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
cwconrad
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Re: Origin of the Word Παρουσία

Post by cwconrad »

Stephen Hughes wrote:
cwconrad wrote:carry all that extra baggage that Stephen talks about.
I think there is room for another pair of socks in my baggage - it's always good to take more socks. .
In my experience, the more socks you take, the more unmatched ones turn up.
Was the preposition actually joined to the verb at the period when παρουσία was (hypothetically) pronounced παροντία?
Probably at the hip. From the LSJ entry for παρεῖναι it appears that the verb is already common in Homer. The noun παρουσία, however, doesn't seem to be attested earlier in extant literature than 5th-century Attic, where it is found especially in tragic verse. οὐσία doesn't seem to appear earlier than 5th century either. I would think, however, that formation of denominative nouns based on participles in -ντ- with the formative -ία were pretty common.
Rather than side-track this discussion too much, I have created a thread based on a pertinent question here at Tmesis of παρεῖναι.
I won't say it wasn't worth pursuing, but I think this tangential inquiry was sort of like looking for an elusive (illusory?) lost sock.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Vlad Kotenko
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Re: Origin of the Word Παρουσία

Post by Vlad Kotenko »

It's an open question whether it's worthwhile to know about the phonetic process whereby the existing form παρουσία derives from an assumed early form that doesn't survive in any literary or epigraphic text
Yes, apparently little is attained when one tries to learn about the phonetic process by which the existing form of the word is supposedly derived from an early form which cannot be found in ancient texts.
While it’s true enough that παροντία isn’t a Greek word attestied in any extant text, I doubt that the author of that entry was trying to do anything more than show that the noun παρουσία is derived from the participle of the verb παρεῖναι. That linkage is helpful if one is clear that the verb παρεῖναι is commonly used in the sense of “arrive” or “appear on the scene.”
Since the word πάρειμι is considered to be related to παρουσία, could you tell me what the difference is between the words παρεῖναι and πάρειμι? Is it incorrect to say that παρουσία is derived from πάρειμι?
Jonathan Robie
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Re: Origin of the Word Παρουσία

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Vlad Kotenko wrote:Since the word πάρειμι is considered to be related to παρουσία, could you tell me what the difference is between the words παρεῖναι and πάρειμι? Is it incorrect to say that παρουσία is derived from πάρειμι?
παρεῖναι is simply the infinitive of πάρειμι. Same word.

Yes, you can say that παρουσία is a noun derived from the verb πάρειμι. Oh, I see that we discussed this before here:

Correct Translation of παρουσία
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
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