Re. PISTEI VOOUMEN KATHRTISQAI TOUS AIWNAS... Heb. 11:3
Jonathan Robie
jonathan at texcel.no
Thu Jul 2 23:49:33 EDT 1998
At 07:59 AM 7/2/98 -0400, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>At 12:59 AM -0400 7/02/98, Jonathan Robie wrote:
>>The phrase 'EK FAINOMENWN' is an interesting one - does it mean 'out of
>>that which is visible', or 'from appearances'? Is there an implication that
>>the material world is less than solid? I'm guessing here with very little
>>but a feeling in the gut. Can anybody comment on this phrase?
>
>I think that this is the author of Hebrews using a synonym for the sake of
>rhetorical inconcinnity (avoidance of precise antithesis): EK FAINOMENWN
>really means the same thing as EK BLEPOMENWN, so that the sense is: "so
>that what is seen has its created existence from things that are not
>visible."
I think the reason that I was thinking in terms of "appearances" is that it
reminds me of some passages in Plato, where FAINW is used in a middle
participle to refer to appearances. Is there a relationship between this
use in Hebrews and Plato's use of the verb?
Plato loves this verb, and often uses it to describe appearances. Note that
he uses it more often than any other author on Perseus:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/persfreq?lookup=fai/nw&lang=Greek&corpu
s=2.0&author=&formentry=0
You can see his uses here:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/wordsearch?author=plat.&lookup=fai/nw&l
ang=Greek&corpus=2.0
I also note that the verb FAINW only appears as a middle three times in the
GNT. In Matthew 2:7, Herod asked the Magi about the time of of the
appearing of the star (TON CRONON TOU FAINOMENOU ASTEROS). In James 4:14,
we are told that we do not know what our life will be like tomorrow, for we
are but a mist that appears for a little while (ATMIS GAR ESTE hH PROS
OLIGON FAINOMENH). In James 4:14 and the Hebrews 11:3 passage, it felt to
me that there may have been a Platonic tone to the use of the word. Is it
likely that these authors were influenced by Plato?
FAINETAI!
Jonathan
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Jonathan Robie jwrobie at mindspring.com
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