Source for the semantic range of ...
David McKay
music at fl.net.au
Fri Aug 27 05:12:08 EDT 1999
Hi all I am interested in a source for the semantic range of "misew" #3404, that includes "love less". While I have a number of lexicons that give this definition as well as "hate", none of them give a source. Thanks for any help with this.
in Christ -chris
G'day Chris.
This may be getting into hermeneutics too much, and may not be strictly b-greek stuff. I hope it is acceptable, all the same though, O moderators, because I think it is a very important topic, related to studying biblical languages.
In BibleWorks, I got this from the Friberg lexicon:
1 hate, hostility of people for each other
2 requiring single-minded devotion, prefer less, love less
etc
But, the word obviously means "hate" if you look up all the uses of the word in the Septuagint and NT. But it is used by Jesus in a form of exaggeration which he is fond of. I found Robert Stein's book "Interpreting Puzzling Texts in the New Testament" very useful on this topic. It is published by Baker and should be readily available.
This exaggeration is not being untruthful, but a colourful way of speaking. It is clear Jesus is not literally telling us to hate, but is intending to show the intensity of devotion required.
This is a situation where the lexicon has its uses, but so does examining the context.
David McKay
music at fl.net.au
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