Jn 20.22
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Wed Oct 13 06:27:00 EDT 1999
At 9:07 PM +1300 10/13/99, N & RJ Hanscamp wrote:
>Without picking a theological fight here, can someone tell me:
>what is the imperative force of the aorist active LABETE in Jn 20.22.
And if you WERE picking a theological fight? ;-)
LABETE is pretty simply, "Receive"; I would think the aorist used here
would indicate effectual reception, so that, to put it colloquially, one
might use "Take" or "Get" in this instance, or even "take possession of,"
except that this last suggests that the Spirit is something one can have
all by oneself, and I hardly think that is meant.
LAMBANW is fundamentally applicable to physical seizure--grabbing;,
although it's used metaphorically in many ways, they all seem to involve
the notion somehow of taking "in hand" or "taking hold" even when it's
metaphorically "taking hold." KATALAMBANW can be used (and was by the
Stoics) for intellectual comprehension, but it can also be used for
snuffing a candle or lampwick, as in the Johannine prologue. Perhaps the
usage of PARADIDONAI and PARALAMBANEIN for "hand over (a tradition,
something valuable)" and "receive/accept (a tradition, something valuable)"
might help to clarify the basic sense of the root LAB as "latch onto" or
"take hold of."
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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