The object of CARIS
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue May 23 19:59:03 EDT 2000
At 6:23 PM +0000 5/23/00, B.J. Williamson wrote:
>This question is directed toward those who have
>an interest in etymology...
>
>I wonder if someone might shed some light on
>the development of CARIS as it relates
>to the objects or recipients.
>
>I'm not exactly sure how to phrase my question,
>but in my studies I have found that CARIS
>refers to the disposition of the subject (the one
>extending grace), rather than the condition
>of the object (the one receiving grace).
>
>Can anyone help me understand to what extent the use
>of CARIS implies something about the
>condition of the recipient? It almost seems universally
>accepted that the recipients of CARIS are underserving
>or unworthy of it.
>
>I feel comfortable stating that originally CARIS
>only described the disposition of the subject.
>Somewhere in the development of this word, it seems
>that the recipient's condition was added.
>
>Dr. Wallace offered this comment regarding CARIS as it relates to the
>recipient's unworthy condition:
>
>"Perhaps the cognate, charizomai, sheds some light here, for it normally has
>the force of 'forgive.'"
>
>My search continues primarily because I do not yet see the
>connection between "forgiveness" and "undeserving." (For example,
>as a parent, I forgive my children often, but by this act I am
>not implying that they are unworthy of it.)
For what it's worth, I'm enclosing an extract of a response I gave to a
question on the phrase in the Didache and in Luke's Beatitudes (6:32ff.):
POIA hUMIN CARIS ESTIN? on August 25, 1999.
------------------------
CARIS, like Latin GRATIA, is hard to get a handle on (I think I dealt with
this some time ago, a year or longer) because it is essentially a
reciprocal notion. Perhaps the nearest thing to it in English in its most
basic sense is "gratification"; it is an expression of good will that earns
a responsive expression of good will. The older Attic phrase for "express
thanks" is CARIN GNWNAI--'to acknowledge a favor.' In that sense you might
take POIA CARIS hUMIN? as equivalent to "what acknowledgement have
you?"--i.e. what have you done to earn God's favor and what favor do you
think you have with God as a consequence of what you've done?
Here's Louw & Nida on CARIS:
------------
5.89 CARIS, ITOS f: a favorable attitude toward someone or something -
'favor, good will.' ECONTES CARIN PROS hOLON TON LAON 'having the good will
of all the people' or 'all the people were pleased with them' Ac 2:47;
hEURES GAR CARIN PARA TWi QEWi 'for you have found favor with God' or 'for
God is pleased with you' Lk 1:30.
33.350 CARIS, ITOS f: : an expression of thankfulness - 'thanks.' TWi DE
QEWi CARIS TWi DIDONTI hHMIN TO NIKOS 'thanks be to God who gives us the
victory' 1 Cor 15:57.64
------------
I'd note particularly that usage in Acts 2:47 where ECONTES CARIN PROS
hOLON TON LAON is probably a bit more ambiguous than the version offered;
I'd make it "being in favor with all the people"--it implies mutuality of
good will, readiness on the part of both sides to be kind to each other and
to acknowledge the good will of the other.
So "credit" is not at all unreasonable: it is "acknowledgement of a service
rendered." To paraphrase Rodney Dangerfield, I keep doing nice things for
you, "but I don't ever get any credit."
------------------------
At any rate I'd say the fundamental sense of CARIS is kindly feeling and
the expression of kindly feeling toward a person or persons. But there are
a lot of distinct idioms and it is really worth studying an unabridged
lexicon on them.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad at ioa.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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