Greek idioms

Mike Sangrey msangrey at BlueFeltHat.org
Mon Mar 26 12:21:30 EST 2001



I'd like to know what others think of these idioms:

TAFOIS KEKONIAMENOIS: "tombs whited" (see Mat. 23:27),  I always 
assumed that tombs were NOT painted white and that Jesus was saying 
the Scribes and Pharisees were just like what it would be like if 
people actually DID paint tombs white.  Well, I learned yesterday 
the tombs WERE painted white and the reason was identical to why we,
at least in the US, paint certain things `warning yellow'.  It was 
a signal to the eyes to `steer clear'.  In other words, the outward 
show of righteousness appears as a warning to others of the death 
which "lives" within.

I'm not sure I would call this an idiom.  I would translate, though, 
as `tombs painted warning white'.

AMHN AMHN: "truly, truly".   I don't think this quite captures what 
is being said.  It seems to me to be more along the lines of "It is 
a foregone conclusion that..."
-- 
Mike Sangrey
msangrey at BlueFeltHat.org
Landisburg, Pa.
                        "The first one last wins."
            "A net of highly cohesive details reveals the truth."





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