AGAPH outside the New Testament
Mike Sangrey
msangrey at BlueFeltHat.org
Mon Jun 17 10:37:57 EDT 2002
On Fri, 2002-06-14 at 10:44, Jonathan Burke wrote:
>
> The problem for me at the moment is finding a Greek meaning I can trust.
> You quote a lexicon on B-Trans, and you get three people telling you why
> it's out of date. :p
Since I'm one of the co-moderators of BTrans, let me respond briefly.
I'd like to think there is considerable benefit to allowing people from
different perspectives the opportunity to discuss the available evidence
and especially the benefit of recent evidence. Lexicons are an ENORMOUS
amount of work.[1] But, lexicographic research is ever on-going and I
think appropriate questioning can be given even to the most respected
lexicons.
Both lists, BTrans and BGreek, generally recognize the superiority of
BDAG and Louw & Nida over the older lexicons. Some people prefer a more
NT oriented lexicon, others see benefit to classical lexicons (eg
Liddel's), others combine these tools.
Regarding AGAPH, I understand the difficulty. I think it's a mistake to
hope for some nice neat and tidy definition. `Love' is complex. In any
language! I personally think AGAPH has a sense of "strong, reasoned
commitment to a person or thing which brings pleasure or enjoyment."
In various contexts, different features of that definition come out in
one way or another.
---
[1] I wonder? How long did BDAG take?
--
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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