[B-Greek] METEWRIZOMAI

Albert Pietersma albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Wed Aug 6 18:39:17 EDT 2003


Dear Lawrence,
Though a word's etymology is no sure guide to its current meaning, it 
often does provide a unifying glimpse behind the scenes.
If, as my sources tell me, METEWROS (of which METEWRIZOMAI is a 
denominative verb) derives from AEIRW = AIRW "to lift/raise" the 
meanings you cite are perhaps not as unrelated as they  seem at first 
blush. The underlying notion in all of them is that of being raised up, 
lifted up, suspended. Such a state  of 'being suspended' can then refer 
to a physical state of being suspended in mid-air, or metaphorically it 
can refer to an emotional or a mental state, hence being anxious or 
being haughty. In actual Greek usage it can mean all three. Thus which 
one is realized in any given instance depends on the context.
In Ps 130:1(NETS) I opted for 'lifted up'  for two reasons: (1) the 
meaning 'to be proud/haughty' is a minority meaning in Greek usage and 
(2) the context in any case suggests that 'lifted up' has to do with 
pride.  This choice is the more appropriate since the Hebrew verb here 
translated likewise in the first instance has to be with being 
physically high or tall.
Note that the NRSV reads 'lifted up'.
Al

On Wednesday, August 6, 2003, at 12:32 PM, farley wrote:

> Dear friends:
>     In Lk. 12:29, Christ gives the command MH METEWRIZECQE.
>     One lexicon, though defining the verb as literally meaning "to 
> raise up", says that it cannot mean anything else in this context than 
> "do not to be anxious", which is indeed how most translations render 
> it (eg. NKJV, "do not have an anxious mind").  Douay renders it more 
> literally as "be not lifted up on high".
>     I note that the verb is used in Ps. 130:1 (LXX), where the English 
> renders the Greek verb also as "lifted up".  The other English 
> translations of this psalm (based presumably on the Hebrew), render it 
> as "proud, haughty".
>    The word is used in Josephus and in other places as well, but I do 
> not have the resources to check out its usage there for myself.
>     I am tempted to think that the word means something like our 
> English "up in the air, restless", and apply such a meaning to both 
> Lk. 12:29 and Ps. 130:1 LXX.  It seems odd to me that one verb could 
> mean such divergent things as both "anxious" and "proud" (though proud 
> people are, admittedly, often anxious).
>     Any thoughts?
>     Yours with thanks,
>     Lawrence Farley, Langley, B.C.
> ---
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>
—
Albert Pietersma
Professor of Septuagint and Hellenistic Greek
Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto
Home: 21 Cross Street,
Weston ON Canada M9N 2B8
Email: albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Homepage: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~pietersm




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