[B-Greek] PERI in Matthew 24:36
Robert Garringer
christofthenations at hotmail.com
Wed Mar 19 03:45:44 EST 2003
I am not sure how to relate the words of Jesus and His use of PERI in
Matthew 24:36 to letter writing, but I notice that all the New Testament
references that use PERI in the BADG quotation you gave imply more than
merely identifying a person or thing.
In Acts 25:26, Festus in unsure what to write PERI (about, concerning) Paul.
In 1 John 2:26, John is writing PERI (about, concerning)those who would lead
the believers astray. In 2 Corinthians 9:1, Paul states that it is
superfluous to write the Corinthians PERI (about, concerning)the ministry to
the saints. And so on in 1 Thessalonians 4:9 and 5:1, Jude 3, and 1
Corinthians 7:1.
Now in Matthew 24:36, Jesus said that only the Father knows PERI (about,
concerning) THS EKEINOS KAI hWRAS. Could He have said that when all He meant
was the Father alone can identify the precise day and hour of His return in
contrast with the more general time that is accessible to others?
Jesus' words are often misquoted, "Only the Father knows the day and hour,"
omitting any reference to the preposition. But to say, "Only one person
knows ABOUT something" seems to be saying more than, "He alone can IDENTIFY
that something." (Someone might be able to identify a thing and have little
or no understanding of it.) But are there examples of PERI being used in
this limited, identification sense? If not, C. S. Lewis seems to be right
and a whole host of popular preachers and some commentators seem to be wrong
on the significance of Matthew 24:36.
Pastor Garringer
>Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 08:21:36 EST
>From: Polycarp66 at aol.com
>Subject: Re: [B-Greek] PERI in Matthew 24:36
>To: christofthenations at hotmail.com, b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
>Message-ID: <64.2debe299.2ba87760 at aol.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
>In a message dated 3/18/2003 3:58:48 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>christofthenations at hotmail.com writes:
>
> > In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, PERI DE THS EKEINOS KAI hWRAS OUDEIS
>OIDEN.
> > Many popular preachers say that, in context, what Jesus means is, "I can
> > tell you approximately when I will come again, but I (and everyone else
> > except the Father) cannot identify the precise day or hour."
> >
> > By contrast, C. S. Lewis takes the phrase to be a qualification of
>ultimate
> >
> > uncertainty in the lengthy answer He had just given to the apostles'
> > question about the time of His coming and the end of the age (Matthew
> > 24:3).
> > (He had been speaking "about" [PERI] that day and hour all along.)
> >
> > Doesn't the presence of PERI in the phrase favor Lewis' explanation? Or
>can
> >
> > such a phrase lead out with that prepostion when simple identification
>is
> > all that the speaker has in mind?
> >
>
>I would understand the PERI DE in this passage as being a species of the
>usage found in letters where the author is responding to a question posed
>by
>someone. Note what is stated in BGAD s.v. PERI
>
>d. write (to) someone TINI (Plut., Pomp. 29, 3; pap.; 1 Macc 12:22; 2 Macc
>2:16; Da 6:26; Jos., Ant. 12, 16)Ro 15:15; 2 Cor 2:4, 9 t.r.; 7:12; Phlm
>21;
>2 Pt 3:15; 1J 2:12ff. DI' OLIGWN a few lines, briefly 1 Pt 5:12. DIA
>MELANOS
>KAI KALAMOU w. pen and ink 3J 13. The content of the writing is quoted: Rv
>2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14; write someth. to someone TINI TI (Plut., Cic.
>37,
>1; 1 Macc: 10:24; 11:29; 13:35) 1 Cor 14:37; 2 Cor 1:13; Gal 1:20; 3J 9.
>TINI
>TI PERI TINOS (1 Macc 11:31) Ac 25:26; 1 J 2:26. TINI PERI TINOS (1 Macc
>12:22; Jos., Vi. 62) 2 Cor 9:1; 1 Th 4:9; 5:1; Jd 3. PERI DE hWN EGRAYATE
>(MOI v.l.) as to the matters about which you wrote (me) 1 Cor 7:1 (Pla.,
>Ep.
>13 p. 361A PERI DE hWN EPESTELLES MOI; Socrat., Ep. 7, 1 hUPER hWN
>GRAFEIS);
>G. TINI give someone directions in writing w. inf. foll. Ac 18:27; also w.
>hOPWS ibid. D.âG. DIA TINOS signifies either that the person referred to
>in
>the DIA-phrase participated in writing the document (Dionys. of Cor. in
>Euseb., H.E. 4, 23, 11) as perh. 1 Pt 5:12, or that this person is its
>bearer
>IRo 10:1; IPhld 11:2; ISm 12:1; Pol 14. The latter mng. obtains in DIA
>XEIROS
>TINOS Ac 15:23.
>
>In this passage since it is not a response to an inquiry in a previous
>letter
>from the correspondent, I would take it to refer to a question which was
>raised in the church and to which a response is being given.
>
>gfsomsel
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