[B-Greek] PERI in Matthew 24:36

Polycarp66 at aol.com Polycarp66 at aol.com
Wed Mar 19 13:04:12 EST 2003


In a message dated 3/19/2003 3:46:28 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
christofthenations at hotmail.com writes:

> 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.
> 
It doesn't require that it be a letter.  It could simply be a subject that 
someone has raised.  When Paul uses it in his epistles, one rather expects 
that he has received some letter from those to whom he writes inquiring 
regarding the matter.  It is simply a matter or reference; it is like "Re: " 
at the beginning of a memo (or e-mail).  I would suggest that it is in this 
context a reference to matters which were of concern to the early church -- 
"When is Christ going to come back?"  Remember, the NT was not written in a 
vacuum but in the context of the church.  This pericope answers that question 
with "I can't tell you when."  

It would seem that you might be equating PERI with the English word "about."  
While one meaning of "about" is "approximately" (and PERI has a similar use 
in Greek), this is not the usage found here.

gfsomsel


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