[B-Greek] word meaning
Eric S. Weiss
eweiss at gte.net
Fri May 23 12:45:42 EDT 2003
With all due respect to your friend, he does NOT "interpret the NT Greek
very literally." He interprets the NT Greek very ignorantly --
ignorantly with respect to Greek, and ignorantly with respect to what
language is and how language works.
Yes, Koine Greek has idioms. If you can find a copy of Goodrick's DO IT
YOURSELF HEBREW AND GREEK, read the chapter (I think it's chapter 22) on
Idioms. You will either laugh at Goodrick's dry humor in this passage or
cry when you suddenly realize that language is SO IDIOMATIC that you
realize that it will take years of reading the Bible in its original
language to be sure that one is not accidentally "literally"
understanding or translating idiomatic speech, and that recourse to
learned and scholarly commentaries and grammars/grammarians is something
one should always check oneself with before making claims of what the
Greek or Hebrew "REALLY says."
As far as "of the faith of Christ," you need to learn about how the
genitive case functions in Greek. Dan Wallace gives, I believe, 33 uses,
the objective (Christ's own faith/faithfulness) and subjective (faith in
Christ) genitives being only two of these many. This phrase raises
multiple issues: what kind of genitive is it? is PISTIS to be translated
as "faith" or as "faithfulness"? etc. There is MUCH MUCH MUCH written
about this. Check your local seminary and look in the commentaries on
Galatians and the periodicals.
Good luck!
> Hi,
>
> I have a friend who believes the bible teaches the ultimate salvation
> of everyone, regardless of faith. I know this group does not promote
> one belief over the other, but perhaps you can help me examine some of
> his reasoning.
>
> He interprets the NT Greek very literally.
>
> 1. He says that each Greek word has exactly one, and only one real
> meaning. True? I think he would look at all the ways a word is used
> and attempt a definition that fit each passage. Is that possible? One
> word that comes to mind for me is Paul’s use of “flesh”. I haven’t yet
> looked to the Greek, but I thought I remembered seeing a usage that
> included a reference to his race, and of course there is his use of
> that “which houses sin”.
>
> 2. He says that AION cannot ever mean "eternal" in the NT – that it is
> an AGE, with an unspecified amount of time, but having a definite
> beginning and end. An example of his reasoning is the question that
> the disciples asked Jesus: “What will be the sign of the end of the
> age”. If this is translated here as “eternity/forever” (as it is in
> many other passages in several popular translations), it would not
> make any sense at all (what will be the sign of the end of eternity).
> I think he has a good point with that word, but what I’m really
> interested in are the phrases “AION of AIONS”, or “AIONS of AIONS”
> (note the plural for both aion's in the last one). My friend would say
> these should be taken literally, like the Holy of Holies, and King of
> Kings – that they should be understood as “an age apart from all the
> other ages”, and “two ages apart from all other ages”. Most
> translations use “forever” or “forever and ever” for these phrases.
> Which is right? Are both translations legitimate (for the phrases)?
> Bill Mounce makes reference to the Jewish concept of time in Basics of
> Biblical Greek, but he doesn't go into detail. Did the Septuagint
> translate Hebrew terms for "everlasting" as "age of ages",... or, in
> other words, is the phrase "age of ages" a Greek idiom meaning
> forever? Does Koine Greek have idioms?
>
> I don’t want to be burdensome, so I will wait to ask other questions
> later. (like the meaning of “of the faith of Christ”).
>
> Sincerely,
> Brian A. Phillips
> ARCO Cleaning, Inc.
> 317-578-2726
--
Eric S. Weiss
http://home1.gte.net/vzn05pnm/index.htm
S.D.G.
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