[B-Greek] word meaning
Eric S. Weiss
eweiss at gte.net
Fri May 23 14:53:08 EDT 2003
And (even though my Hebrew is so poor as to not be worth mentioning,
your friend's understanding of "Holy of holies" and "King of Kings"
reflects complete ignorance of Hebrew idioms, IMHO.
> Hi,
>
> I have a friend....
>
> 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”.
"Holy of holies" does NOT mean "a holy place apart from all other holy
places." It means "The Most Holy place" or "The Holiest Place.". Hebrew
lacks adjectives, and uses construct chains as a way of expressing
things like "holier," "holiest." Likewise, "King of Kings" means "The
Greatest King" or "King over all other kings." As I said, my Hebrew is
very poor, but I believe this is somewhat correct. Either way (i.e.,
whether I'm right or wrong), these phrases are definitely IDIOMS and to
translate/treat them "literally" is to mistranslate them.
Hebrew has a phrase AD OLAM ("to the age") which I believe idiomatically
can mean what we mean by "forever" as opposed to "unto a
definite/specific age." The NT translates this Hebrew phrase with the
AIWN usages you mention. Look at how various scholars/translators
translate Hebrews 1:2 for the different possible meanings/understandings
of AIWNAS (accusative plural of AIWN). Most translators who translate
AIWN here do not have an agenda -- they seek as best they can to
translate what they believe the Greek means, based on their decades of
study of the language.
I was raised Jewish and many prayers begin: "Blessed are you, Lord, our
God, king of HA-OLAM." There is no exact English equivalent to this
word, just as there is no exact Greek equivalent. We used the words
"universe," "eternity," "the ages," "Sovereign Lord" to translate
"melech ha-olam"/"olam" in these prayers. Likewise, I don't think Greek
had an exact equivalent for the Hebrew OLAM, but AIWN was their closest
word to it. The Greek AIWN loses some of the meaning of the Hebrew OLAM
it's translating, but also adds some of the semantic range of AIWN in
the uses/appearances of this word in the New Testament. This can
complicate the translator's and the reader's task.
Recommend to your friend that he take at least 1-1/2 years (i.e., 3
seminary semesters) of NT Greek before he makes the kinds of
pronouncements about Greek that he seems to be wanting to make. If his
commitment to integrity in teaching/preaching the Word of God is real,
he should be willing to do this. If he doesn't do this, but continues to
make the kinds of statements you claim he is making, then he will more
quickly and more greatly than he may realize end up teaching error --
the very thing he seems intent on exposing.
And, avail yourself of the same opportunity. Anybody who wants to be a
serious student of the NT needs to take NT Greek at some point -- and
the sooner the better!! Don't wait until you're an old man like me and
wish you'd started in your twenties.
Happy Memorial Day.
> 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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