[B-Greek] Mat. 11:25 -- EXOMOLOGEOMAI with a hOTI clause

Iver iver_larsen at sil.org
Mon Sep 29 06:11:44 EDT 2003


Hi, Mike,

No one has responded on list, so let me make a brief comment.

You said:
> I'm particularly interested in the meaning of EXOMOLOGEOMAI and its
> functional relationship with the hOTI clause.
>
> Mat. 11:25:
>         EN EKEINWi TWi KAIRWi APOKRIQEIS hO IHSOUS EIPEN, EXOMOLOGOUMAI
>         SOI, PATER, KURIE TOU OURANOU KAI THS GHS, hOTI EKRUYAS TAUTA
>         APO SOFWN KAI SUNETWN KAI APEKALUYAS AUTA NHPIOIS:
>
> The NET Bible has:
>         At that time Jesus said, "I PRAISE you, Father, Lord of heaven
>         and earth, BECAUSE you have hidden these things from the wise
>         and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. (emphasis
>         mine to highlight what I'm interested in).
>
> The NASB also has `praise', as does the NIV.

When EXOMOLOGEOMAI is used with a dative beneficiary as here, the standard
meaning is praise and thanksgiving. So, it could be translated either "I
praise you" or "I thank you". Because of that, hOTI probably means
"because", but it doesn't make much difference whether one says "I thank
you, Father, that you have done so and so" or "I thank you, Father, because
you have done so and so". My preference would be "because", but I would not
rule out the other option.
>
> ISTM that what Jesus is doing here is making a statement that publicly
> voices agreement with the statement that the God of the universe hides
> things from people who think they've got smarts and that God reveals
> these things to little children.  In other words, Jesus is publicly
> identifying himself, and appealing to the crowd to think of him in this
> way, as just like a little child.
>
> Or, to put the question a little more directly:  doesn't Jesus' use of
> EXOMOLOGEOMAI carry the sense of a public statement of agreement and
> then the hOTI clause indicate the content with which he agrees?

I wouldn't think so, but you can still get the sense of what you are
suggesting from the passage. It seems to be a public statement (in the form
of a prayer) of the need to be like children in the sense that one can
receive revelation from God. The wise and intelligent tend to be
self-reliant, and Jesus set an excellent example of a person who was NOT
self-reliant, but only did what the Father had revealed to him to do.

Iver Larsen




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