[B-Greek] Re: The Lexical Semantics of MORFH (long)
Harold R. Holmyard III
hholmyard at ont.com
Tue Dec 7 14:50:27 EST 2004
Dear Carl,
You write:
Spicq cites the French Jerusalem Bible here with approval, "Lui, de
condition divine . . . prenant la condition d'esclave." I don't know
whether English "condition" is quite equivalent to the French "condition."
Perhaps better would be "circumstances, terms of existence." Certainly he's
right to call attention to the fact that the usage of MORFH in Phil 2:6-7
is closely bound up with the context of "transformation" or METAMORFWSIS.
If that's the case, then MORFH in 2:6 EN MORFHi QEOU hUPARCWN and in 2:7
MORFHN DOULOU LABWN are indeed to be understood in the same sense,
something like "mode of existence," the underlying assumption being that
"mode of existence" is something that can undergo alteration. This is a
notion that does seem consistent with other usages of MORFH, and it
certainly doesn't approach the sense that Edgar cites: "the outward display
of the inner reality or substance."
HH: That sounds good to me.
Yours,
Harold Holmyard
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