[B-Greek] Sudject ekklesia(church)

George F. Somsel gfsomsel at juno.com
Wed Jun 16 12:28:22 EDT 2004


On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 10:51:56 -0500 "Rick Seivert"
<rmooster at baldwin-telecom.net> writes:
> Hey everyone
> Thanks for letting me join
> I want people to check out this part of a letter I had written.
> 
> 
> So now I want to read out of the New Strong's concordance what it 
> says on
> this word.
> 
> " was used among the Greeks of a body of citizens "gathered" to 
> discuss the
> affairs of state, acts 19:39"
> 
> Strait out of the Strong's Concordance, the very meaning that the 
> word we
> use "church", was the people who met to discuss the affairs of the 
> state.  I
> would fully expect the pacifists to be kicking and screaming when 
> they read
> this, but it is the truth.
> 
> Lets look at the example given.
> 
> Acts 19:38  Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with 
> him,
> have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are 
> deputies: let
> them implead one another.
> 39   But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall 
> be
> determined in a lawful assembly.
> 
> The words "lawful assembly" are used instead of the word "church," 
> because
> "ekklesia" is the Greek word used here.  The King James Version 
> decided to
> change the word for some reason, whatever that reason is the end 
> result is
> the reader does not understand that the church (ekklesia) was 
> actually the
> governing body in important matters as such. Lets back up a few 
> verses to
> better understand what was going on here.
> 
_____________

Rick,

Yes, we are aware that EKKLHSIA can mean a secular governing body.  If
you would check various translations, you would find that they do
translate this as "assembly" in certain cases.  Where it clearly pertains
to the church, however, they use the time-honored designation "church." 
That it may be used for a governing body of the POLIS is simply a
reflection of the fact that these terms are not utterly divorced from the
lives of the people to whom these letters were written and to whom the
apostles preached.  It is not "Holy Ghost Greek."

A note regarding your post.  We are here to discuss  Greek --
specifically Biblical Greek which is generally inclusive of the
Septuagint, NT, and the Church Fathers.  One subject that is generally
taboo is doctrine or special pleading for a position since we have many
members who hold various positions.  It is generally best to deal with
one or two specific passage (if the two are related) and to cite your
passage when you post.  

I would also encourage you to get a better Greek lexicon.  The standard
for NT Greek studies is Baur, Danker, Arndt & Gingrich, _A Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature_.  It
isn't cheap, but I would advise you to "go, sell what you have [and
purchase one] and you will have" a reliable reference work.

gfsomsel



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