[B-Greek] SPOUDAZW and ORQOTOMEW IN 2 TIM 2:15
Harold R. Holmyard III
hholmyard at ont.com
Mon Jun 21 14:34:46 EDT 2004
Dear Tom,
Arie wrote:
>When I taught NT exegesis in the Evangelical Theological Faculty of
>Heverlee (Belgium) I had one of my students make a word study about
>ORQOTOMEW. I do not know if I can find his work after 25 years, but I
>remember he found a connection with the Hebrew j-sh-r (in an OT quotation in
>the NT ??) which has also a strong moral meaning.
>So he interpreted ORQOTOMEW as "make a right way (like the Roman roads, he
>added) and do not make any deviations to the right or to the left - in
>direction and morally."
HH: The two LXX passages where the word occurs are Prov 3:6 and 11:5.
They may be translated as:
Prov 3:6: In all your ways acknowledge Him so that He may make your
paths straight, and your foot will never stumble.
Prov 11:5 Righteousness cuts in a straight line blameless paths, but
ungodliness falls by unrighteousness.
HH: The lexicon LSJ says that ORQOTOMEW has a figurative sense of
teaching rightly in 2 Tim 2:15. The Accordance lexicon gives "use
correctly" as a meaning for the word. My own sense is that in 2 Tim
2:15 it connotes something like "interpret correctly." The verb
SPOUDAZW can mean "take pains" or "make every effort." In a context
where the action is interpreting, using, or teaching the word of
truth, the implication of SPOUDAZW would be study, for study is part
of how one interprets and teaches material correctly?
I agree with Arie that the meaning of ORQOTOMEW is general, nothing
as specific as the interpretation you are concerned about. Are you
sure that the meaning you mention is not an application that was made
from the interpretation of 2 Tim 2:15 rather than the claimed basic
meaning of the verse? Surely right use of the word of truth would
include noticing when God's activity towards humanity as described in
Scripture alters in basic ways. So that idea could be part of a valid
application of the verse, but it is not the meaning of the verse
taken in itself.
Yours,
Harold Holmyard
>
>[I do not think that "to cut the Word in order to get dispensations" is
>*sectarian*. I consider it only as definitely not right for many reasons,
>not to discuss here.]
>
>Arie
>
>
>Dr. A. Dirkzwager
>Hoeselt, Belgium
>e-mail dirkzwager at pandora.be
>
>----- Oorspronkelijk bericht -----
>Van: "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
>Aan: "Biblical Greek" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
>CC: "thomas roth" <twroth at worldnet.att.net>
>Verzonden: maandag 21 juni 2004 19:24
>Onderwerp: [B-Greek] SPOUDAZW and ORQOTOMEW IN 2 TIM 2:15
>
>
>> Forwarded for: "thomas roth" <twroth at worldnet.att.net>
>> To: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
>> Subject: SPOUDAZW and ORQOTOMEW
>> Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 12:14:55 -0400
>>
>> [Co-chair's note: while this has been posed as a question involving both
>> translation and exegesis, I think it might be most appropriate to comment
>> on the proper understanding of the Greek verbs involved and to ignore
>> sectarian doctrinal aspects of the question.]
>>
>> Sirs,
>> I have a question regarding the words SPOUDAZW and ORQOTOMEW as they occur
>> in 2 Tim 2:15.
>> Most of the SPOUDAZW shows up it is translated to "do diligence" or
>> "endeavor". However for some reason in this passage the King James
>> translators decided to translate it as "study", and it is the only time
>> they did so of its 11 occurrences.
>> Is there a reason for this, and how is one to know that in 1611 the word
>> "study" really meant to "give (or do) diligence"?
>> Granted, in the revised editions the word has been changed from "study" to
>> other words such as "be diligent" or "give diligence".
>> Similarly, at the end of this verse, the word ORQOTOMEW has been
>> translated, 4 centuries ago, to mean "rightly divide"; this too has been
>> revised in later editions.
>> The "problem" with "study" and "rightly divide" stems from the fact that
>> certain church groups, specifically Scofield
>>
>(<http://www.biblebelievers.com/scofield/>www.biblebelievers.com/scofield/)
>and
>> others hang a great deal of their teaching on this verse, possibly one of
> > the most often quoted verses in the Bible after John 3:16. They believe
>> that "study" means just that, and that "rightly divide" means that certain
>> parts of the Bible are meant for certain groups of people in certain time
>> periods, and we must literally divide it up with respect to those implied
>> divisions; see <http://www.rightdivision.com>www.rightdivision.com
>> Has this topic already been handled by your group? If so, please direct me
>> to that archived area. If not, how will I get an response to this
>question?
>> I'm not familiar with your organization and the format for posing
>questions.
>> Thank you for any assistance in this matter. I realize this is not
>> necessarily a question of the Greek words, and may involve interpretation
>> of the Bible's meaning, which may not be your area of study.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Tom Roth
>> Dayton OH
>> "....Glory in tribulations also:
>> knowing that tribulations worketh patience,
>> and patience experience
>> and experience hope...."
>> ----Romans 5:3-4
>>
>> ---
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>
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