[B-Greek] Col. 3,8 AISCROLOGIA

Maurice A. O'Sullivan mauros at iol.ie
Thu Jun 24 13:20:07 EDT 2004


At 12:54 24/06/2004, Carl W. Conrad wrote:

>It seems to me it's more a catch-all term for a category of what we might
>call "nasty talk," including scatology, four-letter words, off-color jokes,
>ethnic aspersions, etc. BDAG's gloss is "speech of a kind that is generally
>considered in poor taste,   obscene speech, dirty talk"

Yes, indeed -- I see that Moulton & Milligan say:
 >>The adj. is generally associated with foul or filthy rather than abusive 
speaking in Col. 3:8 << and they add:

 >> cf. Didache 3:3, where after a warning against EPIQUMIA the Christian 
is counselled to be
MHDE AISCROLOGOS MHDE hUYHLOFQALMOS  ( "one who casts lewd eyes": cf. 2 P 
2:14 ) EK GAR TOUTWN hAPANTWN MOICEIAI GENNWNTAI "

Their literary citation is from P. Ixy III. 410.76 ( Doric iv/B.C ) " the 
avoidance of abuse is a mark of high-mindedness and an ornament of speech " 
-- not a bad motto over the door of any mailing-list <g>

Lohse, in his Hermeneia volume on Colossians and Philemon notes that the 
meaning of AISCROLOGIA is "spelled out in the catalog of sins of the tongue 
which Jas. 3:1-12 lists "

and in the same series, in his volume on the Didache, Kurt Niederwimmer 
describes AISCROLOGOS as " someone who likes to tell dirty jokes " -- and 
notes that "Lampe does not have the word ", a rare omission I would say!
His translation reads: >> nor should you be given to obscene speech or to 
bold gazes "  Incidentally, Bart Ehrman's new Loeb edition of The Apostolic 
Fathers has just arrived on my doorstep, and I see he renders the Didache 
verse  as:
 >> nor be foulmouthed or lecherous. For from all these are born acts of 
adultery "

On the more general question of the links between Mt 5:21-48 and Did 3:2-6 
you might like to consult:

Tomson, P.J, ed. Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum. Vol. 5 
Section 3. The Didache: Its Jewish Sources and Its Place in Early Judaism 
and Christianity, Sandt, Huub van de Sandt; Flusser, David. Assen: Roya Van 
Gorcum, 2002.

where there is an extensive section in chap. 6







Maurice A. O'Sullivan  [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros at iol.ie





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