[B-Greek] 2 Peter 3:12,14 SPEUDW and SPOUDAZW

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sat Nov 13 06:45:07 EST 2004


At 4:43 PM +1000 11/13/04, <newsgroupstuff at swiftdsl.com.au> wrote:
>Another query about 2 Peter 3. I notice that 3:12 has SPEUDW and 3:14 has
>SPOUDAZW. It is interesting that these words seem to have similar meaning as
>well as similar sound. Is there any etymological relationship between these
>words, or is just some kind of coincidence?
>
>One would almost expect Peter to be repetitive in these two verses as he is
>with the use of PROSDOKAW, yet interestingly he uses different but seemingly
>similar words...?

These verbs are practically synonymous, certainly are related in a sense
close to the now more or less obsolete English "study" from the Latin
STUDEO meaning "be zealous (to do)" (the old gospel bit used in "Oh
Brother": " ... down to the river to pray, studying about that good old way
..."). The verb SPEUDW and the noun SPOUDH mean fundamentally "haste" but
carry the implication of eager desire; the derivative verb SPOUDAZW
intensifies the sense already implicit in SPEUDW of intense effort to
achieve a desired end.
-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/



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