[B-Greek] PISTIKHS in Mark 14:3 and John 12:3
Mike Dewus
dewus at bluemarble.net
Tue Apr 19 16:44:40 EDT 2005
Blankpart of MARK 14:3: EXOUSA ALABASTRON MUROU NARDOU PISTIKHS
POLUTELOUS...
part of John 12:3: LABOUSA LITRAN MUROU NARDOU PISTIKHS POLUTIMOU...
I was reading through William Barclay's Gospel of John Vol. 2, 2nd edition
(Philadelphia, PA:Westminster Press, 1956), where on page 109 he states
concerning the word PISTIKHS:
"Oddly enough, no one really knows what that word means. There are four
possibilities. (enumeration mine, 1.) It may come from the adjective PISTOS,
which means faithful or reliable, and so may mean genuine.(2) It may come
from the verb PINEIN which means to drink, and so may mean liquid. (3) It
may be a kind of trade name, and may have to be translated simply pistic
nard. (4) It may come from a word meaning the pistachio nut, and be a
special kind of essence extracted from it. In any event it was a specially
valuable kind of perfume."
--Louw and Nida have in this general area: PISTIXOS (pure), PISTIS (a. what
can be believed, b. trust, c. trustworthiness, d. Christian faith, e.
doctrine, f. promise), PISTOS (a. trusting, b. trustworthy, c. sure), PISTHS
(a. rich sap, b. value), and PINW (a. drink, b. soak up),
A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature,
F. Blass and A. DeBrunner, translation and revision of the 9th-10th edition
by Robert W. Funk (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1961) p.
62, under the section discussing word formation, has this concerning
PISTIKHS:
"PISTIKOS Mk 14:3 and Jn 12:3 (NARDOU PISTIKHS) may well mean 'genuine' and
be derived from PISTOS or PISTIS, but it could also be an EIDOS [the eidos
intended here could be rendered a form/sight of] NARDOU OUTW LEGOMENON
(Theophylact.); cf. Bauer."
It seemed to me that in the verses above POLUTELOUS AND POLITIMOU
unambiguously convey the sense of "value" /"cost" such that PISTIKHS would
seem to be redundant and unnecessary in this sense. In other words, PISTIKHS
must surely mean something else here, perhaps genuine (as in slang "the real
deal" so to speak, as though an exclamatory remark, perhaps for emphasis),
but what about Barclay's (2) and/or (3 and 4)? Concerning the grammar's
second option, a case is made there by way of comparison to the
(genitiveless) phrase in Rev. 2:27--WS TA SKEUH TA KERAMIKA "the vessels of
the potter or more naturally earthen (KERAMEIKOS from KERAMEUS)." If anyone
has the time, I am after an opinion on the relationship between
PISTIKHS-PLUTELOUS/POLUTIMOU in Koine Greek insofar as that construction as
possibly used here is simply an idiom; also whether/which options put forth
here generally viable ones. The consensus seems to be "genuine." Thank you.
I browsed the b-Greek archives and found one thread on this (title pasted
below) but no response to it:
[B-Greek] PISTIKHS in John12:3
Kind regards,
Mike Dewus dewus at bluemarble.net
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