[B-Greek] Question about Matthew 11:14
Iver Larsen
iver at larsen.dk
Thu Dec 15 03:11:44 EST 2005
> My interest is about this sentence : Matthew 11:14 : AUTOS ESTIN HLIAS.
> Elias is a definite noun. This is the proper name of an ancient famous
> prophet. However, regarding the semantic of this passage,
> i think that this proper name in this sentence can be a prototype. The real
> meaning of this is "John is what Elias was".
> Therefore, we can translate it as "This(John) is similar to Elias".
> I dont know if in any other place this clause (A ESTIN B ) could be
> regarded in the same sense like Matthew 11:14.
> In other words : Which are the examples in which "A estin B" or "A B
> estin" is equivalent to "what A is/was, B is/was " ?.
> Best Regards
> Octavio Rodriguez
Yes, you are quite right. The semantic range of ESTIN is much broader than the English "is", so a literal translation
like "he is Elijah" is more confusing than the original would have been to a Greek speaker (or the hearers listening to
the words of Jesus in Hebrew).
Louw and Nida give the following senses, and I don't think the list is exhaustive:
a be: eimi#13.1
b be identical: eimi#13.4
c exist: eimi#13.69
d happen: eimi#13.104
e be in a place: eimi#85.1
f be possible: eimi#71.1
g belong: eimi#58.67
h represent: eimi#58.68
Plus a number of idioms.
Any Greek dictionary will list a huge number of different senses of EIMI, many more than the English "be".
One can say that ESTIN indicates some kind of relationship between two entities, and it is up to the hearers to infer
from the context and their background knowledge what the relevant relationship is.
In the case of Elijah, the pertinent background information is the expectation that a prophet like Elijah would herald
the coming of the Messiah. (See Matt 17:11 and Mal 4:5 where the NET Bible has the following note: I will send you
Elijah the prophet. In light of the ascension of Elijah to heaven without dying (2 Kgs 2.11), Judaism has always awaited
his return as an aspect of the messianic age (see, e.g., John 1.19-28). Jesus identified John the Baptist as Elijah,
because he came in the “spirit and power” of his prototype Elijah (Matt 11.14; 17.1-13; Mark 9.2-13; Luke 9.28-36). )
So, when Jesus says that John "is" Elijah, he expects the hearers to infer that John is the prophet who was to come to
herald the coming of the Messiah. That this understanding requires some processing is indicated by the next statement:
"The one who has ears, ought to understand."
Understanding meaning is much more than understanding grammar and words.
Iver Larsen
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