[B-Greek] Jn 2:4 TI EMOI KAI SOI, GUNAI
Ben Crick
ben.crick at argonet.co.uk
Thu Mar 31 16:38:07 EST 2005
On Thu 31 Mar 2005 (08:04:43), kline-dekoning at earthlink.net wrote:
> Jn 2:4 KAI LEGEI AUTHi hO IHSOUS: TI EMOI KAI SOI, GUNAI
>
> In a recent discussion of the TNIV a blogger, who claims to know Greek,
> was arguing that this should be understood and translated as a rebuke.
> I have found little support for this in the literature.
TI EMOI KAI SOI is the Covenant watchword "We have a covenant, you and I",
in Hebrew MaH LiY WaLaK (what to me and to thee?). Or it implies "We do
*not* have a covenant, you and I". It occurs in Judges 11:12; 2 Samuel 16:10
and 19:22; 1 Kings 17:18; 2 Kings 3:13; 2 Chronicles 35:21. It is also found
with variations in Joshua 22:24 and 2 Kings 9:18-19. It also occurs in Matthew
8:29 and the parallel passages Mark 5:7 and Luke 8:28.
The related Covenant formula is "The LORD do so to me and more also [if I
break this covenant]" (Ruth 1:17; 1 Kings 2:23). The OT Covenants were all
"Hittite" covenants, modelled on the secular legal codes of Patriarchal times
(e.g. the Code of Hammurabi). The King would make a Covenant with his vassals,
very similar to that which God made with Abraham (Genesis 15:9-18).
There were also "covenants" made between equals: human being to human being.
David and Jonathan solemnly agreed to befriend each other for life. They
would have cut a sacrificial animal in half, laid out the pieces, and
walked between them, saying "Thus shall the LORD do to me, and more also,
if I break this Covenant": i.e., the penalty for not keeping the Covenant is
to have your body bisected. When one party wished to invoke the Covenant, he
would say the formula "MaH LiY WaLaKh", literally "What to me and to thee?"
or "What have I to do with thee?". Much indeed; "We have a covenant, you and
I". The phrase for "to make a covenant" is KaRaT B:RiYT, "to cut a covenant".
The "cutting" is the Sanction for non-compliance; like the "cuts" sign in
Freemasonry (? I'm not a mason). "The LORD do so to me and more also...."
GUNAI, far from being a rude appelation, is more like our form of address
"Lady" [but cf KURIA in 2 John 1]. Compare John 4:21; 19:26 where again
Jesus is addressing his mother; and 20:13, 15.
ERRWSQE
Ben
--
Revd Ben Crick, BA CF ZFC Lu
<ben.crick at NOSPAM.argonet.co.uk>
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