[B-Greek] Part2- Some grammar issues in Mt1:24 and Mt1:25

Binh Nguyen nguyencongbinh50 at yahoo.com
Tue Dec 19 10:23:11 EST 2006


May I resend as Part 2 to fit the 50K rule
Have a Merry Christmas.                            
  NGUYEN CONG BINH
    LsNguyenCongBinh at yahoo.com Or NguyencongBinh50 at yahoo.com
   
  Footnote 1: WHEN WAS JOSEPH REQUESTED BY THE ANGEL TO EXPRESS HIS CONSENT TO BE MARY’S HUSBAND AND THE LORD’S ADOPTING FATHER? BEFORE CHRIST WAS CONCEIVED
   
  Prin meant before. ‘E’ (eta 182 meant and also  as compared to ‘E’ eta 181(article the) as both were found in verse 18. Joined together as a pair, the idiom  prin + eta 182 (Latin CUM ANTEQUAM) denoted that  fact1 had occurred in time#1 PRIN (before - Latin cum) fact2 of time #2 and E (eta182- as well as before  (latin antequam) fact3 of time#3. The Latin cum and antequam  each separately introduced its own verb but since the pair prin e was inseparable so prin was grammatically placed not before the  fact of time#2 it introduced (stated or impliedl) but immediately after it.  Please compare 4 facts and timing of Mt 1: 18 with the facts of the following examples:
  Example 1: Andres adelphoi kai pateres, akousate. Ho theos tês doxês ôphthê tô patri hêmôn Abraam onti en tê Mesopotamia prin ê (eta 182) katoikêsai auton en Charran
  Example 2: tautê tê nukti prin ê (eta182) dis alektora phônêsai tris me aparnesê- Peter, in this very night, before (prin –  fact #2 the cock crows the first time was implied), and also before (h êta182) the cock crows the second time (fact#3) then three times you will deny (fact#1)  me thoroughly (Mc 14:30) 
  Before (prin) Mary, His Mother,  was engaged (aras/kiddhusin) to  Joseph , as well as before  (e) the day they lived together (onah/chuppah), The Lord’s coming was fully made known (eurethe/ inventa) to Joseph
   that Mary in her womb having a Child from The Holy Spirit. And Joseph said YES but then was felled down.
   
  Footnote 2: DID THE ANGEL APPEAR TO JOSEPH IN A DREAM OR THE ANGEL VISITED HIM BECAUSE OF HIS TROUBLES IN HIS THINKING?  WHY WAS HE IN GREAT FEAR WHEN THE ANGEL VISITED HIM
  Kata onar- In somnis (somnium /somnus in plural): according to his dream, figuratively according to his worries, his trouble in thinking, his nightmare or depression, or terror 
  -  Phobeo  meant an  extreme fear caused by terror.  
  - Ephane, apparuit  meant manifestly shined out, factually arrived in person. We celebrate the Epiphany Of The Lord because He Came in His Person as Our Savior.  From The Holy Spirit, the angel came to Mary, Zechariah and Joseph in  the same way. There was no evidence to associate the trouble thinking Joseph with the Old Testament dreaming Joseph. The angel  spent almost a day with Lot, Gideon and Manoah (Gen 19, Judges 6 and Judges 13).  The annunciation to Mary was long as Luke presented but the angel’s discussion with Joseph, in both occasions,  could have been  longer in order to persuade him. Two visits were required to convince Joseph. Please see in Matthew 2 the angel must have also twice appeared to Joseph before he made the final decision to return  the Child from Egypt to the homeland, even so, carefully listening to the news, he chose to settle the family in Nazareth, rather than the South based on his own judgment. Joseph’s conscience was based on the full
 respect of God’s Will but with total freedom and full responsibility in carrying it out.
   
  Footnote3:  DID JOSEPH THE HOLY MAN EVER INTEND TO DIVORCE MARY? Was Joseph’s holiness within the standard given by Jesus in Mt 24  or that of the Mosaic laws? God is Love. Only  people practicing God’s Will in fulfilling the New Commandment of Love are justified, made holy by God through Jesus shall enter God’s Kingdom. A Vietnamese proverb taught me ăn quả nhớ kẻ trồng cây eating the fruit give thanks to the planter. In deeply appreciating Mary giving birth to Jesus but for me it is very unfair  to narrow Joseph’s role only as a food provider to Jesus. His holiness, his full care and daily work and his share in educating the child, together with Mary brought The Incarnated Word to the human race I am included. It was his perfect gift in fulfilling the Commandment of Love to Jesus, Mary as a husband and father and to all of us. Please be assured there was no quiet divorce procedure in Moses’ Law. Though a beginner in Greek and Latin, I claim
 it should be fair to Matthew to read Mt1:19 as A holy man Joseph her husband was. To grossly and wrongfully humiliate (deigmatisai, traducere ) her and the HOLY CHILD, he did not want. And in his deep heart he desired to withdraw (run away, dismiss, apolusai dimittere)  from her and the HOLY CHILD.
   
  Footnote4:  WAS JOSEPH BEING RAISED FROM HIS EVENING SLEEP OR RAISED AND ENLIGHTENED FROM DARKNESS? Paul advised us that we  fell into our own hupnos (SLEEP but in the figurative sense) in not practicing God’s Will demanded from all of  us, the New Commandment of Love:  Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this because you know  the time; it is the hour now for you hupnou egerthenai to be raised up from sleep because our salvation is nearer now than  when we first believed (Rom13:10-11 –We depend on The Word to be raised up from our hupnos ignorance and the darkness of sins.  I prefer the symbolic meaning of egertheis apo tou hupnou  exsurgens a somno as being-wholly-raised-up by  the Word of God out from the deep darkness and great terror rather than that morning, after the dream, Joseph awoke from his sleep.
   
  Matthew in using the  APISSA grammar rule Aorist Participles Indicated a Simultaneous Subsequent Action, purposefully described Joseph’s 3 actions introduced by KAI-KAI-KAI though in 3 different sets of time but while being in the one continuous state of being enlightened  egertheis. Using egertheis in the passive voice, Matthew artistically created a true drama of human total weakness waiting for the Raising Power of  The Word of The Lord. Geneva and The King James versions  followed the Greek text so they were closer to Kata Matthew’s original text in translating egertheis- being raised up into English. The Latin did not have the present passive voice participle to enable John Paul and Jerome to follow APISSA. The Latin TAPROTAM rule strictly demanded Tense & Act of Participle Relative Onto Tense &Act of the Main verb.Jerome and John Paul had no choice but to modify the Greek egertheis being raised  up  (past participle passive voice into  the Latin exsurgens raising up
  (present participle-active voice) Joseph immediately performed-- but it unavoidably caused me difficulty  in understanding it in English, If I simply translate exsurgens as Joseph, raising up (or woke up) from the darkness   then good English I am using but Matthew and Jerome’s meaning will be lost. Joseph did not raise up by himself. He woke up not.  I  try to read The Word Of  The Lord raised Joseph  out from his darkness . It may be the only poor choice to reconcile the conflict between  the Greek egertheis (passive voice) and the Latin  exsurgens (active voice) using English. I would also  like to  propose the adverb  immediately  with the hope that together with the three and one, and two and three, they  may bring out the continuity of  egertheis-exsurgens as Matthew and  Jerome and John Paul so anticipated. Experts’ opinion is requested 
   
  Footnote5:  RAST FOR HEOS HOU-AT THE VERY TIME-THEN :  Matthew: Jesus commanded the 3 disciples: Tell no one the vision (of the transfiguration event)  heos hou until the very day The Son of Man is raised from the dead.“ Mt 17:9  The unforgiving servant was jailed  heos hou until the true time that he pays all his debts.  Mt 18:34. See also Mt 13:33, 14:22, 17:9 and 26:36
  - Jesus recommended his disciples to continue to stay in the city of Jerusalem heos hou until the very day that they have been given with the power of the Holy Spirit (Lk 24:49)(Also Lk13:21, 15:8, 22:18) 
  -  Amen, Amen I tell you, Peter, not and not the rooster might crow  heos hou until the very true time you will then deny me three times (Jn 13:38)
   
   
   


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