[B-Greek] The use of arxomai in Acts 11:15

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Sun Jul 16 15:52:54 EDT 2006


Thank you for your report.  I would advise that you not get into the habit of using Thayer (or get out of the habit if you are already accustomed to using him).  Sometimes it will do no harm, but at other times he can be misleading in that he is based on old information.  It can come back to bite you when you least expect it.
   
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Marc Taylor <naigogaiju at yahoo.com> wrote:
  Hi all,

I've been studying the use of arxomai in Acts 11:15.
Does this "orderly" account (Acts 11:4) tell us that
the Holy Spirit actually fell when Peter spoke his
very first word to the Gentiles in Acts 10:34 as
opposed to the Holy Spirit falling while Peter was
still speaking these "words" (plural) in Acts 10:44?

This is what I've come up with so far.

When Luke writes that Peter rehearsed the events "by
order" (kathexes) it is not to be understood in a
strict chronological order for according to Acts 11:13
those listening to him would have believed that Peter
is just now informed of the angel appearing to
Cornelius but in actuality he knew about it earlier
than this event according to those who spoke with him
in Acts 10:22. The account is orderly and correct but
it is not strictly chronological. The precise timing
of the events are not his concern. With that in mind
Luke was simply emphasizing the falling of the Holy
Spirit over and against what Peter had spoken in Acts
10:34-43. Frederick Danker says kathexes can refer to
"time, space or logic" (A Greek-English Lexicon of the
New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, c.
200, page 490). In fact, Luke states that he is going
to give an "orderly" account in Luke 1:3 but we know
that not all of the events are written in strict
chronological order (Luke 3:19, 20).

Thayer when describing how "arxomai" is used in Acts
11:15 as well as some other passages states that it
"indicates that a thing was but just begun when it was
interrupted by something else". He goes on to list
several passages and then gives its explanation. In
the specific passage of Acts 11:15 he writes, "Acts
xi.15 (cf. 10:44)". Cf. means "to consult" or "refer
to". So in order to understand how "arxomai" is used
here is he telling us to "refer to" Acts 10:44 as to
its meaning? One of the other passages he cites in
this section is Acts 18:26. Apollos' speaking,
according to Thayer, was "interrupted" by Priscilla
and Aquila taking him aside to explain to him the way
of God more accurately. Does it really mean as in Acts
11:15 that they took him aside after they heard just
the first word out of his mouth or is arxomai more
flexible than that? 
In Robertson's Word Studies he states concerning the
use of arxomai in Acts 11:15, "in the beginning to
speak as to me".
F.F Bruce in his commentary on Acts stated that
arxomai as used in Acts 11:15 is a "Semitizing
auxiliary redundant". Is this possible? 

Take for example if my preacher approached me and was
describing to me a sermon he preached at another
church and said, "As I began to preach the Holy Spirit
convicted the congregation". It would be perfectly
plausible for me to believe that the conviction took
place "sometime" at the beginning of his sermon rather
than at the mere utterance of his very first word. His
emphasis would not be on what you spoke during his
sermon but what the Holy Spirit had done. The same
thing then with Peter describing the events with
Cornelius. It wasn't so much as to what he said that
he wanted to emphasize but what the Holy Spirit had
accomplished.

- Marc Taylor





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george
gfsomsel
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