[B-Greek] OYE in Matthew 28:1
Randall Buth
randallbuth at gmail.com
Sat Mar 4 13:22:01 EST 2006
deHaan egrapsen
> Matthew 28:1 OYE DE SABBATWN THi EPIFWSKOUSHi EIS MIAN SABBATWN, HLQEN
> MARIAM MAGDALHNH KAI hH ALLE MARIA QEWRHSAI TON TAFON.
>
> I am wondering if the word OYE means "after" or if the meaning is really
> "late".
> There is no confusion when Mary and Mary (BTW why is one spelled MIRIAM and
> the other MIRIA?) went to the grave. THi EPIFWSKOUSHi EIS MIAN SABBATWN
> makes that clear enough.
> But it does make a difference if we are trying to determine if the Jews
> considered the Sabbath to end at day-break or maybe in the evening.
> Compare; Late on the Sabbath, towards the dawn of the first day of the week,
> with; After the Sabbath towards the dawn of the first day of the week.
>
> Thank you
> Bert de Haan.
I am glad that there is no confusion when Mary and Mary went to the
grave. I would agree that Matthew has made Saturday sundown clear
enough. (Though your email wording "Jews considered the Sabbath to end
at daybreak" makes me think you are referring to Sunday morning.)
PLease note how the very rare word EPIFWSKOUSIH is used in Luke 23:54
for clearly referring to Friday sundown.
Shabbat started a few minutes before sundown on Friday and ended a few
minutes after sundown on Saturday evening, with the beginning of the
first day of the week on Saturday evening.
You may wonder why the gospel writers would use an idiom EPIFWSKEIN
"to dawn, shine" to refer to sundown, evening, nightfall. Well, they
did. There is universal agreement in Luke's case. There was a Hebrew
idiom along these lines, first attested in the Mishnah as well as
later Aramaic and Hebrew texts. No one knows for sure exactly how the
idiom developed (the evening star?)
Technically the phrase OPSE "late on Shabbat" would have been applied
to just after sundown. The Jewish girls would have waited until the
Shabbat was over, say "6:30pm". Luke 23:54-6 would agree with this
picture.
You may want to let this picture sit a while if it is new for you.
There are quite a few interesting ramifications and more than one way
to read synoptically.
(I have a 25-page article on this forthcoming in May 2006 that I will
send you offlist.)
ERRWSO
Randall Buth
--
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicalulpan.org
ybitan at mscc.huji.ac.il
randallbuth at gmail.com
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