[B-Greek] POIEW as appoint" Septuagintal?

Iver Larsen iver at larsen.dk
Wed May 24 03:25:45 EDT 2006



> Dear list,
>
> In a couple of places the NT uses POIEW as "appoint, install." LSJ gives
> this meaning for POIEW but only offers a NT example (Mark 3:14) and an
> LXX example (1 Kgs 12:6), no extra-biblical example. The 1 Kings
> reference is incorrect in LSJ. Genesis 41:34 would seem to be a valid
> LXX use of POIEW as "appoint." Another NT example is Heb 3:2, which was
> a verse used by the Arians. Has anyone noticed POIEW meaning "appoint"
> or "install" in non-biblical literature? I cannot find the usage as
> "appoint, install" described in BAGD under POIEW.
>
> Yours,
> Harold Holmyard

This seems more like a translation question. It is only the literal English versions that use the word "appoint" and 
this English word does not quite catch the intended meaning.

The meaning "cause to come about" is described in BAGD under I b as:
"of events or states of being that one brings about do, cause, bring about, accomplish, prepare etc"

BAGD further says that the result of the action is indicted by acc. with inf. or with hINA.

In 1 Sam 12:6 the text talks about God making Moses and Aaron what they became, namely his special servants and leaders 
of the people. This is reflected in Heb 3:2 which says that Moses was faithful to God who made him what he was.

In Mark 3:14 Jesus made 12 of his general followers to be those that "were to be with him", i.e. his inner circle of 
disciples. It is not so much an official appointment as a selection of 12 to be among his closest followers. That is why 
modern, idiomatic English translations do not use "appoint", but rather "chose" or "selected".( See TEV, NCV, CEV, NLT). 
This choice is based on context, because it is hard to find an English word that exactly fits POIEW here.

Iver Larsen




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