[B-Greek] POIEW as appoint" Septuagintal?
Harold Holmyard
hholmyard at ont.com
Wed May 24 07:45:18 EDT 2006
Dear Iver,
>>
>>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.
>>
>>
>>
>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.
>
>
HH: It is not just a translation question, but one of usage and
implication. The "idiomatic" translations may be ignoring a meaning that
POIEW has. And maybe "appoint" does 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.
>
>
HH: Thanks, that is interesting information. The passage in Heb 3:2 is
talking about Jesus, and God did not exactly make Jesus the Son because
the context is contrasting eternal, divine sonship with a Moses' status
of servanthood due to his being a mere creature. Arius was refuted as
contradicting this understanding. Moses was appointed as a servant over
the house of Israel; Jesus is a Son ruling over the house. The Gen 41:34
passage is also talking about appointment to a position.
>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.
>
>
HH: POIEW does not strictly mean "choose,"so these translations seem to
be giving subjective interpretations based on context, as you say,
rather than on the meaning and usage of POIEW. Yes, of course these men
were to be with Jesus, but the Church has also traditionally understood
their being with him as a time of training for an official position of
leadership. One of the famous books about the apostles is _The Training
of the Twelve_, by A. B. Bruce. The claim that this is not an official
appointment strikes me as questionable. Jesus later says about these men:
Matt. 19:28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all
things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you
who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel.
HH: It looks to me as though Jesus made these men into apostles, which
is what the NT teaches in Mark 3:14 itself, although the words are
textually disputed. He did so after a night of prayer to make the right
choice. It had lifelong consequences and made these men the leaders of
the church he was building. The assumption that the word POIEW does not
mean "appoint" here but rather "choose" is certainly questionable. POIEW
with people can imply making somebody something, and LSJ says it means
"appoint, install." I think George was right to say that making someone
a king is a good place to begin consideration of this usage of POIEW.
Yours,
Harold Holmyard
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