[B-Greek] Matthew 5:9 EIRHNOPOIOI
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sat Oct 21 06:48:19 EDT 2006
On Oct 20, 2006, at 4:32 PM, Dave Smith (REL110, 211,212) wrote:
> Ladies and Gentlemen,
>
> MAKARIOI hOI EIRHNOPOIOI, hOTI AUTOI hUIOI QEOU KLHQHSONTAI
>
> I would appreciate your collective wisdom on the adjective
> EIRHNOPOIOI in the Matthew's Beatitudes, seeing the word is hapax
> logomenon in the NT and rare in other literature.
>
> Is it accurate to say that when this term is in contrast to war in
> Greek literature, that EIRHNH is forced? Is it also accurate to say
> that this idea of forced peace is not in the NT, but there it is
> rather the resolution of personal or spiritual conflict, as the
> verbal form in Colossians 1:20 may imply? Is there a definite
> relationship to SHALOM and its semantic range?
I rather think that too large a question (viz. "when this term is in
contrast to war in Greek literature, that EIRHNH is forced," "this
idea of forced peace is not in the NT.") is being asked here to be
dealt with properly within the parameters of this list. It's the
Greek text that is in focus here rather than extended concepts such
as what we call "pacifism."
I suppose this is comparable to a claim that in Mt 5:6 (MAKARIOI hOI
PEINWNTES KAI DIYWNTES THN DIKAIOSUNHN) that it is only spiritual
hunger that is in question (as opposed to the Lucan (6:21) MAKARIOI
hOI PEINWNTES NUN, where the hunger is palpably physical (as it would
also seem to be in Mt 25's parable of the sheep and goats: (25:35
EPEINASA GAR KAI EDWKATE MOI FAGEIN, EDIYHSA KAI EPOTISATE ME.)
I had always thought that an emphasis on "peace" belonged to the
distinctive Matthaean perspective upon Jesus as a PRAUS (5:5, 11:29,
21:5), and in the arrest narrative 26:55 TOTE LEGEI AUTWi hO IHSOUS:
APOSTREYON THN MACAIRAN SOU EIS TON TOPON AUTHS; PANTES GAR hOI
LABONTES MACAIRAN EN MACAIRHi APOLOUNTAI.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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