[B-Greek] KOSMOS
Wounded Ego
woundedegomusic at gmail.com
Fri Sep 1 00:44:47 EDT 2006
Harold wrote:
"The definition I was given for a major use of KOSMOS in John is the world
system organized under the evil one: 1John 5:19 We know that we are children
of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one."
What prompted my original question is that this seems to be a religious
definition, which I find both compelling and objectionable. What I mean is
that the text does support the idea that this is John's usage of the word
but if we depart from standard Koine into a sort of bible-ese then we can
never be certain what words mean. Would someone in the first century
understand John's usage without prior religious indoctrination or a
"Glossary of John?"
I am thinking that the word KOSMOS, in 1st century, was like the word
"church" in modern usage. It can refer to the building or to the people.
"I went to the church but it was empty. The whole church was at a picnic."
What I am seeing is the intrinsic link. The "world" was the "world system"
as well as "the members of the world system." This is very different from
"humanity in general" which does not connect to the system.
So John and Paul use the word very much in keeping with the standard Koine
usage which is more specific than our English usage. "The whole world" is
"all of humanity" in English, while in Koine, precisely speaking, it is not,
though apart from Christian circles, one would assume that it is. That is,
John and Paul are using the term per its meaning but with precise
application to the divide of systems.
This is much more satisfying than using the word in a way unknown to the
original audience.
Thanks for the many helpful responses.
William Ross
VGB, Argentina
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