[B-Greek] Questions concerning pistis/pistos

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Wed Feb 14 01:51:28 EST 2007


In practically any language you may wish to consider many, if not most, words have more than one meaning.  This does not mean that I recommend taking every possibility and bracketing them [ 1 / 2 / 3 ] then allowing the reader to select from your verbal smorgasbord whatever happens to strike his fancy.  Generally the context makes fairly clear what the general meaning of a word must be.  In the case of PISTIS is it possible that in the passages quoted below the meaning is "loyal"?  Assuming they have been faithfully [ Ahem ! ] transcribed, I would say that is most definitely true.  I happen to think that we too frequently make PISTIS into a purely intellectual concern meaning "think to be true."  We could use a little more emphasis on loyalty.  We need not go to secular literature to encounter this meaning for PISTIS either.  In the LXX translation, just to pick one example, we read in 1 Sam 26.23 where Saul has been pursuing David and David had the opportunity to kill Saul
 but refrained and explains his action

KAI KURIOS EPISTREYEI hEKASTWi TAS DIKAIOSUNAS AUTOU KAI THN PISTIN AUTOU, hWS PAREDWKEN SE KURIOS SHMERON EIS XEIRAS MOU KAI OUK HQELHSA EPENEGKEIN XEIRA MOU EPI XRISTON KURIOU.

It was loyalty to the concept that Saul was the annointed of YHWH which kept David from killing him.  The antithesis of PISTIS is APISTIA which can also be translated as trechery.
 
george
gfsomsel
_________



----- Original Message ----
From: Carl Unger <carlunger at gmail.com>
To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 1:12:47 AM
Subject: [B-Greek] Questions concerning pistis/pistos


I found this interesting post from a member, I know it was posted back in
about 03' but I am very interested if his article holds any water, any help
would be great, thank you.

-----------------------------------------------------
From: "Chuck Tripp" <ctripp at
ptialaska.net<http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-greek>
>
Subject: Question on range of meaning of PISTIS/PISTOS as used in GNT
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 21:14:46 -0800

I have encountered uses of PISTOS, PISTIS in Arrian's Anabasis, an account
of Alexander the Great written in the first half of the 2nd century A.D.
(LOEB Classical Library)

I have quoted the following text at some length for context.  What interests
me here is PISTOUS EINAI DAREIWi which is translated 'loyal to Darius'in the
accompanying English translation.  What is happening is that Alexander the
Great is pursuing Darius king of Persia and Alexander learns that a certain
Bessus arrests Darius and has himself made leader.  However certain people,
Artabazus, his sons and some greek mercenaries loyal to Darius refuse to
take part in the plot because they are 'PISTOUS TWi DARIiW' which is
translated 'loyal to Darius' in the accompanying English test.

Anabasis, Arrian III.21.4 KAI TOUS MEN POLEMIOUS OU KATELABE (ALEXANDROS),
DARIOU DE PERI EPUQETO AUTON MEN SUNEILHMMENON AGESQAI EF' hARMAMAXHS,
BESSW,
DE ANTI DAREIOU EINAI TO KRATOS KAI hHGENONA WNOMASQAI BHSSON PROS TE TWN
BAKTRIWN hIPPEWN KAI TWN ALLWN hOSOI BARBAROI SUNEFEUGON DAREIWi, PLHN
ARTABAZOU KAI TWN ARTABAZOU PAIDWN KAI TWN hELLHNWN TWN MISQOFORWN.  TOUTOUS
DE PISTOUS EINAI DAREIW i, KAI EIRGEIN MEN TA GIGNOMENA OU DUNATOUS EINAI

Use of PISTIS again comes up a little later in relation to this same event:
Anabasis III.23.7:  AUTOFRADATHi MEN DH THN SATRAPEIAN APEDWKEN, ARTABAZON
DE KAI TOUS PAIDAS AMA hOI EN TIMHi HGE, TA TE ALLA EN TOIS PRWTOIS PERSWN
ONTAS KAI THS ES DAREION PISTEWS hENEKA.

What's happening is that Alexander is honoring Artabazus and his sons
because of
their PISTIS ES DAREION, which is translated in the accompanying English
text as because of their loyalty to Darius.

I find this intriguing, because these same phrases in the N.T. I expect
would be translated as "Faith in Darius."  Darius is the superior as
God/Christ is the superior in the New Testament.

Now, when I look through the lexicons available to me (Liddell and  Scott,
and Thayer's), of course there is a fairly broad range of words to
translate,
PISTIS and PISTOS.  For PISTIS: trust, faith, persuasion, confidence,
assurance.  PISTOS: in passive sense: faithful, trustworthy, genuine, in
active sense: believing, loyal, obedient.  (these are all Liddell and Scott
definitions).

My question is this:  Does PISTIS/PISTOS encompass all these definitions?
Is it possible that someone translating PISTIS/PISTOS into English is forced
to select one of these elements (faith, trustworthiness, loyalty, obedience)
which in the opinion of the translator is most prominent and perhaps which
flows best in the English but in so fails to bring out the other elements
present in the Greek.  Should I mentally be adding all of these when I see
those types of statements in the New Testament?

Or in the New Testament, should PISTIS EIS CRISTON (Acts 24.24) be seen as
equivalent to PISTEUEIN EIS AUTON [CHRISTON] John 3:16 hOS PISTOS ESTIN KAI
DIKAIOS 1 John 1:9.  I.e. PISTIS EIS CHRISTON = placing our trust in
someone who is trust worthy.  I don't think PISTEUEIN EIS CRISTON can be
read as "be loyal to Christ."

But should the near identical phrasing, PISTIS ES DAREION, and PISTIS EIS
CHRISTON, cause me to read a certain element of "loyalty to Christ" in the
New Testament phrase?  Would a first century reader have understood it in
this way?

I would be interested in others thoughts on this.

Chuck Tripp
Kodiak, Alaska
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