[B-Greek] Ephesians 5:18 PLHROUSQE EN PNEUMATI

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Feb 18 09:02:08 EST 2007


On Feb 18, 2007, at 8:09 AM, Ted Scheck wrote:

> I was reading Ephesians 5:18 and decided to pursue the note at the
> bottom of my bible on the complexities of Greek "be filled" and I
> opened up doors I previously did not know existed. Checked out your
> website; I'm interested in Greek. Two years ago I tried teaching some
> classic Greek words in Gym class, and the kids looked at me like I was
> nuts. Maybe I was.
>
> Question:
>
> Is the word 'possession' in the Bible anywhere? As in, 'by demons' or
> 'by the Devil'?
>
> Isn't to 'be filled' a form of positive possession, of the Holy  
> Spirit?
> Or would you describe the Holy Spirit taking possession, as a new
> couple does, moving in and taking ownership of a new house?
>
> If you have time, reply, if not, I understand.
>
> Thanks for doing this kind of work. I bet it is much under  
> appreciated.

You've certainly raised an interesting question and one that is not  
so simply answered without appealing to Greek words and Greek  
phrases; perhaps that will be sufficient encouragement to you to take  
serious steps toward acquisition of some degree of facility with  
Biblical Greek.

In the NT the more common term for "be possessed by a demon" is the  
verb DAIMONIZOMAI, but there are several phrases formed with the noun  
DAIMONION ("demonic spirit") in the singular or plural: ECEIN  
DAIMONION means the same thing as DAIMONIZESQAI ("be possessed");  
EKBALLEIN DAIMONION/A means "exorcise/cast out a demon/s."

There are various references to ecstatic states apparently understood  
as involving somethinng akin to possession. One such is 1 Cor 12:2  
OIDATE hOTI hOTE EQNH HTE PROS TA EIDWLA TA AFWNA hWS AN HGESQE  
APAGOMENOI ("You're well away that before you became believers you  
used to get carried away toward lifeless [speechless] gods"). Others  
don't understand this verse to refer to ecstatic experience but I  
think that meaning is called for by the context.

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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