[B-Greek] Words for "to be amazed"
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Jan 25 09:36:53 EST 2007
On Jan 25, 2007, at 9:27 AM, Alan Terlep wrote:
> Thanks for providing the contexts.
>
> I noticed that EXISTAMAI is used in Acts 8 to describe the crowd's
> reaction to Simon's magic--and Simon's reaction to Philip's miraculous
> deeds. I thought it might be a deliberate choice, and so I was
> wondering if EXISTAMAI had any significance in other contexts.
Well, you might take note that EKSTASIS, the Greek source whence is
derived the English word "ecstasy," is used ambiguously to denote (a)
consternation, and (b) mystical rapture. BDAG offers two fundamental
senses:
"1. a state of consternation or profound emotional experience to the
point of being beside oneself (‘distraction, confusion, perplexity,
astonishment’ in var. aspects ...
"2. a state of being in which consciousness is wholly or partially
suspended, freq. associated with divine action, trance, ecstasy"
EXISTAMAI has the same ambiguity; most basically it means "be out of
one's mind" -- or at least "out of one's ordinary mind-set." That can
be scary -- or it can be exhilarating.
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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