[B-Greek] ASPHALEIAN in Luke 1:4
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sat Jun 2 04:56:44 EDT 2007
On Jun 1, 2007, at 11:52 PM, David Opderbeck wrote:
> Hi. In the NIV and ASV, ASPHALEIAN in Luke 1:4 is translated
> "certainty."
> I'm wondering if the sense here isn't more along the lines of
> "confidence,
> assurance, trustworthiness." "Certainty," to my ears, sounds kind of
> Cartesian and mathematical.
It's an intersting word, and in this instance, etymology is not
altogether
unhelpful. The verb SFALLW means "trip up, cause to fall"; ASFALEIA
is "unshakability." In modern Greek the word means "insurance," and I
remember seeing, on twisting mountain roads in Greece big ads on the
roads for insurance using this word at prominent dangerous curves.
"Safety" and "security" are certainly primary meanings, but even in
classical Attic, the word was used along with SAFHS (lit. "clear,
transparent") in contexts where unmistakable truth or validity was
underscored.
BDAG lists three senses for ASFALHS: (1) pertaining to being stable,
firm; (2) fig., pertaining to expression that assures certainty about
something; (3) pertaining to being in someone's best interest, safe,
secure. So for ASFALEIA: (1) a stable and salutary circumstance,
safety, security; (2) stability of idea or statement, certainty, truth;
(3) detention that restricts movement, security.
There can be little doubt that BDAG's sense (2) is appropriate in
Luke 1:4, although in Acts 5:23 and 1 Thess 5:3 the sense must
be "safety, security."
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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