[B-Greek] EPISUNAGWGHN in Hebrews 10:25
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Thu Nov 29 05:51:17 EST 2007
On Nov 29, 2007, at 12:30 AM, Ted & Robin Shoemaker wrote:
> Greetings.
>
> Although I found this verse and this word in the B-Greek archives, I
> did not find this question.
>
> Hebrews 10:25 reads, in part:
> MH EGKATALEIPONTES THN EPISUNAGWGHN hEAUTWN
>
> I'm trying to get a good sense of EPISUNAGWGHN. The Abbott-Smith
> lexicon (1973) says, in part:
> EPISUNAGWGH
> "a gathering together, an assembly",
> and indirectly implies that the word is a compound of EPI + SUN + AGW.
>
> The lexicon does not explicitly say so, but the word EPISUNAGWGH, by
> all appearances, seems to be related to SUNAGWGH.
>
> My question is about the force of EPISUNAGWGH. Would it be accurate
> to understand this as a generic word for "group" or "gathering" (as
> suggested by the use of EPISUNAGW in LXX Micah 4:11 and elsewhere)?
> Or is it more likely to refer specifically to formal and religious
> gatherings such as the SUNAGWGH (i.e. is EPISUNAGWGH a rough synonym
> for EKKLHSIA)? The evidence appears to be scattered in both
> directions.
>
> In other words: is Hebrews 10:25 saying "get together with others,"
> or "go to a church meeting"? (I've heard many sermons claiming one
> of those interpretations, but the other seems to be slightly better
> attested.)
BDAG s.v. EPISUNAGWGH: "scarcely to be differentiated fr.
συναγωγή (SUNAGWGH)" and offers:
1. a gathering together to or toward at some location, meeting (Heb
10:25)
2. the action of ἐπισυνάγεσθαι EPISUNAGESQAI,
assembling ἐπί τινα EPI TINA with someone 2 Th 2:1.
Louw and Nida differentiate BDAG's #1 as 'passive' in 2 Th 2:1
(§15.126), #2 as 'active' in Heb 10:25 (§15.128).
>
> Ted Shoemaker
> Procrastinate -- tomorrow.
I procrastinated yesterday, but now it's tomorrow.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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