[B-Greek] John 2:4 - TI EMOI KAI SOI
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Fri Mar 20 00:46:46 EDT 2009
----- Original Message -----
From: "George F Somsel" <gfsomsel at yahoo.com>
To: "Emil Salim" <neokantian at gmail.com>; <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: 19. marts 2009 23:26
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] John 2:4 - TI EMOI KAI SOI
> Nigel Turner has a section on this very passage in _Grammatical Insights into the New Testament_
> titled "Madam, Leave This to Me (John 2:4). I'm not sure that I'm in complete agreement with him
> on this though I probably am not in great disagreement. It seems to me that something like "What's
> the point?" might be appropriate.
>
> george
> gfsomsel
Yes, Nigel Turner has a nice discussion of this idiom which is common in the OT and LXX, but
occasionally found in other Greek writings, too.
It was discussed on April 1, 2005 on this list. Let me just quote a bit from one of the posts then
(David McKay):
"Goodspeed says that every time this phrase is used, whether in the LXX or
NT, it is expressing protest, warning or hostility. He says that he used "Do
not try to direct me" for this passage, partly because of what followed in
the story in John 2."
So, while the general sense of the idiom is "leave me alone" or "leave me in peace", in the case of
John 2, the "leave me in peace" amounts to "don't tell me how to go about my ministry, mother". It
is not that her suggestion is bad, but Jesus needs to get his directions directly from God and the
Spirit, not his mother. He is at the beginning of his ministry at this point and must release
himself from his mother. Later, his mother and brothers want him to give up his ministry, because it
is too hard and he has no time for his own needs, and Jesus has again to distance himself from his
mother's well-meaning wishes. It is more important to follow God' guidance than your mother's.
Iver Larsen
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list