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2 Cor 5:10

Posted: January 21st, 2019, 2:11 pm
by Brett Williams
τοὺς γὰρ πάντας ἡμᾶς φανερωθῆναι δεῖ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ βήματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα κομίσηται ἕκαστος τὰ διὰ τοῦ σώματος πρὸς ἃ ἔπραξεν, εἴτε ἀγαθὸν εἴτε φαῦλον

I am trying to look at the word βήματος with all its nuances/meanings. Here it is used with κομίσηται. What I am trying to understand is the meaning of these two words used together. It would appear that the word βήματος is a reference to the tribunal set up in the city, a place where innocence or guilt were determined. But what I want to know, because some people argue for a meaning unfamiliar to me, is whether or not the βήματος was used for a place where an official handed out rewards to the winning party/individual? I can't recall ever reading outside the NT where βήματος was used to indicate the place where awards were meted out based on some criteria. I am quite aware that my reading outside the NT is a bit limited. Can anyone help me in my search for a meaning where βήματος was used for a place where rewards were given out?

Re: 2 Cor 5:10

Posted: January 21st, 2019, 8:02 pm
by S Walch
You'd probably be better searching for the lemma form rather than the genitive: βῆμα.

Can try Perseus Online as a start: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/mor ... ek#lexicon

Click on "LSJ", and you'll get the following: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... 3Dbh%3Dma1

As the βῆμα is any sort of "raised platform" (usually with steps), whilst I've yet to come across somewhere that gives this as a usage of the word, I wouldn't be surprised if it has that sort of meaning, somewhere.

Re: 2 Cor 5:10

Posted: January 21st, 2019, 11:28 pm
by Stephen Carlson
If you image-search for "Corinth bema" you can see (what's left of) what the Corinthians would have visualized at the bema in question.