Sunday 28 September 2014

More on Matthew 6: 25 - 34 Body and Soul

#biblestudy #gospel #beatitudes

This is  a beautiful passage of powerful prose in in any language!

I'm going to do a loose paraphrase and break up the sentences to show you the parallelism in the greek text and shorten the lines so it works better for those of you using a phone app to read this?

First a note on psyche lie in verse 24  is psykhe not zoee probably to strengthen the parallelism yet contrast between spiritual and physical needs.

Causal marker dia
this I say to you
not be worried for the life of you
(about implied by dative)
what you eat and what you drink
nor for = in regard to the body what you put on / wear.

Not the life / soul more is
( than used in English cos its a comparision)
of the food and the body (more than) of the wearing?
(the clothes you wear)

Look at the birds of heaven
that they not sow  nor harvest nor gather into storage
and the father of you in heaven feeds them!

Not you much  different  are from them?

which and of you while worrying is able to add upon his stature / adult size and shape cubit one?

and about clothes why are you worrying?

observe / learn from the lilies of the field how they increase / grow

no they  toil nor they spin

I say then to you that
not Solomon in all the glory of him was clothed like one of them

if then the grass of the field today being
and tomorrow into an oven is thrown
the god so arranges
not many much more for you (do) little faith ones ?

not therefore be concerned saying
what shall we eat ?
or What shall we drink?
or What will we wear?

All for these things the nations / pagans seek after

knows for the father of you the heavenly
that you use / need od these thing all.

Seek then first the realm of god and the righteousness of him
and these things all shall be added / placed use provided ? to you

Not therefore worry into = about ? the next day
for the next day will be anxious about itself

(ironic personification?)

Sufficient / enough to the day the evil of it.

I help that breakdown shows you something about the syntax of the Greek?

Notice how you change to use different prepositions in English because a preposition can change meaning in Greek depending on what case the adjective and noun are!

Now go back and enjoy reading the whole passage in Greek or English!





Wednesday 24 September 2014

The Labors of Heracles ONE The Nemean Lion

The Legend of #Heracles

Apollodorus Hesiod Pindar and many others mention him.

Like Arthur perhaps a real historical person underlies the myths and legends and worship that have centered around this character over the centuries.

There are dozens of stories associated with Heracles but I'm going to focus on the 12 labors and look also at geographical and historical aspects. What they possibly tell us about Mycenaean society at its peak?

Heracles was a descendant of Perseus allegedly a son of Zeus and had a twin brother.

There were several legends about royal twins with claims of one being divine and the other human. Possibly this means one twin the older of a fraternal pair was placed under the special protection of a god. Curiously there is little  mention of female twins?


Most of the stories agree Heracles killed or captured monsters and wild animals who were dangerous to humans and that he fathered a great many children in and outside of his marriages however one aspect overlooked is that he was also a civil works engineer building wells drainage canals fountains for natural springs roads and city walls. He seems to have been seen as a defender of commoners despite his being prone to fits of rage since most of the victims of those psychotic moments were other aristocrats . Possibly he was bipolar which may explain why the Greeks thought his madness was inflicted on him by the gods given the cyclical nature of that illness?



THE NEMEAN LION

His first official Labor was that of the killing of the nemean Lion a maneater attacking people in the area around Nemea.

I wonder if the last of the Greek lions were possibly cave lions or a different sub species from those of Africa. They are never recorded as living in packs.

Ancient Nemea is near Ayios Yeorgios between Mycenae and Corinth on a plateau and was also the site of the Nemean games and a temple to Zeus.

That temple and the site of the games overlies a Helladic settlement and the cave said to be that of the Lion was the site of discovery of  Neolithic artifacts.

Now this lion it is claimed had an inpenetratable skin that no blade could cut.

At first Heracles is said to have tried to use a sword or spear down its throat then he clubbed it and throttled it choking it to death and using the lions own razor sharp claws to skin the beast and then wearing its head and hide to protect himself.


Despite Greek artists using this as an excuse to depict heracles semi naked I seriouslt doubt whatever species of beast of monster the Nemean lion was that heracles fought him stark naked. 

I note here that Maasai warriors and white hunters try for a frontal chest thrust or shot. Heracles seems to have tried every known method and given his wrestling training and exceptional strength perhaps he really did strangle a lion?

This was the first of 12 labors. 

Next time the Hind with the Golden Horns !

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Sunday 21 September 2014

mee merinate no anxiety

#biblestudy #beatitudes  #gospelofmatthew 

Matthew 6 : 25 - 34 is a long paragraph about faith and anxiety.

I'm going to intro it by talking about the main verb in the passage.

MERIMNAOO 

appears several times in present and participle and aorist subjunctive and future forms 

Now the reason I am giving special attention to just one word is because it can be translated several ways as be anxious fret worry be concerned care about.

Look at what it is a compound of !

meri - part portion divide of and the *mn stem that appears in many other words nouns and verbs that describe memory mind and consciousness.

So if you merimnate you have a divided mind your focus is scattered often in a negative way? 

Its not just severe neurotic anxiety of the type that might need some therapy and drugs combined or simple fretting but the whole range the manner of concern and focus? 

Something to consider as you read that passage. 

Most of the rest of the passage has no words that need special notes but I willl comment on a couple of aspects next sunday. 

Do read the whole passage! 

A medical note: if any readers have severe anxiety problems it is not a sin to get professional help! 

Saturday 13 September 2014

Serving God and Mammon

Serving #God and #Mammon
#Gospel #biblestudy #Beatitudes

Matthew 6: 24 - 25

word for word translation

no-one is able 2 masters to serve

notes dative follows dunamai hence duo becomes dusi

either for the one s/he will hate
and the other will love

note the use of the future other is hetero -
miseoo hate source of miso-

or one s/he will hold fast to and the other despise

anthekhsetai is the future middle of antekhomai
this verb changed meaning in NT koine Greek

it is still anti so literally against hold but against the same way we may say in English I am going to hold a tissue up against to my face or lips

katephroneesei look down on think of with disdain despise

not you can be able to / for god serve and  mamon

a note on ma(m)on this is a loan word from Aramaic.

It means money wealth property

regardless of what some commentaries state there is no evidence for Mammon being a Semitic God or a demon. The personification here is rhetorical.

We have to chose which to serve and love God or Money.

Try not to mistake one for the other!

Sunday 7 September 2014

METOUSIA IS 200

IT'S METOUSIA 200!

So lets look at the relevant Greek numbers!

200 in Greek is δια – κόσι – οι / αι / α

and 200TH is διακοσιοστός

100 however is ἑκατόν

Numbers between 200 and 1000 will have κόσι in the middle.