Common and profane and Koinos

#word study #koinos  #newtestament
The words koinos and koinoo are often translated as profane or unclean or defile but the actual words originally mean common or shared.

The use of koinos and koinoo as an insult may have contributed to the change of meaning.

In Mark 7 the Pharisees and Scribes criticized the disciples of Jesus for not following a hand washing ritual before eating. The word used in Greek is KOINOS. This suggests perhaps many ordinary "common" people were eating without ritual hand washing unlike stricter followers of tradition.

Now the Pharisees regarded this as not just being unhygienic or untraditional but sinful hence Jesus rebuttal pointing out it is sin that defiles not food.

Also bear in mind the modern English usage of disdaining an action as being "terribly common" and how "vulgar" came to have a negative connotation when it originally meant popular or common and you'll see how koinos became "profane".

However sadly some late Christian ascetics carried this to the opposite extreme claiming bathing and other hygienic was sinful.

Don't follow either extreme just be sensible!

Maenads and Ecstasy

#maenads

Ever notice how so many art critics and historians talk about "graceful curves" when discussing images of Maenads in Classical Greek art and avoid discussing in depth that these are possibly the oldest known images in Western / European art of women in a state of religious ecstasy (okay possibly with a little or a lot of help from wine and mushrooms and whatever else they consumed during rituals) ? Think a bout that question and maybe go (re)read Euripides' Bacchae ?

A Lonely Place

#biblestudy #wordstudy #gospel #newtestamentgreek

A Lonely Place

Just what is an EREEMOS?

In Mark 6:31 Jeus tells the returning disciples to come to a private lonely place and take a short break.

This verse was later used to justify building hermitages and monasteries in remote areas.

However what is a Ereemos. Its not just a desert or wilderness but a desolate empty area with very few humans maybe not even hereders or hunters, an area abandoned by humans, useless for farming, not just necassarily an arid dryland but any wilderness.

Yet however useful for creating food a Ereemos can still be USEFUL as a place to rest !

So support national parks and conservation areas!

Maenads One

Our next theme and series is MAENADS

#Maenad #satyrs #southitalianceramics

Southern Italy had many Greek colonies who produced ceramics in a looser style of drawing than mainland Greek painters of ceramics.

The Maenad is carrying a thyrsus and an unlighted torch. The satyrs are more human in appearance than mainland versions. And better behaved they are not trying to grope or grab the Maenad a pleasant change from some depictions of Maenads and Satyrs interacting.

More Maenads next time.

Apostolic Poverty

In Mark 6:7-13 and parallel passages in Matthew and Luke Jesus gives orders to his tweleve amjor disciples as to how they were to dress and equip themselves for ministry.

He commands paraaggelloo them to take/ lift off  airoo nothing  with them expect a staff , ei mee rabdon monos, and maybe a few copper khalkon coins tucked in their belt. They are not to carry bread or a leather bag, peran, and not to wear 2 tunics, just one and sandals.

Matthew differs in commanding them to have no gold silver or copper, don't carry any money,.

The differences very small may be due to him having to reissue this order a few times and varying or altering it perhaps because well meaning relatives tried to load down the boys with bags of flat bread or spare sandals or fancy walking sticks that were not plain wood?

The modern equivalent of this might be going out street preaching with nothing in your pockets, literally nothing, meeden, mee, is used in greek, and not even using public transport?

However there was no public transport system in ancient Palestine / Galilee and these men were walking much shorter distances between villages and used to walking!

Bear in mind the sandals were probably quite plain and more like thongs or havianas, a toe strap, maybe an ankle strap or a strap across the top of  the foot and they probably may have had a cloak for rough weather?

Verses like this contributed to the later practices of monastic poverty!

Dionysus a Fresco fragment

This  #fresco fragment shows how the idea of a bearded adult #Dionysus persisted into the Roman era.

Scroll back for previous posts in this series !

Faith not hysteria

Mark 5 Verse 36 continues the Faith Not Fear theme spread out through Chapters 4 and 5.

Jesus has scolded the apostles for being afraid rebuked demons and reassured a frightened woman and now he tells the synagouge ruler DO NOT FEAR ONLY BELIEVE

He's again asking others not to be fearful and panick but to trust him.
The apostles were asking for a miracle when perhaps they should not have been panicking.
The frightened woman needing healing could have been bolder and the family and friends of Jairus were hysterical with grief when perhaps they should have been calling for a physician?

Note also the commonsense involved. He heals the girl but also reassures and calms the parents and gets the crowd to go out of the house and when finished reminds the parents to get the girl further treatment and feed her (was she anorexic or had blood sugar issues?)

Note how healing through faith or other miracles are linked to people avoiding fear panic and hysteria? Faith and action ?!

The Older Dionysus

#classicalgreekart #dionysus

As I stated in a prior post originally Dionysus was depicted as an older mature male with festival robes. The naked or half naked beardless youth appears to have been a Hellenistic and Roman development possibly inspired by Euripides Bacchai?

Here's another example

Note the robes are draped in a feminine style and the leopard skin cloak !

Faith and Fear

Double metousia this weekend. I had more time to prep due to a public holiday!
#greeknewtestament #biblestudy #gospelofmark

Mark Chapter Four Verse Forty

Τί δειλοί ἐστε;

Οὔπω ἔχετε πίστιν;

Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?

This could also be translated as 

What cowards are you? 

Not yet you (plural) have faith/trust??

I sometimes wonder if Jesus was also rebuking them for panicking during the storm and for not having faith in their own abilities as sailors as well as in his power to protect them?

Dionysus and Maenads

#greekceramics #classicalart #dionysus

Many people may have seen Renaiassance and Roman era art showing Dionysus as a beardless naked or semiclothed party boy however originally the Greeks depicted him as an elegant aristocrat wearing his best festival robes!

Thee's more to come in this series !