Covenants and Communion

#wordstudy #biblestudy diatheekee #covenant #koinegreek

What do you think of when you see the word covenant?

Mark 14:24 
and he said to them 
"this is the blood of me of the DIATHEEKEE which is being poured out for many"

 Mark 14:22-26 and parallel passages in Luke and Matthew about the Last Supper are part of the foundation and support for various teachings and practices for Holy Communion or Mass or whatever your church calls it?

Let use consider the word diatheekee usually translated as covenant.

It also means will or testament or a placing of property based on an arrangement between individuals.

The verbal root is diatitheemi.

Consider alternative translations
this is mine blood of inheritance
this is the blood mine for inheritance
this is the blood of me the property which is being poured out for the many

Summing all of that up as a covenant makes senses but it is also a promise to the disciples present of an inheritance to be shared by many?
And  perhaps given the preset Perfect Passive form a prophecy of a VERY NEAR future event
A phrase more exactly meaning a very soon to be event involving bloodshed is about to occur reads equally awkwardly in Greek or English.

I do wish there was some way to place more emphasis on DIATHEEKEE in English?

I hope I've shown you again why knowing even a little greek or using a commentary that refers to the greek text is important and useful?

Romans 12 mostly

#bible study #wordstudy #antitassomai #philoxenia #soophronein #greeknewtestament
ROMANS 12 and one comment on 13

While people are focusing on #romans13 I'ld to point out some #christian #virtues Paul mentions in the previous chapter

Verse3

alla phronein eis to soophronein but think with/in safethinking

THINK SENSIBLY USE REASON

Verse 13 teen philoxenian diwkontes for friendguest + hospitality to strangers be pursuing

Strive for Hospitality towards Strangers

Verse 16 tois tapeinois suvapagomenoi with the lowly/ humble lower classes associate or even socialize with and politicians that means being with not just for a few minutes on a platform at some rahrah rally ?

and oh a word about #Romans13

that verbal participle translated as resist or oppose in the RSV in English is a form of #antitassomai

Paul isn't talking about demonstrations or protests he's probably (well in my view)  talking about people who were calling for the VIOLENT THROUGH ARMED REBELLION rejection of the Roman Empire.

Read up on the revolt that led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Disapora ?

He's not saying you can't criticize or demand changes in government policy !

Please go and reread Romans 12 and 13 in English or Greek and "soophronein"

Hera a Late Classical depiction

#hera #greekceramics

Most of our surviving images of Hera are Roman era statues of regal matrons but I rather this quieter more elegant Greek work. Why because she looks like she's contemplating action.

Dunasthe

#Markchapter14verse7 #dunasthe  #wordstudy #koinegreek

Mark Chapter 14 Verse 7 is definiteky one of those verses where a knowledge of Greek helps.

Pantote gar tous ptookhous ekhete meth' heautoon 

kai hotan theleete dunasthe autois eu poieesai, 

eme de ou pantote ekhete

I want to draw your attention to the words hotan theleete dunasthe !

whenever you will / wish want to note the SUBJUNCTIVE PRESENT

then the Middle of dunamai ... most translations use can or may but this is a  bit weak 

dunamai I am able I have the power to do something 

whenever you are willing to 

you have the power or possiblity to do good 

some of us have the desire and not the power or vice versa

ideally we would have both ?

A Hellenistic Greek Tomb Painting

#hellenisticGreek #tomb #painting

I wanted to show you these before but had trouble finding open source images due to some tagging and metadata that could have been more detailed ...

Here is an example of what those pigments I've been describing looked like !
This is from the #AgiosAthanasios tomb probably that of a Macedonian general as armour was found and looted from it. Fortunately the looters didn't get to the walls.

Its not all "garish colors" While there  are strong vivid blues and reds these contrast with tonal areas leading one's eyes across the work though the case may simply be some of the colors have faded ? 

Enjoy and scroll back to read the rest of the series !

Homer Koine Greek and the Verb Greegoreoo

This post is as much a #wordstudy as #biblestudy discussing how a verb used by #Homer was transformed in #KoineGreek usage.

Mark 13 32-37 features the verb Greegoreoo three times first as a Present Subjunctive and then twice as a Present Imperative with a meaning of WATCH BE ALERT AWARE AWAKE

I was looking at related forms to study its meaning and discovered its related to egeiroo and here's the odd thing. The #Koine form that split off from Egeiroo derives from Homeric Perfect usages.

Somehow over the centuries the Perfect / Pluperfect used as Present  Egreegora  e+gree+gor+a got regularized and standardized to follow the -O pattern for the present.

Some users maybe hearing Homeric forms like Egreegoraww seem to have thought Egreegora was perhaps an Aorist and dropped the E.

That these forms appear in Koine perhaps also shows that people was listening to Homeric recitations or reading Homer without an adequate commentary or a teacher to guide them?

It is also an example of the disappearance of perfect forms discussed in Browning's Medieval and Modern Greek.

So why did Mark choose to use this word ? And where did he hear or learn it used in the Koine form rather than using Egeiroo?

Frankly I can't do more than speculate but I suspect he choose it for impact ?

Garish Colors - Orpiment Yellow

The major source for bright yellow in ancient Greek and Roman painting was #Orpiment another sulphate mineral ore pigment

This is how experts think it looked painted onto statues.

and here is a fresco example from Pompeii 

with your whole mind

#greeknewtestament #biblestudy
Mark 12:29-30

"and you will love the the lord god  of you from whole of the heart
and from whole of the soul of you

and from the whole of the mind of you 

yes the greek is ex holees and genitive 

Points of interest in the parallel Two Commandments verse

see Luke 10:27 and Matthew 22:37

ONE Matthew and Luke use Dative plus EN  with in equalling with cos of dative of agent
however the basic idea is the same you use the whole of your self to love
heart soul mind strength
and note its holos not pas used here

TWO with your mind is NOT in the verse from Leviticus 19:18 being quoted
Jesus adds you must use your capacity for dianoia - thought

Also note Jesus approval of the scribe's answer in 33
and with all the understanding in the RSV translation
the greek there is suneseoos from sunesis

We're being asked to understand and think about our relationship with the Divine.

To love but love with our entire mind but not simply focused and thinking and understanding or trying to WHY WE LOVE