Passive secrets

#greeknewtestament #biblestudy #futurepassive #classicalgreek #luke #gospel

LUKE 12:2

A lot of people are fascinated by this verse because they think it hints at Gnostic mysteries or encourages mysticism or is about prophecies and various other explanations.

Another aspect of interest are the verb forms

ouden de sugkekalmmenon estin ho ouk apokaluphtheesetai kai krupton ho ou gnoostheesetai

nothing (there) is and which has been hidden perfect passive participle of sugkaluptoo

note the the removal of too and the change and doubling of the p to m
note that pi + mu becomes double mu

then ho with an accent so who or which not FUTURE PASSIVE will be revealed
teh pi changes again to a phi befor ethe theta that marks passive
and  secret which will be known ginooskoo has a sigma before the passive marker as the actual stem is gnoo

Note which in Greek not that

Note the future passive

Lets reverse that without changing the meaning more than slightly

If Jesus had spoken modern English he might have said everything that is hidden or covered up or secret will become revealed or known.

I think Luke was not just bilingual or multilingual and not only retains the parallelism we see in Hebrew texts but enhances this with prose rhythm being a speaker of Koine Greek who probably also read some classical Greek literature.

So this verse tells us something about secrets and about posibly about Luke as a person and writer.

Consider next what verse 3 says that things said in the dark will be heard in the light and private whisperings proclaimed in public.

No more secrets.

and 3 very good examples of the passive and sound changes caused by adding theta to a stem

The Lord's Prayer in Luke - some notes

#lord'sprayer #gospelofluke #Luke #prayer #greeknewtestament #biblestudy

LUKE 11 1 - 4

A few posts back I shared a comparison of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew with the shorter version in Luke's Gospel.

Here are some further study notes on Luke's version.

and he said to them

Hotan proseukheesthe legete  When(ever) you pray say  Verb is Sunjunctive

Pater hagiastheetoo to onoma sou Father let be made holy the name of you

elthetoo hee basileia sou let come the realm of you

Note the 2 Aorist Imperatives

ton arton heemoon ton epiousion didou heemin to kath heemeran

the bread for us the for tomorrow give to/ for  us kata heemeran day by day daily

Do not fret about epiousion being a rare word just break it up into parts look up the parts in a lexicon and look at how they work in the rest of the sentence

let us have a constant supply of essential basic needs does sound better in greek !

kai aphes heemin tas hamartias heemoon  and release us the errors of us

another Aorist Imperative Aphes

kai gar autoi aphiomen panti opheilonti heemin

and for ourselves in regard to selves we release for all debts obligations owed to us

kai mee eisenegkees heema eis peirasmon

and not in carry / lead us into testing / negative experiences

So once again do not worry about minor variations or differences between the passages.

The essential message of both is so similar that the differences do not change the meaning.

The TWO Lords Prayers

#greeknewtestament #lordsprayer

Luke has a shorter version of the Lord's prayer from Matthew

Here's a chart which will hopefully make comparing the two versions easier ?

The Lord's Prayer in Koine Greek

Matthew 6 9-13 compared to Luke 11 2 – 4

Matthew 6 part of the Beatitudes	Luke 11
9 Οὕτως οὖν προσεύχεσθε ὑμεῖς	2 ὅταν προσεύχεσθε λέγετε
Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς Ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου	Πάτερ Ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου
10 ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς	ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου
11 τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον	3 τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δίδου ἡμῖν τὸ καθ̓ ἡμέραν
12 καὶ ἄφες καὶ ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν	4 καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ ἀφίομεν παντὶ ὀφειλοντι ἡμῖν
13 καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῂς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ	καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῂς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν

Questions

Which verb forms are Imperatives?

Note the several forms of ἀφίμι

Consider why this is translated forgive but also means release or let go

Why do you think Luke's version is shorter and uses different or less words?

Why are there both dative and genitive forms?

Think about how the Greek differs from the Latin or KJV or RSV or whatever translation you know?

I will try to convert this post into a pdf and place it on my metousia patreon soon.

Check out what I have already posted to the #patreon 

https://www.patreon.com/metousia

Older material that has previously be posted here will also appear on the patreon but edited and improved and as pdfs that would be easier to share and store for your personal use? 

Go and do likewise

Many of us are familar with the Good Samaritan story but have you ever read the ending in Greek?

Jesus ends his story by asking the lawyer which of the three men the Samaritan the Priest or the Levite proved themself to be a neighbour to the victim of a robbery

After the lawyer answers HE who acted with mercy or literally he who did mercy Jesus final words and command to him is to do likewise poreuou and poiei are both Imperatives and the final word is an adverb homoioos - note its homoi - do the same do something similar .

     Luke 10:37

Which is the neighbour ?

He who acted with mercy

ὁ ποιήσας τὸ ἔλεος

You go and do likewise

πορεύου καὶ σὺ

ποίει ὁμοίως

Being a good neighbour includes doing the right thing for strangers too.

For example not be rude to people on Twitter ...if you're in the same thread you're neighbours

Not turning over the bulk waste piles on collection day and making a huge mess

... sometimes its stopping your neighbour from being a bully ... yes you you big fat cockatoo (local wild parrot relative) leave that rainbow lorikeet alone and stop bullying it !

Be neighbourly ! and if you don't have one of those bibles that suggests parallel or similar texts or show when the OT is being quoted

 Deut 6.5 Lev 19.18 Romans 13.9 Gal 5.14 James 2.8


Next time probably back to those Greek Verb lists or a special announcement!

he who is lesser

#biblestudy #greeknewtestament #luke

LUKE 9:48

ὁ γὰρ μικρότερος

ἐν πᾶσιν ὑμῖν ὑπάρχων

οὖτός ἐστιν μέγας

For he who lesser amongst all you being this one is great 

Note Greek uses comparative - teros where English uses superlative 

for he the (is) the lesser 

en is in the group of you the disciples he is addressing 

hyparkhoon is translated being but has multiple means inlcuding beginning doing kindness taken for granted ... the lesser or least among you are great - megas !

Willing Service

#therapoon #therapeuoo #service #greeknewtestment #biblestudy

WILLING SERVICE

There's a word used in Luke Chapter Nine that tells us something about Service and Ministry

Luke Ch.9 Verse 1

Jesus sends out the disciples givng them power and authority over "daimonia" and illnesses
THERAPEUEIN to heal

However to heal is only one meaning for this verb it also means to tend and serve

Verse 6 they went into the villages not just the big cities and shared the good news and
therapeuontes healing / serving everywhere

Now therapeuoo is not to serve like a slave but to serve a higher power usually a god or a member of a ruling family as an attendant or companion and Patroclus' relationship to Achilles is described as being such. He was a therapoon and this word is also used to describe people who worked at pagan temples and shrines that offered healing services which is how it came to be used to describe healing along with forms derived from iatroo

Verse 11 speaks of Jesus therapeias iato offering service to those who had need of healing

But you don't need to be a miracle healing. You can be a nurse doctor or paramedic a first aider or first responder a pharmacist or therapist.

Remember Therapeia Therapeuoo and therapoon all are WILLING SERVICE not slavery whether the service is given as an act of friendship or loyalty or a belief you are serving a higher power to do things that help people.

DIGOU

#DIEEGOU #dieegou

DIEEGOU TELL A STORY

The story I have for you today is one about grammar and another about Luke 8:39

Noe Jesus often told people not to make a fuss about his healing powers however in the case of the Gerasene Demonaic he tells the man to

"Return to your home and tell the story (of) how mach for you made ? did the god!

hyposrephe eis ton oikon sou return to the house of you
kai dieegou and tell / narrate the story hosa how much soi for you not to you FOR you
epoieesen made gets translated often as did but remember its making miracles as an action of making things happen and last in the command the source of all this ho theos !

What caught my eye was the command to tell a story and the Present Imperative Verb form DIEEGOU from DIEEGEOMAI a great example of the eo+ imperative e contracting to a different form.

Going back into the whole passage I think one of the reasons Jesus told him to stay at home and witness there was to reassure the frightened locals by the example of the once deranged man who was running around naked in the desert being once again sane - soophrovounta verse 35 .
Another important thing about this story is not if he was possessed by demons or just  schizophrenia - he was healed. Oh and people please don't use this story as an excuse to skip your medications if you need them?

Two Tales of Faith and Love

#greeknewtestament #biblestudy #faith

Luke Chapter 7 opens and closes with two contrasting characters who moved Jesus because of their faith in his power but also because of their love for another.

First we have the tale of the Centurion who had a beloved young slave referred to as a pais and doulos

The local synagouge at Capernaum approached Jesus for help for this outsider who was possibly an adult convert because he loved their ethnos - nation / people and had built the synagouge

Jesus however agrees to to help the slave because of the humility and faith of the Centurion.

"not in Israel such faith I have found"

At the end of the chapter we see Jesus dining in the house of a Pharisee called Simon.

Somehow a woman described as a sinner ( the actual sin is not specified) made her way into the house and begun anointing Jesus feet
After some interchange with Simon Jesus says

" set free the sins of her which (are) many that / because she loved much

and the chapter ends with

The faith of you it has saved you Go in peace

So the power of faith and love leading to the power of forgiveness.

Wisdom Justified by her children

#wisdom #sophia #biblestudy #greeknewtestament

Something for you to contemplate during the week !

A verse like this may be why Christian mystics and others identify the Holy Spirit with Sophia

LUKE 7:35

kai edikaioothee hee sophia apo pantoon toon teknoon autees

And justified (passive of dikaioo) is THE (feminine) SOPHIA by all the children of her

WISDOM IS JUSTIFIED BY ALL HER CHILDREN

and after reading this perhaps go and reread the Wisdom passages in Proverbs?

Be(come) Merciful

#mercy #greeknewtestament #biblestudy #ginesthe #

So just after the terrible events of the slaughter in the Tree of Live Synagouge in Philadelphi I'm flicking through pages trying to find a verse of usefulness and healing and I end up returning to the page in Luke I had tagged and rereading the passage I found myself drawn again and again to Luke 6:36

In the RSV translation BE Merciful

Going back up a few verses the passage talks about loving sinners loving your enemy and doing good EVEN when you can't expect a response.
Jesus speaks of doing this because the most high is kind to the ungrateful and evil though poneros could also be translated as wretched.

No I am not calling on people to forgive the shooter.
He's probably a psycho triggered by other people's violence
I'm not calling on you to forgive the owners and other users of the various social media platforms and sites  that allowed him to vent his hate and DID NOTHING TO STOP IT OR TELL HIM HE WAS WRONG.

But let us consider what he did was a lack of mercy or compassion !

The Greek verb translated as Be is actually a form of ginomai in this verse an aorist middle imperative GIVESTHE
Not just be but become happen make it happen

The shooter opted for violence not mercy and showed no pity that we know of ... perhaps he hestitated at the last minute and opted to show some mercy to younger members of the congregation but perhaps and probably not ...

He did not love his enemies do good or show mercy

BE MERCIFUL
We are all sinners but please strive to do good anyway !

Cursing and Blessing

CURSING AND BLESSING
FOUR VERBS in LUKE 6:27-28

#biblestudy #greeknewtestament

But to you I say to those hearing

LOVE THE ENEMIES OF YOU
DO GOOD TO THOSE HATING YOU
BLESS THE ONES WHO CURSE YOU
PRAY FOR THOSE AROUND
MAKING CURSES (about  towards) YOU

Agapapate  LOVE Your enemies agapoo !

Kaloos Poieite  do good act "finely / beautifully to the hating

Eulogeite BLESS speak well eologeoo those who Kataroomenous kataraomai  curse

Proseukhesthe pray for proseukhomai people around you making curses epeereazooo

NOTE THE IMPERATIVE FORMS

Kataraomai Kata+ ara+omai
to pray "down" to curse to ask or invoke  the divine to perform negative actions that harm others 

Eukhomai is strengthened by pros and peri
pray or wish for vow to

Epeereazontoon Epeereazoo related to epeereia

epi plus the er stem
to put words upon in a negative way threaten or abuse insult be spiteful despise verbally

This doesnt mean we can not speak out against evil use satire or have to allow evil "free speech" or spread propaganda

We are commanded to strive to counter balance or overwhelm evil with good.

Do good not just be nice Not to curse but to bless Love instead of hate

Prayer and Action

Clean or Pure ? A Short Note on Katharos

#katharos #gospelofluke #greeknewtestament

KATHAROS 
and its various related nouns and verbs means both purify and cleanse in GREEK

This creates a dilemma for translators

Which to use?

I'm currently (re)reading Luke Chapter 5 and have gotten to verse 13 in which Jesus says to the Leper

"I will Be Clean" in the RSV

The Greek is two Simple Verbs THELOO KATHARISTTHEETI

Theloo is the shortened post classical  form of ethelooo

I want this event to happen

Then An Aorist  Passive Imperative

It will happen to you the cleansing from disease

Remember this was a era without antibiotics and whether this man had Hansens or some other form of skin disease or cancer the only treatments available were bathing bandages and various ointments based on herbs or minerals and whether the cause was a fungus virus or bacteria the patient was often isolated. His condition was so serious he was described as "fully leprous" and how he got through the crowds to Jesus is not stated. Perhaps the crowds parted fearing infection as the man approached Jesus.

Not a word here about sin just a simple act of healing.

This is probably why the RSV uses CLEAN.

Fulfilling prophecy

What did Jesus say about fulfilling prophecies and the Scriptures

#biblestudy #greeknewtestament

LUKE 4:21 

In keeping with my prior post I want to point out that again Luke uses the perfect form of a verb and he's talking about prophecies!


4:21 and he begun to to speak to them

Today pepleerootai = it has been but note perfect form the writing / hee graphee  hautee the written this ... being a quote form Isaiah 61.1-2 into your ears en tois oosin humoon

Today fulfilled this writing in your hearing

Today you heard this writing has been fulfilled

Note that Jesus doesnt talk about scriptural inerrancy or the holiness of the Old Testament and note what he quoted from Isaiah

The Spirit holy is upon me

TO TAKE ACTION

he will preach gospel announce that prisoners and the oppressed will be ransomed and released and the blind recover sight

Prophecy is fulfilled by action!

Faith and works !

Partiality and Faces

There's a word only used in the #NewTestament in #Greek that gets translated as favoritism respect bias or partiality. #prosoopolee(m)psia.

It appears in Romans 2:11, (RSV) "For God shows no partiality."
It is also used in Acts 10:34, Galatians 2:6, Ephesians 6:9, and Colossians 3:25.

It appears to have been created to translate Hebrew verbs expressing the same idea such as those used in Deut 10:17. and other verses. Google partiality in the Bible and you'll see a wide variety of terms in the Old Testament but words used in the Greek Testament are a smaller group?

Now the Greek is face/ appearance prosoopon plus le(m)psia which derives from lambano.
Literally its face taking so it appears  that for Paul and Peters congregations bias and favoritism was having your respect for a person or giving a person respect or privilege based on their OUTwards appearance or social persona, rank, ethnicity, or religious.

God does not make binary or other distinctions between Hebrews and Sojourners, Jews and Greeks, slave and free, rich and poor, a convert like Cornelius the centurion or Jew by birth like Paul.

Divine and human justice is not based on privilege or who you are but what you have done.

TEXTUAL VARIANT IN MARK 10:19

Well I have found a verse in which there actually is a significant textual variant.
#biblestudy #greeknewtestament #koinegreek #textualcriticism

Usually I tell people NOT to worry too much about Textual Variants.

This one is minor ONE ADDED Verbal Phrase but Significant for Doctrinal Reasons

Okay Mark 10:19 and in Mark ONLY to the list of commandments is added one phrase

Do NOT defraud mee apostereeseeis Aorist Subjunctive.

Apostereoo means to NOT rob bereave or defraud someone of something that is rightfully theirs.

It is not in the ten commandments but seems to derive from the Greek translation of Deuteronomy 24 : 14 -15  in which employers are told not to oppress workers local or foreign by denying or failing to give their wages.

So why would Mark or some later scribe insert this when its not in the other gospels?

Consider the context the right young man trying to prove how righteous he is and how he deserves salvation.

It may possibly have been added by a later scribe than mark but the message is valid and biblical!

Don't stress on the small differences like this though! Its one phrase!

SALTY CONTEXT OF PEACE

#bible study #greeknewtestament #mark #gospel #salt

There's a couple of verses in Marks' Gospel often described as enigmatic and yet as reading the same way in English Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic due to the grammar and words choices.

Yes I'm typing about Chapter 9  Verses 49 - 50

All for with fire will be salted. (lovely example of future passive and dative of agent)

Fine/good (is) SALT if (conditional form ean) the salt saltless / unsalt becomes (note geneetai subjunctive in/ with  what / which you will season it ?  or is it season with it?
have in yourselves salt and be at peace in / amongst each other.

Thing is this whole dscussion started with the disciples arguing about who was the greatest amongst them and moved through several topics and then ...I think there should be a pause between verse 48 and 49.
Jesus had just cited a belief that Hell was a place in which fire never was extinguished

I think this gave him an idea.

Some burnt offerings were slated before being placed in flames and there is a also a cooking technique of using salt crusts to seal in seasonings and flavours.

Maybe he was being ironic . 
Maybe as he spoke to his followers some one nearby was preparing a dish for an oven.

You will be salted for the fire ? Or everything is salted for the fire.

Salt used for cooking can not be reused but salt is an essential thing.

Was someone nearby arguing about how much salt should be used?

The disciples had been arguing and look how verse 50 ends.

Be at peace amongst yourselves and each other.

Keep your salt. Don't waste it?

Maybe those two verses aren't so enigmatic but more ironic?

Maybe the most important message is not about salt but about PEACE

eireeneute en alleelois 

BE PEACEFUL

and revise the uses of the dative case !

ENEMIES AND ALLIES

#gospelofmark #whatjesussaid #biblestudy #greeknewtestament

Theres a verse in Mark that illustrates SEMANTIC differences between Greek and English

Mark 9:40

He who for not is down of us over of us is

hos gar ouk estin kath' heeemoon huper heemoon estin.

Generally translated For he who is not against us is for us in English.

So why can kata mean against as well as down and hyper mean for as well as over.

Consider how hilly Greece and Galilee were.
You can move downwards downhill against something a downhill charge from higher ground for example or the idea of a hostile action placing the thing or person moved against in a lower position and likewise protection and shelter being an action over and above of a shield over a fellow fighter or providing a roof as shelter.

The enemy of my enemy can become an ally or even better a friend working for a common good.

Oh and I think the use of the masculine form doesnt exclude women.

While Jesus is giving a piece of general advice about possible allies he was also using referring to a man who was probably a Jewish male exorcist.

The parallel verse in Luke uses you rather than us but again I ask look at and study the similarities and meaning and don't get obsessed with minor textual variances.

Servants and Masters and Leaders

#biblestudy #greeknewtestament
There are several verses on this theme in the Gospels
In Matthew 20:25 -28 Jesus talks about how the great must be servants and the first amongst you a slave and something similar is in Mark 10: 42 -45

I'm going to focus on that verse because the Greek text syntax shows us something about the differences between Greek and English

42 Know that those who are thinking
 (about themselves note dokeoo is not impersonal here)
 to rule the nations "lord" over them
and the great have authority /  power of/from  them
 (read of and genitive as over in this context)

43 not so will it be in you ( your group the future church)
( read en plus dative as amongst or as within a group)
but whosoever (hos plus an plus subjunctive form of theloo)
would want in you great to become in you will be for you a minister
 (paid or public servant / official )

44 and whosoever in you to be first will be of all slave

45 and for the son of man not came to be served but to serve and to give the soul/ life of him ransom anti pollwn against many against can be translated as for when its a contrasting and counterbalancing action the ransom paid as an opposite to a debt or loss

The great and the powerful must serve the many

Dokeoo can mean think suppose imagine

He does not want his followers to be the sort of leaders empires produce !

Leadership is service not privilege !

Puppies Under the Table

#biblestudy #newtestamentgreek
Mark 7: 24-30 is parallel to Matthew 15: 21-28

There is some significant differences between the two passages but most of those can be attributed perhaps to the authors wishing to emphasis certain details in a different way.

Marks Version calls the mother a Greek woman who was also Syrophoenician but basically that probably just means she was a Greek speaker from the area we call Lebanon today. Matthew says Canaanite but what both mean is that she was not Jewish.

Both writers agree Jesus had travelled over the border into the area around Tyre and Sidon.
Somehow despite him being on a retreat or some kind of rest this woman found out he was in the area and where he was stying and approached him begging for help for her daughter.

Both agree he says

"Let first the children be fed for it is not a good thing to take the bread from the children and to the puppies / house dogs throw it.

Note both passages use kunarion for dog that implies some kind of house dog or pet since the dogs are described by the woman in her reply as being under the table.

Now in Matthew the woman is praised for her faith but Mark says Jesus also said he was helping her to giving him an intelligent sensible answer

This was a woman perhaps known to have kept pet dogs, perhaps a widow, perhaps even a woman who took in stray puppies and made them pets? 
In Matthew we get the impression the disciples and had told her to stop making a noise and go away.
Had one of them called her a female dog because she was not jewish?
Had an act of bullying drawn Jesus' attention?

And note the implied contrast between the Children (of Israel) and the puppies.

The Children were fed first and threw part of the bread they had been given to the dogs.
but the dogs also deserve to be fed and I think if that woman's house the crumbs and scraps were whole chunks of bread maybe soaked in meat juices?

Faith and action and reason making together to make a healing.

There's also a nice variety of verb and noun forms in various moods and declensions and cases and tenses you can use if you're a teacher !

PRIDE

#greeknewtestament #bibelstudy #wordstudy #hypereephania

The Word used in the Greek New Testament and other secular prose and poetry that we translate as Pride or Arrogance has a very different etymology and origin than the word we use in English which is borrowed from French.


In #mark7:22 HYPEREEPHANIA is listed as a human sin

Note that the long e is inserted as the greeks had an almost involuntary hardwired dislike of  certain combinations of medial double consonants except in passive verb forms. You see r + ph in short words but the greeks with their passion for rhetoric were very careful about having balanced euphony to the thought of obsession.

It literally translates as over+appearance with the idea something is TOO obvious conspicious or bright and while sometimes used as a compliment was often used to describe people who thought too highly of themselves.

IN English we sometimes use Pride with a meaning of self respect but the Greek word does not have this connotation in texts I've seen. This is the form of Pride that's an egomania or obsession with status or thinking of one as being better or more important than others when you're not.