Paul's "Love" Letter - Thoughts about Philemon

#eros #agape #onesimus #philemon #newtestamentgreek #oneesis ##khreeston #love #usefulness #benefit

PAUL'S "LOVE" LETTER

THOUGHTS ABOUT PHILEMON

Valentines Day has been and gone and while people are thinking about "LURV"
 I want to direct your attention to a different kind of LOVE 

It may seem like trivia to most people but the noun Eros and the related verb #eraoo are not used in the New Testament. The most popular words for LOVE are derived from either AGAPE or PHILIA.

Paul certainly uses AGAPE and related words a lot in his Letter to Philemon.

Philemons name suggests affection - phile as stem and Paul addresses him as beloved coworker - agapeetooi sunergooi - and praises him for his love - apageen and faith - pistin. He thanks Philemon for the joy and comfort provided by Philemons agape.

Then a twist he says he could command Philemon to do something necessary but he would prefer Philemon did it for love - dia teen agapeen mallon.

What he wants him to do is forgive Onesimus and treat him not as a slave but as a beloved brother adelphon agapeeton !

There's also a pun on Onesimus being formerly useless but now useful akhreeston  eukhreeston as Onesimus name is derived from either the verb oniveemi or the noun oneesis also meaning useful.

This also suggests Paul was aware of people confusing the title Christos with the Greek word khreestos and is referring to Onesimus' conversion.

Paul clearly refers to Onesimus as a slave. Possibly Onesimus had been raised as a younger brother and companion to Philemon as a child then reduced back to being treated like a slave as an adult and taken something he felt entitled to and so was accused of being a thief wrongly or rightly? Maybe he owed the family money towards buying his freedom ?

It would appear Onesimus was told he was "useless" and ran away and somehow met Paul in Rome.

How he got from Asia Minor to Rome is unknown but he could have been pretending to be a freedman or accompanied some other group visiting Paul.

Paul asks Philemon not only to take Onesimus back but not to punish him but forgive him and again treat him as a brother which suggests he also wants Onesimus to be freed?

"receive him as you would receive me" 

"If he has wronged you or owes you" suggests Paul didn't believe Onesimus was a thief and knew both men?

Note Paul asks Philemon in the flesh and not just in the Lord to treat Onesimus as a brother so I think this was a call to free him. Had Onesimus been promised his freedom and not received it?

What a GREAT LOVE LETTER THIS

He's calling on Philemon to let go of Onesimus as a slave and accept him as a brother as an act of love! Possibly justice as well?

I think Philemon did free Onesimus and treat him as a brother again. WHY?

This is not certain. It may have been another Onesimus not this one as two dates have been suggested for their deaths but some decades later we read of of a BISHOP of EPHESUS called Onesimus.

And Onesimus becoming a church leader could explain why their letter of request survived.
People telling stories about Philemon and Onesimus and saying see here is the letter Paul sent!

ROMANCE IS NOT THE ONLY KIND OF LOVE.

Odd foundations

Because of the wet weather in Sydney I was rereading the Parables of the Houses built on Rock n Sand and comparing Luke n Matthews Versions.

Lukes version 6: 46 - 49  is shorter than Matthews 

Luke uses the word themelion  for house foundations 

Words like themelion show why its useful to learn some classical first before koine new testament greek or have a good word guide

Now if you were reading the greek first what would you think themelion means?

The lion ending implies its an object.

Theme suggests its from titheemi place 

Its the placing or placement of a house in a location.

Yould think Greek would use a word derived from histeemi but no from titheemi ! 

Then I went to Matthew 7:24-28 and was atonished to realise on reading the Greek that Matthew used a pluperfect verb form 

Tethemeliooto ! 

Now I wish I knew Aramaic so I see how the text differs 

However that though interesting and telling us something about levels of greek usage can be a distraction from the important message in both passages 

Build on solid foundations of rock not sand so you can endure catastrophes physical or spiritual and perhaps also understand local conditions 

If Jesus had been talking to nomads or traders who crossed the desert he might have used tent pegging as an image ? 

Like the prophets n the psalmists while being inventive n poetic he also draws on things he and his disciples knew to illustrate his parables.

Build wisely and be practical.

Listen and act.

Reread the Parable of the Houses whether its in English or Greeka n d the Gospel of Matthew or Luke.

Though I find it odd and  intriguing a nbd yes delightful that a foundation is also a placed thing in Greek.

A Short tale of Mouse and Rats

#yearoftherat #rat #rodents #mouse # termiology #classicalgreek #latin

A Short Tale of Mouse and Rats

Many ancient languages use the same or related words for various species of rodents and insectivores.

However #ClassicalGreek while not distinguishing between rats and mice did have a variety of terms for small mammals.

(N.B. Rat comes from Germanic #rattaz)

 In Both Latin and Greek mouse and mice are MUS which may possibly come from the verb muoo and meant perhaps something like the hidden one? But the humble mouse is however also Sminthos.

Here's some language trivia nezumi the Japanese for rodents may have also originally had that meaning too!

Voles were seen as a kind of mice being called field mice in Latin but arouraios in Greek a term also applied to hamsters and rats.

Squirrels which are written with characters meaning treerat in East Asia were skiouros.

Shrews were mogaira. Moles Khooma.

If you're a teacher in a multiethnic ask out students how many names they know for rats and mice and other small creatures?

HEE some Greek words starting with this sound

#word list #classicalgreek #hee #eta

HEE

ἡ ἣ ἥ ἧ Ἡ Ἣ Ἥ Ἧ

Some Greek words starting with H and a long E ἡ

In personal Names

Ἥβη Youth the goddess of Hebe the maiden cupbearer of the gods.

Ἥρα Hera the Queen of the Gods

Ἡρακλέης Ἡρακλῆς Heracles in Latin Hercules

Ἡσίοδος Hesiod the Poet

Ἥλιος The Titan God of the Sun

ἡ Feminine form of the definite article THE female

ἡγέομαι a verb I go before lead guide command

ἡδύς ἡδεῖα ἡδύ pleasure pleasant sweet

ἥκω I have come or reached I am here

ἡμεῖς pronoun We

ἡμέρα day

ἡμι – Prefix Half Hemi in English. Adjective ἥμισυς

ἥρωΐνη Heroine

ἡσυχία stillness quiet calm rest ἡ ἡ

The Sounds of Greek

#greek #classicalgreek #pronounciation #sounds #moderngreek

I like to start the year with something to do with the Greek ABC
so some thoughts and information on

THE SOUNDS OF GREEK

How Greek Was and Is Pronounced

I have tried to explain these sounds in a way that will make sense to people who havn't studied linguistics. If you do want a more formal explanation check out the excellent Wikipedia sites on Greek Phonology and language.

A α Alpha The vowel in Archon or cAlm or cUp or Italian Amare.

Note that in Modern Greek the Diphthongs αυ ευ are pronounced av and ev or af and ef depending on the following consonant. So Αυγά is avga in Demotic and αυτός is aftos.

B β Beta The B in Biology or Bed.

However in Modern Greek this is V as in Voice! V in OVER would be written as οβερ.

Classical Greek wrote W and V sounds as OU so Latin names like Valerius were written with ου. The B sound in Modern Greek is written as μπ but note that this is pronounced as “mb” in the middle of a word.

Γ γ Gamma The G in Graph or Gang or Got.

 It's a HARD G in Classical Greek!

Modern Greek has a j / y or a sound like the G in German sagen or jager

or the g in Spanish fuego or English Yield or Gem or suGar.

The G sound in English Get is written as γκ. A double gamma is used to represent the “ng” sound in Angle and Angel in Classical Greek hence New Testament and Classical aggelos which became Angelus in Latin and Angel in English.

Gamma before κ χ and γ is nk or ng.

Δ δ Delta D in Democracy or Deed or Dot

Modern Greek Delta has become “dh” the soft sound in English THis or breadTH or faTHer. D as a sound is now written as ντ which also represents “nd” in the middle of a Greek word. Dachshunds are Dogs becomes something like νταχσουντ αρ ντογξ!

Ε ε Epsilon E in Epigram or the vowel in pEt or French é

Ζ ζ Zeta was a zd or sometimes dz sound as in Zeus like English aDZe, glaZeD or wiSDom. Modern Greek Zeta is Z as in English laZy! Τζ in Modern Greek is a ts dz type sound.

Η η Eta a LONG e sound like the e in hAIry or French tête

Modern Greek I though or “ee” as in fEEt

Θ θ Theta in Classical greek is an aspirated T as in the beginning of Tin or Tare or the sound in the middle of hot-house however it later became TH as in THIN. The lack of the fricative sound in Irish Gaelic is why some speakers of Irish English even those with no knowledge of Gaelic change th in some English words to a t sound. This is declining due to the influence of modern media but if you've ever wondered about the Irish accent jokes in old movies and books well that's the origin of them.

* IMPORTANT  

Θ θ th Φ φ ph Χ χ kh are all aspirated letters in Classical Greek.

Ι ι Iota I in machIne or bIn.

These letters are ALL pronounced IOTA in Modern Greek.

However NOTE that in Modern Greek η υ ει οι υι all = ι as in English bEAd IPA [i]

Κ κ Kappa K in Kinetic or Back or sKin

Λ λ Lambda L in Labyrinth or Look

Μ μ M in Metaphor or seeM.

Ν ν Nu in Naxos or Net

Ξ ξ Xi usually a ks sound as in Sphinx sphinks or boX boks

The letters Ξ ξ and Ψ ψ are used in both Classical and Modern Greek to represent double consonants also known as digraphs. This was a sensible innovation as Greek verbs add s to their stems in the Future and Aorist.

Ο ο Omicron O in Optic or pOt

but in Modern Greek the sound in bOUght or tAUt  and note our u sound would have been written as ου!

Π π Pi in Perimeter or sPin

Ρ ρ Rho Rhinoceros or Run or thRee was more like the Scots Rolled R.

Σ ς σ Sigma Stasis or Sign and sTick

A medial double sigma as in thalassa is 2 S sounds NOT Z.

In Modern Greek s before a Voiced Consonant becomes Z.

Τ τ Tau Tactics or Time or sTand

Υ υ Upsilon IPA [y] 

The French U in Tu or the German ü or the Y in the form of Welsh that pronounces it as U. This sound tends to change to i and is pronounced as I in Modern Greek just as some Modern Welsh speakers use i for the sound spelt “Y” instead of the “u” and also explains Greek sun in sunthesis becoming sinthesis in English.

Φ φ Phi Aspirated P 

at the beginning of words like Phobos in Classical Greek and in English words Pin or Pool or moP-Handle. Modern Greek however pronounces it as F as in Fat. Latin speakers lacked this sound and wrote Greek loan words starting with this sound with an F. Hence Phantasia becoming Fantasia.

Χ χ Chi An Aspirated K as in English Cat or Cool.

In Modern Greek it's a Fricative like the sound in the Gaelic (NOT the English) pronunciation of Loch or the ch in German words like Machen

This sound is also often transliterated as “h” as in Hue as it becomes ç before i and e but English speakers tend to hear it as a H so Classical Greek Metokhee is pronounced metohi in modern Greek.

Ψ ψ Psi Ps Pi plus Sigma as in EcliPSe or English caPS

Ω ω Omega the BIG O Ode Ocean like English sAW

About H

There is NO H in Classical Greek. Aspirated letters have their own symbols.

Theta for Th Phi for Phi Chi for Kh.

These are NOT Fricatives in Classical Greek! However there is what scholars call a rough breathing. Its not exactly the same as English H but is written as a h.

̒ ἁ ἑ ἡ ἱ ὁ ὑ ὡ are ha he hee hi ho hu hoo

In classical Greek Ὀρος is oros but ὁρος is horos. Ῥήτωρ is rheetoor.

Although the historical rough breathing is used in written forms in many Modern Greek texts the “h” is NOT spoken and you will often see the breathing symbol omitted.

The dictionary form Holos ὅλος all becomes όλος olos.

Teachers and Students let me know if a different line spacing or layout would leave more room for your notes?

You may come across older or similar versions of this post . 

I try to update it regularly for beginners.

More posts of Greek language and grammar can be found on this blog

 - check the archives or on my Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/metousia

KTISIS

#Ktisis #creation #hellenisticart #mosaic #greekart

KTISIS as a word and idea is an excellent example of semantic change.

It seems to have originally been used to refer to the foundation and building of colonies but then to refer both the larger settled built up urban world and to to the idea of the world as a created thing both by Stoics and Christians. 

The artists who used Ktisis as a theme seem to have made a point of being extra careful with the lettering and always portrayed Ktisis as an aristocrat or queen. 

In this final image Ktisis is shown contemplating a measuring instrument and the artists has been less careful with the lettering but the breaking up of the word emphasizes accidentally or intentionally the tilt of her head and her facial expression.

12th night greetings and NY plans and blessings

Happy Epiphany 

12TH Night

Theophany 

or what seasonal event 

you are celebrating !

First a request can you please send feedback or suggestions for topics of this blog or the Classics section of my  Metousia Patreon

Things I do have almost ready 

Some short essays presenting some basic principles useful for both philosophy and research

Lysias on the duties of democracy 

50 easy pieces some very common Classical Greek prefixes suffixs and stems.

More on Greek verbs or maybe 3rd declension Nouns?

Remember if you choose to follow my patreon you can get pdfs versions of various diagrams I post here and I may be adding more ebooks in pdf format.

Also please let me know if you would want to see ebooks published via Lulu or some platform that is greek abc friendly with minimal editing?

By the power and grace and love of the One Divine Source 

May you have a blessed year 2020 !