8:7 Paul does one of those nice things in Greek we cannot do in English. We must translate his phrase regarding love something like this: The love in us for you. More literally it is "the of you in us love." The "us" and "you" are enveloped into the word love almost!
8:7 Paul just uses the word "grace" (charis) here to reference the act of kindness/financial giving. "This grace" is what he calls it!
8:8 Again Paul has some odd constructions possible in Greek. He literally writes: "The the of love sincerity to test." In other words, the object of the testing is not the love, but it is the sincerity...
8:9 Here we see how Paul again is connecting grace and money: Paul talks about the grace of Jesus Christ showing how he became impoverished (listerally, one who begs, ptoocheia)
8:10 With this sentence I may have reached my limits of understanding Greek grammar; This verse has a bunch of translations which basically boil down to where you put the punctuation in the Greek, which wasn't there in the beginning anyway. The question is, what is Paul trying to highlight: The will to give or the completion of the giving. In either case, Paul is making the point: You gave, you even wanted to give, so go ahead and finish it up. What is the advantage of those three? Unclear...
8:11 Paul is using a bunch of articular infinitives here...the last of which is "ek tou echein" which means "from the having..." The sentence literally reads: "Complete the doing in order that just as the desire of willing, so likewise the completeing from the having." I would argue that this goofy construction in Greek emphasizes the verbal nature of the having; in short, it is not "from your means" as in your are drawing a from a storage chest, but rather, it is from your having, your constant action of having.
8:12 I may really be afar here, but Paul spells it out a bit differently than the translators want to make it. Paul never says "What you have" Paul simply says, "if the desire is there, as much as one is having acceptably, and not as one does not have." I think like most parts of 2 Cor, this passage probably demands more thorough attention, but I think it is fair to say that Paul emphasizes the act of having rather then the possession they actually own. I think by doing this, he moves from the gift to the giver.
8:14 Paul here uses the word abundance as a noun (perisseuma); he uses this as a verb in the beginning of the section (vs. 7). His appeal, then, is bracketed by abundance.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
2 Cor 5:14-17
5:14 The phrase here "love of Christ" is more complex than we first realize. Not simply because the word "agape" or "Christos" are in themselves wordfields more than words, but because we have an unclear (as always) genitive. Is it objective gen, ie, the love which has as its object Christ, love for Christ; it is possessive, ie, the love which belongs to Christ, the love belonging to Christ; it is subjective, as in Christ is the subject who does the love, the loving of Christ. Part of what determines the translation of this is figuring out what the verb, "synech-oo" means. This verb means just about anything that relates to stress or dealing with stress: compel, contrain, oppress, torn, closed in, hold together. I think in the context of 2 Cor 5, a more therapeutic translation is helpful: The love from Christ holds us together, we have decided that one died for all (even the proud jerks who make our lives tough), therefore all have died.
5.15 (Note: Paul uses the same words here of living and dying and rising in Romans 6; here though it is without reference to Baptism, but rather the reality of suffering for the believers)
5.16 The translations cover up the dreaded "sarx" here; the "world" or "human" point of view here is simply: kata sarx. Although such language in an individual reading probably confuses the issue, it allows one to see that Paul is not making an isolated argument here, but trying into core concepts he develops perhaps most fully in Romans.
5.17 The word for "pass away," parerchomai, is what is used in "heaven and earth will pass away, but my word shall remain."
5.17 The word for old here is "archaios," ie, archaic.
5.17 The NRSV does funky things with the Greek here. It literally reads: "The old-s (or old things) have passed away. Behold new things have become. In short, it does not really say everything...which may not be a big deal, but Paul is intentional in other places in this section to repeated use the "pas" (he uses this word, which means "all" five times in chapter 5). Saying everything has become new sounds like God did a home improvement project on creation; saying "Behold new things" says God did a new creation.
5.15 (Note: Paul uses the same words here of living and dying and rising in Romans 6; here though it is without reference to Baptism, but rather the reality of suffering for the believers)
5.16 The translations cover up the dreaded "sarx" here; the "world" or "human" point of view here is simply: kata sarx. Although such language in an individual reading probably confuses the issue, it allows one to see that Paul is not making an isolated argument here, but trying into core concepts he develops perhaps most fully in Romans.
5.17 The word for "pass away," parerchomai, is what is used in "heaven and earth will pass away, but my word shall remain."
5.17 The word for old here is "archaios," ie, archaic.
5.17 The NRSV does funky things with the Greek here. It literally reads: "The old-s (or old things) have passed away. Behold new things have become. In short, it does not really say everything...which may not be a big deal, but Paul is intentional in other places in this section to repeated use the "pas" (he uses this word, which means "all" five times in chapter 5). Saying everything has become new sounds like God did a home improvement project on creation; saying "Behold new things" says God did a new creation.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Romans 8:12-17
8.13 Interestingly, the verb for "going to die" here is in the present (not just going to, but "die" itself) Try reading: Going to continually die. Furthermore, the second half of the verse is just as much a "since" clause as an "if" clause; since the Spirit is putting to death (also in the present tense!!), you will keep living. In short, the emphases here is not simply on God's activity, but the present and continual engagement of the Spirit against the flesh.
8.15 The emphasis here on the term "adoption" (huiothesia) is on the legal establishment of rights for the child. Hence, why Paul moves into terms like inheritance in vs. 17
8.16-17 There are four verbs here that all have the prefix "syn" (Latin: con; English: with) Co-testifiers, co-inheritors, co-sufferers, co-glorifieder)
8.17 Again, there are no true "ifs" in this section: Since we are inheritors...
8.15 The emphasis here on the term "adoption" (huiothesia) is on the legal establishment of rights for the child. Hence, why Paul moves into terms like inheritance in vs. 17
8.16-17 There are four verbs here that all have the prefix "syn" (Latin: con; English: with) Co-testifiers, co-inheritors, co-sufferers, co-glorifieder)
8.17 Again, there are no true "ifs" in this section: Since we are inheritors...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
John 16:4-16 (15.26)
15.26 The word parakletos for the HS is a tough one to crack! The noun literally means "one called along side of." Originally it meant a "legal assistant." Hence the affinity for the term advocate. Yet, the whole field of words related to parakletos pushes against a cold, judicial term. So, have fun and look over the job description John gives for the parakletos and you tell me what this sounds like!
14.16 The parakletos is a gift from God
14.17 The parakletos will be with us, even abide in us forever
14.26 The parakletos will teach you and cause you to remember the words of Jesus
15.26 The parakletos will witness about Jesus
16.8 The parakletos will prove the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment.
16.13 The parakletos will guide you on the way
16.13 The parakletos will listen to the Father and Son
16.14 The parakletos will glorify Jesus
16.14 The parakletos will make Jesus known
Interestingly, the Vulgate does not even use the term advocate to translate parakletos, instead transliterating the word "paracletus." In fact, the Latin does translate the word "parakletos" from the Greek into the Latin "advocatum" once, and this is from 1 John 2.1, where the sense is different. Indeed, here the idea is Jesus interceding for us against the judge of the Father concerning our sins; in John the idea of the parakletos has nothing to do with a legal metaphor before God the Father, but the enabler of Christian before the world of unbelievers.
16.6 John here uses the word "plehro-oo"; Jesus says sorrow has filled their hearts. This will be the same word that Luke will use to the desribe the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit filled them.
16.9 "Concerning sin, because they do not..." The because here is a "hoti" clause; it could also be translated, "concerning sin, that they do not believe in me." This applies for 16.10 and 11 too, ie, concerning righteousness that...concerning judgement that...
16.12 The word hear for "bear" is "bastaz-oo" This word Paul will use in Galatians, to bear one another's burdens.
16.13 The verb here for "guide" is "hodege-oo" which means "hodos+ag-oo"=lead on the way; the verb we say two weeks back with Philipp and the Eunuch.
14.16 The parakletos is a gift from God
14.17 The parakletos will be with us, even abide in us forever
14.26 The parakletos will teach you and cause you to remember the words of Jesus
15.26 The parakletos will witness about Jesus
16.8 The parakletos will prove the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment.
16.13 The parakletos will guide you on the way
16.13 The parakletos will listen to the Father and Son
16.14 The parakletos will glorify Jesus
16.14 The parakletos will make Jesus known
Interestingly, the Vulgate does not even use the term advocate to translate parakletos, instead transliterating the word "paracletus." In fact, the Latin does translate the word "parakletos" from the Greek into the Latin "advocatum" once, and this is from 1 John 2.1, where the sense is different. Indeed, here the idea is Jesus interceding for us against the judge of the Father concerning our sins; in John the idea of the parakletos has nothing to do with a legal metaphor before God the Father, but the enabler of Christian before the world of unbelievers.
16.6 John here uses the word "plehro-oo"; Jesus says sorrow has filled their hearts. This will be the same word that Luke will use to the desribe the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit filled them.
16.9 "Concerning sin, because they do not..." The because here is a "hoti" clause; it could also be translated, "concerning sin, that they do not believe in me." This applies for 16.10 and 11 too, ie, concerning righteousness that...concerning judgement that...
16.12 The word hear for "bear" is "bastaz-oo" This word Paul will use in Galatians, to bear one another's burdens.
16.13 The verb here for "guide" is "hodege-oo" which means "hodos+ag-oo"=lead on the way; the verb we say two weeks back with Philipp and the Eunuch.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
John 5:9-13
Two brief comments on this brief text:
5:9 The major translations differ on how the understand the "ei" clause in verse 9. "Ei" expresses conditionality (if); however, in this case, since the verb in the "ei" clause is in the indicative and not the subjunctive, one can translate the "ei" to mean "since."
The entire passage: The verbs for life are all in the present. Jesus is the life; the one who is believing/having the son is having eternal life. Eternal life and having Jesus are not future activities, but present ones.
There are some verbs in the perfect (testify; make a liar); but the verbs around faith, life and Jesus are all present, implying now and on-going action.
5:9 The major translations differ on how the understand the "ei" clause in verse 9. "Ei" expresses conditionality (if); however, in this case, since the verb in the "ei" clause is in the indicative and not the subjunctive, one can translate the "ei" to mean "since."
The entire passage: The verbs for life are all in the present. Jesus is the life; the one who is believing/having the son is having eternal life. Eternal life and having Jesus are not future activities, but present ones.
There are some verbs in the perfect (testify; make a liar); but the verbs around faith, life and Jesus are all present, implying now and on-going action.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
1 John 5:1-6
5.1 The translators here put human language on abstraction here. The second half of this verse literally says:
"The one who loves the one who begets loves the one who is begotten." The language of "born" and "Father/Parent" and "son" are not in the verse here, rather, the language of beget is used.
5.4 The NRSV blows the tense of the verb "conquer." It is in the aorist; there is no sense that victory has not been won.
"The one who loves the one who begets loves the one who is begotten." The language of "born" and "Father/Parent" and "son" are not in the verse here, rather, the language of beget is used.
5.4 The NRSV blows the tense of the verb "conquer." It is in the aorist; there is no sense that victory has not been won.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
1 John 3:16-24
3.16 The word for ought/owe is "ophell-oo" which has a sense of being bound and obligated (more than a casual "should").
3.16 The word for life here is "psyche"
3.17 The word here for "means/ability" is "bios" (as in biology); in 3.15 in fact, the word zooeh (as in Zoo) is found. This in three consecutive verses, we have ideas about life: eternal "zooeh"; a "psyche" that is laid down; and "bios" to provide for others.
3.17 The word for compassion here is splagchna, which means intestines. The idea of the word is that compassion means your gut wrenches.
3.17 The word for world, "kosmos" is often set at odds with God in the Johannine writings. Here though we see that the world can have a purpose, to help others.
3.22 There is no word "whatever" in this sentence. It simply says, "If we request this, we will receive." The "this" is less likely "whatever" and more likely the rest of the clause -- doing of his will. (The later clause begins with "hoti" which may be translated "because" or "that" so "If we request this, we will receive from him that we keep his commandments.)
3.16 The word for life here is "psyche"
3.17 The word here for "means/ability" is "bios" (as in biology); in 3.15 in fact, the word zooeh (as in Zoo) is found. This in three consecutive verses, we have ideas about life: eternal "zooeh"; a "psyche" that is laid down; and "bios" to provide for others.
3.17 The word for compassion here is splagchna, which means intestines. The idea of the word is that compassion means your gut wrenches.
3.17 The word for world, "kosmos" is often set at odds with God in the Johannine writings. Here though we see that the world can have a purpose, to help others.
3.22 There is no word "whatever" in this sentence. It simply says, "If we request this, we will receive." The "this" is less likely "whatever" and more likely the rest of the clause -- doing of his will. (The later clause begins with "hoti" which may be translated "because" or "that" so "If we request this, we will receive from him that we keep his commandments.)
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