I was just studying the “Samaritan travel log” in the Gospel of Luke. Luke tells the story of Zacchaeus, the wee little man. Many of you may remember the story by that song. Luke’s use of the Greek vocabulary is more ambitious than the other evangelists and draws a lot from the Septuagint, which was a commonly read Old Testament translation in Jesus’ time. So as Luke is telling the story the crowd “murmurs” and complains about Jesus eating with the sinner, Zacchaeus. The Greek word for “murmuring” that Luke uses is found only in this story and one other place in Luke to describe the murmuring of a crowd of Pharisees. This exact same word is found in the Old Testament to describe the murmuring mixed multitude that rose up against Moses. Is Luke telling his Jewish readers what kind of crowd this was? By using the exact word Luke is likening this crowd to the mix multitude of Moses’ day. I think it was a 3D lesson for the Jewish readers of that day. But the meaning may pass us by if we just see the English.
Douglas Barker September 1st, 2009 at 8:21 am
I was looking again at John 3:16 and the blog that Jeremiah wrote. Another simple word from that deep text caught my eye. “Houtos” in the greek, translated often as “so”, as in “God so loved the world”. The “so” connects to verse 14 and 15. God in this way – The Greek says “For God in this way loved the world. In what way? In a way that expressed His desire for us to live forever. He wanted us to have eternal life. He loved us in that way. Sometimes I forget that eternal life was very important to God. Jesus reminded his disciples of this, “rejoice that your names are written in the Lamb’s book of life”.
Douglas Barker September 6th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Prayer is an important part of our life. It is worth noting that the disciples didn’t ask Jesus for a lesson in systematic theology or a survey of church history. What they did ask for was to be taught how to prayer. In the prayer which the Lord taught them it is commonly known that he used the Greek form of the verb that is called the imperative. This form denotes action/command and it is important in prayer. What is often overlooked is the use of the vocative. This is an older form of the noun that is used when addressing someone specifically. This is not for general use. This is a very personal form of the noun. “Father” Christ was speaking directly to his father. Christ was inclusive enough to use the pronoun “our”. But he was talking directly to His Father. The vocative with the imperative shows us the language and the grammar of personal relationship. It is out of this very personal relationship denoted by the vocative that the imperative finds its use. It might be irreverent to demand from God, but if God is your Father, then from this relationship the deep demand can be made.
Douglas Barker September 10th, 2009 at 8:38 am
The Greeks have a style for emphasizing a point. The structure of this literary style is called chiastic style. It has been used through the years by Homer, the unknown author of Beowulf, and Milton’s Paradise lost. We also find this used with regular frequency in the New Testament. Chiastic structure is best described as A-B-C-B-A. The word itself Chiastic comes from the Greek letter Chi which is our English X. If you envision the top left part of the x as “A” and the bottom right as the other “A” with the B’s on the top right and bottom left then you would have “C” in the middle, thus reading the X from left to right top to bottom it would be A-B-C-B-A. So what? Well Luke uses this form in his shorten recording of the Lord’s Prayer. He uses this form to emphasize the Lord’s teaching. There are 5 petitions in Luke’s Lord’s prayer. (A)Father, hallowed be your name, (B) Your kingdom come (C and the focused petition) Give us each day our daily bread (B) And forgive us our sins as… (A) And lead us not into temptation. By using this form to emphasize “give us each day our daily bread” Luke is saying that the Lord is teaching his disciples that above all that they daily must receive from the Father without which none of the other petitions could be accomplished. We need our daily connection or waiting on the Lord to accomplish the things we want done, even God’s will. John always wanted to write a book on emphasis. It may already have been done hiding in plain sight.
Douglas Barker September 11th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
The English language has a word, kerygma. It means to preach. This comes straight from the Greek word kerussein. But it does not mean to preach in the Greek, it means to proclaim. In Isaiah 61:1f of the Septuagint, this word is found twice. In Luke 4 Christ reads this passage in the synagogue heralding forth his ministry. As the late Professor W.P. Friedrich commented on this passage by saying, “He proclaims, like a herald, the year of the Lord, the Messianic age. When heralds proclaimed the year of jubilee throughout the land with the sound of the trumpet, the year began, the prison doors were opened, and debts were remitted. The preaching (kerygma) of Jesus is such a blast of the trumpet.” We are fast approaching the day when we will blow the trumpets and herald in a new day, let it be with kerussein.
I was just studying the “Samaritan travel log” in the Gospel of Luke. Luke tells the story of Zacchaeus, the wee little man. Many of you may remember the story by that song. Luke’s use of the Greek vocabulary is more ambitious than the other evangelists and draws a lot from the Septuagint, which was a commonly read Old Testament translation in Jesus’ time. So as Luke is telling the story the crowd “murmurs” and complains about Jesus eating with the sinner, Zacchaeus. The Greek word for “murmuring” that Luke uses is found only in this story and one other place in Luke to describe the murmuring of a crowd of Pharisees. This exact same word is found in the Old Testament to describe the murmuring mixed multitude that rose up against Moses. Is Luke telling his Jewish readers what kind of crowd this was? By using the exact word Luke is likening this crowd to the mix multitude of Moses’ day. I think it was a 3D lesson for the Jewish readers of that day. But the meaning may pass us by if we just see the English.
September 1st, 2009 at 8:21 am
I was looking again at John 3:16 and the blog that Jeremiah wrote. Another simple word from that deep text caught my eye. “Houtos” in the greek, translated often as “so”, as in “God so loved the world”. The “so” connects to verse 14 and 15. God in this way – The Greek says “For God in this way loved the world. In what way? In a way that expressed His desire for us to live forever. He wanted us to have eternal life. He loved us in that way. Sometimes I forget that eternal life was very important to God. Jesus reminded his disciples of this, “rejoice that your names are written in the Lamb’s book of life”.
September 6th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Prayer is an important part of our life. It is worth noting that the disciples didn’t ask Jesus for a lesson in systematic theology or a survey of church history. What they did ask for was to be taught how to prayer. In the prayer which the Lord taught them it is commonly known that he used the Greek form of the verb that is called the imperative. This form denotes action/command and it is important in prayer. What is often overlooked is the use of the vocative. This is an older form of the noun that is used when addressing someone specifically. This is not for general use. This is a very personal form of the noun. “Father” Christ was speaking directly to his father. Christ was inclusive enough to use the pronoun “our”. But he was talking directly to His Father. The vocative with the imperative shows us the language and the grammar of personal relationship. It is out of this very personal relationship denoted by the vocative that the imperative finds its use. It might be irreverent to demand from God, but if God is your Father, then from this relationship the deep demand can be made.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:38 am
The Greeks have a style for emphasizing a point. The structure of this literary style is called chiastic style. It has been used through the years by Homer, the unknown author of Beowulf, and Milton’s Paradise lost. We also find this used with regular frequency in the New Testament. Chiastic structure is best described as A-B-C-B-A. The word itself Chiastic comes from the Greek letter Chi which is our English X. If you envision the top left part of the x as “A” and the bottom right as the other “A” with the B’s on the top right and bottom left then you would have “C” in the middle, thus reading the X from left to right top to bottom it would be A-B-C-B-A. So what? Well Luke uses this form in his shorten recording of the Lord’s Prayer. He uses this form to emphasize the Lord’s teaching. There are 5 petitions in Luke’s Lord’s prayer. (A)Father, hallowed be your name, (B) Your kingdom come (C and the focused petition) Give us each day our daily bread (B) And forgive us our sins as… (A) And lead us not into temptation. By using this form to emphasize “give us each day our daily bread” Luke is saying that the Lord is teaching his disciples that above all that they daily must receive from the Father without which none of the other petitions could be accomplished. We need our daily connection or waiting on the Lord to accomplish the things we want done, even God’s will. John always wanted to write a book on emphasis. It may already have been done hiding in plain sight.
September 11th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
The English language has a word, kerygma. It means to preach. This comes straight from the Greek word kerussein. But it does not mean to preach in the Greek, it means to proclaim. In Isaiah 61:1f of the Septuagint, this word is found twice. In Luke 4 Christ reads this passage in the synagogue heralding forth his ministry. As the late Professor W.P. Friedrich commented on this passage by saying, “He proclaims, like a herald, the year of the Lord, the Messianic age. When heralds proclaimed the year of jubilee throughout the land with the sound of the trumpet, the year began, the prison doors were opened, and debts were remitted. The preaching (kerygma) of Jesus is such a blast of the trumpet.” We are fast approaching the day when we will blow the trumpets and herald in a new day, let it be with kerussein.