Pt1-03-PICTURES IN WORDS
PICTURES IN WORDS
I IN the Greek New Testament there are many words which conjure up pictures in the mind of the reader. Sometimes these pictures are dissolved in the process of translation, because the English word chosen as the nearest equivalent does not have the same associations as the Greek. A good instance is the word agonizomai, which is variously rendered in the Authorised Version by "strive" (Luke 13:24; 1 Corinthians 9:25; Colossians 1:29), "fight" (John 18:36; 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7), and "labour fervently" (Colossians 4:12). In the Revised Version, 1 Timothy 4:10, the word is rendered "strive". The Authorised Version has "suffer reproach", but this is a translation of oneidizomai, the change in the Revised Version being due to a revised Greek text. The picture which agonizomai calls up is of the games which were so prominent in the life of the Greeks. These games, which were associated with religious festivals, were so highly esteemed that rival Greek States would even suspend war to compete in them. They were celebrated with great enthusiasm by lyric poets, such as Pindar, who wrote many beautiful poems in honour of victors in the athletic contests. In Classical Greek, the word had other meanings and references which are of significance for New Testament study. In addition to the thought of competing in the games and in dramatic contests, the word took on a more sinister meaning. From contending in friendly rivalry it moved to fighting an opponent. It was also used of contesting a case at law, and more generally of exerting oneself in any enterprise. The word does not appear in the Greek Old Testament except in the apocryphal books and in Theodotion’s Version of Daniel 6:14. We read such phrases as "to contend for truth", "to contend for the high-priesthood", "to strive nobly" against an enemy, and "the king exerted himself to deliver him". In the inscriptions contemporary with New Testament times the word is common in connection with warfare.
New Testament references show the influence of the Classical meanings. In 1 Corinthians 9:25, the background is obviously the effort of the athlete in the games to gain the crown of laurel. Not so obvious is the reference in Luke 13:24, where the term implies the continuous striving, the straining of every nerve to enter the narrow door. Clearly John 18:36 means the fighting of opponents, and 1 Timothy 6:12 speaks of a conflict against moral and spiritual foes. In 2 Timothy 4:7 the ideas of athletics and warfare are blended. The more general idea of "striving" is found in Colossians 1:29; Colossians 4:12, and 1 Timothy 4:10, but it is a striving which implies struggle, toil, and even suffering.
It is an easy transfer from this last usage to the English word "agony", which is from the same Greek root. Though it is used more of "anguish" than of a "contest", to the reader of Greek the word is suggestive of the ancient agon, applied to the place where games were held, and also to the contest itself.
II
There is a Greek word, anastrophe, which in the Authorised Version is always translated "conversation". The Revised Version renders it variously: "life" (Hebrews 13:7; James 3:13; 2 Peter 2:7); "living" (2 Peter 3 : ii); "manner of life" (Galatians 1:13; Ephesians 4:22; 1 Timothy 4:1-2; 1 Peter 1:18; 1 Peter 3:16); "manner of living" (1 Peter 1:15); "behaviour" (1 Peter 2:1-2; 1 Peter 3:1-2). Different Greek words are used in Php 3:20 (politeuma), Hebrews 13:5 (tropos).
It should be noted that the English word "conversation", which to-day is used of "talk", once had a much wider meaning. At the time when the Authorised Version was made, the word was used of "the action of living or having one’s being among", and so "behaviour". The usage may be illustrated from Shakespeare. In the Second Part of Henry IV, Act V, Scene 5, Lancaster tells how the prince, on becoming King Henry V, determined to banish his former riotous companions:
"I like this fair proceeding of the king’s;
He hath intent his wonted followers
Shall all be very well provided for;
But all are banish’d till their conversations
Appear more wise and modest to the world."
Doubtless their "conversations" in the modern sense needed correction, but the word was used of their behaviour in general. The Latin word from which "conversation" is derived involved the idea of turning, and so did the Greek word anastrophe. This Greek word in its primary Classical use meant "a turning upside down". Then it came to be used of "a turning back", such as the wheeling round of horses and soldiers, or the turning of a ship in its course. A further development gave the sense "a turning about in a place", or "dwelling in a place". In late Greek we find parallels to the New Testament usage, "a mode of life".
Thus the picture brought to the mind by the English word " conversation" and the Greek word anastrophe is that of a person turning about among his fellows in the everyday affairs of life.
III
Another Greek word which conjures up a picture to the mind is entugkhano. This word is used five times in the New Testament--Acts 25:24; Romans 8:27; Romans 8:34; Romans 11:2; Hebrews 7:25. In the Authorised Version the rendering is "make intercession", except in Acts 25:24, where the translation is, "The Jews have dealt with me". The Revised Version translates the word in this passage by "made suit to", and in Romans 11:2 the term is rendered by "pleadeth with". These variations become clearer when evidence of the history of the word has been produced. The primary use of entugkhano in Classical authors is "to light upon", "fall in with", and calls up the picture of two persons happening to meet. Then the word came to be used of "obtaining an audience or interview". As a chance meeting or a formal interview involves the interchange of words, the further meaning was developed of meeting for purposes of conversation, consultation or supplication. This last took the form of presenting a petition, and the cognate noun enteuxis was used of a technical petition to a king. The English "make intercession" suggests going between two parties on behalf of a suppliant, but in two of the five instances of entugkhano it is obvious that there is another meaning. In Acts 25:24 the Jews are said to have "made suit to" Festus in order to bring about Paul’s death, and in Romans 11:2, Elijah is said to have pleaded with God against (kata) Israel. In the remaining instances, the pleading is "for" or "on behalf of" persons. Both these uses may be seen in secular writers and in the Septuagint. It will be clear, then, that the word entugkhano in itself indicates the meeting or interview, but other words are needed to determine its exact nature.
IV When a word is used only once in the Greek New Testament, the translator must use all available evidence from extra-Biblical sources to decide its meaning. If that evidence shows that the word, like most others, underwent processes of change in its history, he must make a choice of renderings after due consideration of the context. It will not be surprising if translators differ somewhat in their renderings but it is puzzling for readers when the various translations are compared. If the obscure word has a pictorial background, it is profitable to see it, even though it may be that in the particular text the metaphor must not be pressed. A good instance to illustrate the foregoing is brabeuo, a verb used in Colossians 3:15. First note some translations. The Authorised Version gives, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." The Revised Version agrees, but gives a marginal alternative "arbitrate". Moffatt renders the verb, "be supreme"; Goodspeed, "be the ruling principle". Weymouth gives "settle all questions", while Rotherham has "act as umpire".
Lexicographers, summarising evidence from instances of the word in secular authors, papyri and a single instance in the Greek Old Testament (Wisd. Of Sol. 10: 12), trace its development as follows:--It primarily meant to "act as umpire" (brabeus) in a contest. Then it was used in the sense "to arbitrate", "decide". In later writers it was employed in the sense "to direct", "rule", "control". It will be seen that translators have arrived at various conclusions as to the best rendering in Colossians 3:15. Lightfoot has strongly argued that "the idea of a decision and an award is prominent in the word", and many scholars support him. "Wherever there is a conflict of motives or impulses or reasons, the peace of Christ must step in and decide which is to prevail". Others argue in favour of the Authorised Version rendering "rule". In any case, it is helpful to see the picture called up by the word in its primary use. A compound form of the word, katabrabeuo, is used in Colossians 2:18 and nowhere else in the Greek Bible. It is very rare in profane literature and other secular sources. It was used by one writer of a person "who by bribing the judges causes another to be condemned". It also occurs "in a Ptolemaic dispute regarding succession". The prefix kata frequently has the meaning "against ", and the verb in Colossians 2:18 has the idea "decide against". Lightfoot writes, "the false teachers at Colossæ are not regarded as umpires nor as successful rivals, but simply as persons frustrating those who otherwise would have won the prize". Meyer says that the word suggests "the notion of hostility, and of a certain unfairness or selfishness". Dr. Milligan states, "A certain sense of ’assumption’ and ’officialism’ connected with the word may have led Paul to prefer it to katakrino," ("condemn").
V
Another Greek word which calls up a vivid picture when its history is known, is leitourgia, which is used six times in the New Testament. In three passages (2 Corinthians 9:12; Php 2:17; Php 2:30) it is translated in the Authorised Version "service"; in Luke 1:23 it is rendered "ministration"; and "ministry" is given in Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 9:21. Cognates are also used: the masculine noun in Romans 13:6; Romans 15:16; Php 2:25; Hebrews 1:7; Hebrews 8:2; the verb in Acts 13:2; Romans 15:27; Hebrews 10 : ii; and an adjective in Hebrews 1:14. All of these are associated with two words--laos, people, and ergon, work.
It is necessary to get the Classical background of leitourgia. Primarily it was used at Athens and elsewhere of a public service performed by a private citizen at his own expense. This service could take many forms, but the most important were the training and equipment of the persons who formed the "chorus" of a Greek drama; the training of competitors for the torch race; the sending of a sacred embassy to pan-hellenic festivals; the providing of a banquet for members of a tribe at a festival; and the equipment of a vessel of the fleet. Some of these services involved considerable expense, as high as the equivalent of £400, and it is no wonder that some citizens tried to evade the liability. It is said that in the fifth century B.C., some 12,000 citizens were liable to these charges. In a secondary sense, the Greek word came to be used of any service such as a military duty and also of help rendered in any matter. A more religious atmosphere is found with the word in its use concerning public service rendered to the Greek gods, and one reference is made to sacerdotal ministrations by the priests of Egypt.
Recent evidence from papyri shows that these meanings were carried over into Koine Greek, wherein many parallels to New Testament usage are being found. In one papyrus of the second or third century A.D. a man claims exemption from a public service. He says: "I am a doctor by profession, and I have treated these very persons who have assigned me a public burden." In the light of these facts, the Biblical use of leitourgia can be better understood. In the Septuagint it is used frequently of religious service or ministration, and occasionally of secular service. In the New Testament, where the word is translated "ministration" or "ministry", the usage is akin to that prevailing in the Septuagint, and calls up the picture of persons doing priestly service. The word in Php 2:17 has a similar background, but the usage is metaphorical, as in Romans 15:16, where the cognate noun is used. Dr. Moule says, "These are the only two passages where the apostle connects the language of sacerdotalism with the distinctive work of the Christian ministry; and both passages have the tone of figure and, so to speak, poetry." The other two references--2 Corinthians 9:1-2 and Php 2:30 --have to do with the more general usage of the word, though the religious element is present, for it is Christian benevolence. Something of the picture called up by the original Classical use may be seen, in that the service referred to was at the expense of those who rendered it.
It may be added that leitourgia came to be used among Christians of public worship, especially of the Eucharist, and that it has entered the English vocabulary as "liturgy".
VI
There is a word used in Luke 12:29, and nowhere else in the New Testament, which has presented a problem to translators, as a comparison of the versions will show. It is a passive form of meteorizo, translated in the Authorised and Revised Versions "be of doubtful mind". Moffatt gives "be worried", Goodspeed "be anxious", Rotherham "be held in suspense", while Weymouth has "waver between hope and fear". A study of the history of the verb will help us to appreciate the translator’s problem. The word is associated with meteoros, "in midair" (compare our word "meteor"), and its primary meaning was "to raise on high ". It was used of a ship on the crest of a wave, and of fortifications with high walls. Metaphorically, the meaning "to buoy up with hope" was used, as when Thucydides said that "all Hellas was excited by the coming conflict. Another use of the verb was "to be elated" or "inflated with pride". Thus in a play of Aristophanes entitled The Birds, the following occurs:
Sycophant: So, words are wings, you say?
Peisthetairos: No doubt of it.
I say it, and I repeat it; human nature
Is marvellously raised and elevated
By words.
Later writers used the word in the sense "to be of unsettled mind", and also "to be anxious". Josephus employed it of a criminal awaiting punishment. In the papyri the literal sense is found where a certain Flavius complains that he has been maltreated, "being daily suspended by ropes and having my body belaboured with blows". The metaphorical sense is supported by a third century papyrus, "Do not be anxious, we are well".
Support can be found, then, for the renderings of Luke 12:29 cited above, though it may be difficult to make a choice between them. The context seems to favour the view that the words are a warning against undue anxiety. There is evidence for another translation, however, which cannot be set aside without consideration. The Greek Version of the Old Testament has exerted a strong influence upon the vocabulary of the New Testament. Now the word we are discussing occurs in the literal sense in the Septuagint, and also in the sense "to be elated with pride", but not in the sense "be anxious". For the meaning "elated with pride", see Psalms 131:1, where the Septuagint has, "Neither have mine eyes been haughtily raised". Similarly Obadiah 1:4, "If thou shouldest mount up as the eagle, and if thou shouldest make thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord". Instances in the second Book of Maccabees have a similar meaning. Further, the Latin Vulgate gives as the equivalent of the words in Luke 12:29, Nolite in sublime tolli, "lift not yourselves up to lofty claims". Luther favoured the rendering, "Be not high-minded", and the learned German commentator Meyer gives his support by saying that the Vulgate is right in its translation.
Still, the majority of scholars to-day, it seems, favour the rendering which makes the words a warning against distracting worry. Some years ago the picture in the word meteorizo caught the imagination of Samuel Cox, who at the time was editor of The Expositor. He saw in the word "a new parable ’ which he stated thus, "Do not toss about on the wide dangerous sea of Care, on which so many make shipwreck, but rather take shelter in the safe and tranquil harbour of Trust in God".