Category Archives: Introduction

Romans, Part 32

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For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear (φόβον, a form of φόβος), Paul continued, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”1  Human beings have been afraid of God ever since Adam died and hid from Him, saying, and I was afraid because I was naked.2  That is καὶ ἐφοβήθην (a form of φοβέω) ὅτι γυμνός εἰμι3 in the Septuagint, literally, “and I was afraid because naked I am.”   And naked we still are, because no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked (γυμνὰ, a form of γυμνός) and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account (λόγος).4  It is fitting that the fear that came upon us when Adam sinned is banished in Christ.

The word Abba is the childish word for father [Addendum 9/5/2024: or perhaps not].  It reminds me of the picture of John John Kennedy peeking out from under his father’s desk in the oval office at the White House.  In October of 1962 President Kennedy was the most feared man on the planet, with the power to plunge the world into nuclear war.  But to John John, he was Daddy.  The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children.  And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) – if indeed we suffer with (συμπάσχομεν, a form of συμπάσχω) him so we may also be glorified with (συνδοξασθῶμεν, a form of συνδοξάζω) him.5

There are many things someone might suffer, but this linkage of suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him leads me back to chapter 6: Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory (δόξης, a form of δόξα) of the Father, so we too may live a new life.6  Once Jesus’ disciples knew that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God7 he instructed them8 not to tell anyone.9

From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer (παθεῖν, a form of πάσχω) many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.10

So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord!  This must not happen to you!”11  Mark emphasized that Jesus spoke openly about this.  So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.12  But [Jesus] turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s” [Table].  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.13  And Paul wrote, For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.14

So the suffering Paul had in mind I think was primarily the frustration and inner confusion associated with this death and resurrection experience, particularly that neither I (old man born of the flesh nor new man born of the Spirit) can do what I want:  For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.15  I’ve written in another essay in more detail that I think the essence of taking up one’s cross to follow Jesus in this death is not my will but yours be done,16 and a few more ideas about this suffering of death in another.  For I consider that our present sufferings (παθήματα, a form of πάθημα) cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us,17 Paul continued (Romans 8:19-21 NET).

For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God [e.g., all who are led by the Spirit of God18].  For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly but because of God who subjected it – in19 hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage (δουλείας, a form of δουλεία) of decay (φθορᾶς, a form of φθορά) into the glorious freedom of God’s children.

In school I learned about evolution, that marvelous creative force that made everything we see today.  In my real life I travel from medical conference to medical conference where I hear about genetic defects and diseases, the bondage of decay, the actual observable results of evolution.  The palliation of genetic defects and diseases is one of our last locally produced products and a mainspring of our economy.  While medical researchers may intend to find “cures” for genetic defects and diseases good economic sense would argue against that.  But there is another more pressing problem to consider, more long range and more far reaching.

Those who are faithful to their creator evolution, what I will call the evolutionary mind, face a daunting problem when it comes to “cures” for the products of evolution.  To my mind a cure would be found along the lines of investigation leading to an understanding of God’s original design of the genetic code for humankind.  This would not be conceivable to the evolutionary mind.  There was no grand design, no right way for the code to be written.  It was all happenstance that happened to produce life-forms that survived under given conditions.  For the evolutionary mind a “cure” must come from one’s own mind, evaluating the conditions people must thrive under and “Imagineering” so to speak how the code should read to accommodate those conditions.

Just as an aside, it occurs to me that back-breeding (e.g., inter-racial marriage) is still quite effective to overcoming some of the genetic burden that continues to accumulate over time.  When I was young such marriage was a curiosity.  Now inter-racial marriage seems to be a positive symptom of enlightened thinking among many young people.  If that trend continues and becomes standard practice it may well alleviate the necessity for any more Draconian measures forbidding intra-racial marriage.  And to my way of thinking it is the religious mind that would stand in the way of inter-racial marriage much like it would have bridled at God’s decrees against intra-familial marriage when genetic burden made that necessary.

Paul’s point, however, was that those who trust in Christ, or more specifically those led by the Spirit of God, wait for God’s solution, that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.  While the children don’t know exactly how this will take place, they assume it is along the lines of death and resurrection that they are experiencing, a destruction by fire and a creation of new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:8-13 NET).  Ultimately, the children trust that Abba, Daddy has everything under control.  The scorn and ridicule that elicits from those with an evolutionary mind may also be part of the suffering Paul wrote about.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together (συνωδίνει, a form of συνωδίνω) until now.  Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.  For in hope we were saved.  Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes20 for what he sees?21

This is what convinced me that for Paul, So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin,22 and, For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want,23 were normative for the believer’s experience here on earth.  They are the suffering to which he referred.  Even being led by the Spirit is but a foretaste of the glory that will be revealed to us.  It is the foretaste that prompts us to pray, Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven [Table].24

But if we hope for what we do not see, Paul concluded, we eagerly wait for it with endurance (ὑπομονῆς, a form of ὑπομονή).25

 

Addendum: October 11, 2024
Tables comparing Matthew 16:20; Romans 8:20 and 8:24 in the NET and KJV follow.

Matthew 16:20 (NET)

Matthew 16:20 (KJV)
Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

Matthew 16:20 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 16:20 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 16:20 (Byzantine Majority Text)
τότε |διεστείλατο| τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἵνα μηδενὶ εἴπωσιν ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός τοτε διεστειλατο τοις μαθηταις αυτου ινα μηδενι ειπωσιν οτι αυτος εστιν ιησους ο χριστος τοτε διεστειλατο τοις μαθηταις αυτου ινα μηδενι ειπωσιν οτι αυτος εστιν ιησους ο χριστος

Romans 8:20 (NET)

Romans 8:20 (KJV)
For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Romans 8:20 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 8:20 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 8:20 (Byzantine Majority Text)
τῇ γὰρ ματαιότητι ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη, οὐχ ἑκοῦσα ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα, ἐφ᾿ ἑλπίδι τη γαρ ματαιοτητι η κτισις υπεταγη ουχ εκουσα αλλα δια τον υποταξαντα επ ελπιδι τη γαρ ματαιοτητι η κτισις υπεταγη ουχ εκουσα αλλα δια τον υποταξαντα επ ελπιδι

Romans 8:24 (NET)

Romans 8:24 (KJV)
For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

Romans 8:24 (NET Parallel Greek)

Romans 8:24 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Romans 8:24 (Byzantine Majority Text)
τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι ἐσώθημεν· ἐλπὶς δὲ βλεπομένη οὐκ ἔστιν ἐλπίς· ὃ γὰρ βλέπει τίς ἐλπίζει τη γαρ ελπιδι εσωθημεν ελπις δε βλεπομενη ουκ εστιν ελπις ο γαρ βλεπει τις τι και ελπιζει τη γαρ ελπιδι εσωθημεν ελπις δε βλεπομενη ουκ εστιν ελπις ο γαρ βλεπει τις τι και ελπιζει

1 Romans 8:15 (NET)

2 Genesis 3:10 (NET) Table

4 Hebrews 4:13 (NET)

5 Romans 8:16, 17 (NET)

6 Romans 6:4 (NET)

10 Matthew 16:21 (NET)

11 Matthew 16:22 (NET)

12 Mark 8:32 (NET)

13 Matthew 16:23, 24 (NET)

14 Romans 6:5 (NET)

15 Galatians 5:17 (NET) Table

16 Luke 22:42b (NET) Table

17 Romans 8:18 (NET)

19 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the preposition ἐφ᾿ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had another form of ἐπί: επ.

20 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τι και (KJV: why…yet) preceding hopes (KJV: hope). The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

21 Romans 8:22-24 (NET)

22 Romans 7:25b (NKJV) Table

23 Galatians 5:17 (NET) Table

24 Matthew 6:9, 10 (NET)

25 Romans 8:25 (NET)

The Soul

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In Romans, Part 31 I related Paul’s statement—if you live according to the flesh, you will die1—to Jesus’ saying to his disciples, The one who loves his life [i.e., in this world] destroys [or, loses] it.2  The word translated life here is ψυχὴν (a form of ψυχή).  Two verses later Jesus is recorded as saying, Now my soul (ψυχή) is greatly distressed.3  This is the life of keeping body and soul together as opposed to the new life of the Spirit.  Though this connection was not as new to me as Jesus’ saying to Martha,4 it too deserved some further study.

I am the good shepherd, Jesus said.  I know my own and my own know me5 – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for the sheep.6  This was a fairly clear statement of Jesus’ death on our behalf, for us, in our place.  It becomes even clearer as a reference to an actual loss of soul-life as Jesus continued.  This is why the Father loves me – because I lay down my life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή), so that I may take it back again.  No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will.  I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again.  This commandment I received from my Father.7  This is how Peter understood it (John 13:36-38 NET):

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.”  Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?  I will lay down my life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for you!”  Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for me?  I tell you the solemn truth, the rooster will not crow until you have denied (ἀρνήσῃ, a form of ἀρνέομαι) me three times!

Later that same night when Jesus was arrested Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his right ear.8  Peter was moments away from making good on his pledge to lay down his life for Jesus, in the terms that he in his soul-life understood at that moment.  But Jesus intervened.  What Peter had missed was the other meaning of being a good shepherd.

I am the good shepherd, Jesus also said.  The good shepherd lays down his life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for the sheep.9  Then Jesus contrasted the laying down of life of the good shepherd to the hired hand.  The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons (ἀφίησιν, a form of ἀφίημι) the sheep and runs away (φεύγει, a form of φεύγω).10  Notice that the word translated abandons here is the same word as forgive, in the sense of sending away someone else’s sins.

“Flee for your lives,” the hired hand screams as he runs for his life.  So the wolf attacks (ἁρπάζει, a form of ἁρπάζω) the sheep and scatters (σκορπίζει, a form of σκορπίζω) them.  Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep…11  The good shepherd by contrast lays down his life, or puts his life on the line, to defend the sheep, the living as opposed to the dying sacrifice.  After his resurrection Jesus made this point quite poignantly for Peter (John 21:15-17 NET [Table]).

Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?”  He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”  Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.”  Jesus said a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”  Jesus told him, “Shepherd my sheep.”  Jesus said a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  Peter was distressed that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, “Lord, you know everything.  You know that I love you.”  Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep.

Jesus had a different kind of laying down his life in mind for Peter.  And still He promised him that he would also be crucified.  I tell you the solemn truth, when you were young, you tied your clothes around you and went wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will tie you up and bring you where you do not want to go.  (Now Jesus said this to indicate clearly by what kind of death Peter was going to glorify God.)12  In my imagination I can see the crucified and risen Lord, standing, looking Peter in the eyes, smiling and nodding as he whispers, Follow me.13

I think both understandings need to be grasped as I hear Jesus command:  My commandment is this – to love one another just as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what14 I command you.15  And so I think both must be brought to bear when considering, The one who loves his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) destroys (ἀπολλύει, a form of ἀπόλλυμι) it, and the one who hates (μισῶν, a form of μισέω) his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) in this world guards it for eternal life (ζωὴν, a form of ζωή).16  The one who loves his life is like one who does not lay down his life, one who does not believe we have been buried with [Christ] through baptism into death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος),17 or attempts to live as if it were not true.

Perhaps the Spirit will lead one to martyrdom, perhaps not.  After the resurrected Jesus prophesied that he would be crucified in his old age Peter asked about John.  Jesus replied, “If I want him to live until I come back, what concern is that of yours?  You follow me!”18  In Revelation John heard a loud voice in heaven speak of the brothers and sisters who overcame (ἐνίκησαν, a form of νικάω) [the one who accuses them day and night before our God]19 by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) so much that they were afraid to (ἄχρι) die (θανάτου, another form of θάνατος),20 whether through martyrdom or feeding and protecting others.

There is more to this soul life (ψυχή) they did not love so much than food as there is more to the body (σῶμα) than clothing.  And so Jesus said, do not worry about your life (ψυχῇ, another form of ψυχή), what you will eat or drink, or about your body (σώματι, a form of σῶμα), what you will wear.21  For the unconverted (ἔθνη, a form of ἔθνος) pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them [Table].  But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well [Table].22

If anyone wants to become my follower, Jesus said, he must deny (ἀρνησάσθω, another form of ἀρνέομαι) himself (ἑαυτὸν, a form of ἑαυτοῦ), take up his cross daily, and follow me.  For whoever wants to save (σῶσαι, a form of σώζω) his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) will lose (ἀπολέσει, a form of ἀπόλλυμι) it, but whoever loses (ἀπολέσῃ, another form of ἀπόλλυμι) his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) for my sake will save (σώσει, another form of σώζω) it [Table].  For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but loses (ἀπολέσας, another form of ἀπόλλυμι) or forfeits (ζημιωθείς, a form of ζημιόω) himself (ἑαυτὸν, a form of ἑαυτοῦ)?  For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.23

Jesus said, I tell you the solemn truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone.  But if it dies, it produces much grain (καρπὸν, a form of καρπός; literally fruit).  The one who loves his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) destroys (ἀπολλύει, another form of ἀπόλλυμι) it, and the one who hates (μισῶν, a form of μισέω) his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) in this world guards it for eternal life (ζωὴν, a form of ζωή) [Table].  If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow me, and where I am, my servant will be too.  If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him [Table].  Now my soul (ψυχή) is greatly distressed.  And what should I say? ‘Father, deliver (σῶσον, another form of σώζω) me from this hour’?  No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour.24  And so has each of us who know and love and want to follow Him.

 

Addendum: September 5, 2024
Tables comparing John 10:14 and 15:14 in the NET and KJV follow.

John 10:14 (NET)

John 10:14 (KJV)
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me— I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

John 10:14 (NET Parallel Greek)

John 10:14 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

John 10:14 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς καὶ γινώσκω τὰ ἐμὰ καὶ γινώσκουσι με τὰ ἐμά εγω ειμι ο ποιμην ο καλος και γινωσκω τα εμα και γινωσκομαι υπο των εμων εγω ειμι ο ποιμην ο καλος και γινωσκω τα εμα και γινωσκομαι υπο των εμων

John 15:14 (NET)

John 15:14 (KJV)
You are my friends if you do what I command you. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

John 15:14 (NET Parallel Greek)

John 15:14 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

John 15:14 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὑμεῖς φίλοι μού ἐστε ἐὰν ποιῆτε |ἃ| ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν υμεις φιλοι μου εστε εαν ποιητε οσα εγω εντελλομαι υμιν υμεις φιλοι μου εστε εαν ποιητε οσα εγω εντελλομαι υμιν

1 Romans 8:13a (NET)

2 John 12:25a (NET) Table

3 John 12:27 (NET)

6 John 10:14, 15 (NET)

7 John 10:17, 18 (NET)

8 John 18:10 (NET) Table

9 John 10:11 (NET)

10 John 10:12a (NET) Table

11 John 10:12b-13 (NET) Table

12 John 21:18, 19a (NET)

14 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἃ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had οσα (KJV: whatsoever).

15 John 15:12-14 (NET)

16 John 12:25 (NET) Table

18 John 21:22 (NET)

19 Revelation 12:10 (NET) Table

20 Revelation 12:11 (NET)

21 Matthew 6:25 (NET) Table

22 Matthew 6:32, 33 (NET)

23 Luke 9:23-26 (NET)

24 John 12:24-27 (NET)

Twilight of the Idols

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This is not about Nietzsche’s book “Twilight of the Idols,” or Wagner’s opera Götterdämmerung.  It is about the Twilight movies on the eve of the release of the fifth and final episode, “Breaking Dawn, Part 2.”  I’ve seen the first four movies.  I haven’t read any of the books.

I read an article yesterday about “a disturbing trend forming among teenagers who have become obsessed with the ‘Twilight’ movies – they are turning to real occult groups and even participating in bloodletting practices.”1  In a scene in the fourth movie, “Breaking Dawn, Part 1,” the heroine Bella drank chilled human blood through a straw and found it not bad, kind of good actually.  If that inspired young people to occult practices I am sorry, but I’m also convinced that not-Twilight (the apparent point of the article) would not have saved them.

In that scene Bella did whatever it took to bring her baby to term, even at the cost of her own life, while the sensible money was bet on aborting the fetus.  Even her husband Edward, a vampire, was angry and frustrated with her over it.  But Bella had expressed a willingness to lay down her life for someone she loved from the opening voiceover of the first movie, for her mother, then Edward, then her baby.  I was so caught up in the story at the time I was willing to overlook and even chuckle at the “duh” moment when (in a house full of vampires) the only one who recognized that a half-vampire-half-human baby might be thirsting for human blood was the werewolf Jacob, who, except for a treaty between his tribe and the Cullen vampire clan (or coven) and his own love for Bella, was a mortal enemy and one of the “natural” predators of vampires.

I should probably mention that the Cullens were “vegetarian” vampires, meaning they only drank animal blood, not human.  It was a little like a human being living on tofu alone, according to Edward, but more suited to the ethic of this particular “family” of vampires.  Dr. Cullen, the patriarch of the family, was an MD who served as the town doctor in Forks, Washington.  As he stitched up Bella’s arm after a mishap, she looked down at all her blood and asked him, “How do you do it?”  “Years of practice,” he replied grinning.

What was a subtle undercurrent in Bram Stoker’s novel and more overt in Francis Ford Coppola’s film adaptation is also true of the Twilight series.  It is about sexual desire and repression, though Edward is the only Victorian in the story (Edwardian more precisely).  What makes Twilight discomforting, frustrating, maybe even offensive, to men is that male sexual desire is not the joystick that makes the world go round.  While female sexual desire personified by Bella is an open-hearted giving and sharing of herself, male sexual desire personified by Edward is a life-threatening blood lust, or a violent rage seething just beneath the skin of the shape-shifting Jacob.

Bella was irresistibly drawn to both of these bad boys, though it was fairly clear that she didn’t really love Jacob “like that.”  And here is another sore spot for boys and men.  How dare a young woman not love “like that.”  What kind of love is that?  And it only gets worse.  Their swordsmanship was not the thing that made these traditional movie monsters the good guys.  Apart from Edward’s cooler than ice and Jacob’s hotter than fire good looks, the only thing that made them good guys is that they restrained, suppressed and sublimated their violent sexual desires.  They found other ways to love and care for Bella.  Edward used a little bit of force and a lot of romantic persuasion to keep her a virgin until their wedding night.

The ἐγκράτεια, erroneously translated self-control, that is an aspect of the fruit of the Holy Spirit2 which flows through those who trust in Jesus Christ was not mentioned in the Twilight movies.  Edward and Jacob restrained themselves by their own willpower, their own inner “goodness,” never mind where traditional movie monsters find inner goodness.  But I seriously wonder if we as parents really teach and trust the ἐγκράτεια that comes from God when it comes to our own children.  Or do we put our faith in the gezerot,3 the rules we make up to keep them chaperoned, never alone, never having an opportunity to exercise the ἐγκράτεια, or the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness or gentleness, that are the fruit of their relationship with Christ?

At any rate I took a vacation day next week to see the final episode of the Twilight saga with my daughter.  That may make me a bad parent to some.  But my daughter is twenty-one now.  She will see it whether I take her or not.  Edward moved up a notch in Bella’s father’s estimation when he learned that Edward was “old school,” meaning Bella was still a virgin.  I admit that my daughter’s boyfriend, though he seems like a nice enough guy, has moved down a notch since he doesn’t have the heart to see the movie with her.  My twenty-year-old son will see it with his girlfriend, though I imagine he will find something to complain about afterward.

I expect to be disappointed by the end of the series.  No amount of good works redemption will satisfy me.  And I don’t think Bella, Edward and Jacob will turn to faith in Jesus Christ.  My daughter, who has read the books, has already said she is curious how I will react to the end of the story.  So a few dollars and a couple of hours spent sitting in the dark with her buy me another opportunity to speak my mind to her receptive heart.  I pray that God will grant me the grace, the wisdom and the words to say to a young woman who has been moved so by a story of an eternal love that is more than sexual desire.  And it makes me wonder whether millions of other women have actually been moved by occult bloodletting practices or because God has put eternity4 in their hearts.5

Oh yeah, and I’m curious what happens next to Bella, Edward and Jacob, too.

 

Addendum: September 3, 2024
Tables comparing Ecclesiastes 3:11 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Ecclesiastes 3:11 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (Tanakh)

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (KJV)

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NET)
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time, but he has also placed ignorance in the human heart so that people cannot discover what God has ordained, from the beginning to the end of their lives.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (Septuagint BLB)

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
σὺν τὰ πάντα ἐποίησεν καλὰ ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ καί γε σὺν τὸν αἰῶνα ἔδωκεν ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν ὅπως μὴ εὕρῃ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὸ ποίημα ὃ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς καὶ μέχρι τέλους σύμπαντα, ἃ ἐποίησε, καλὰ ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ, καί γε σὺν τὸν αἰῶνα ἔδωκεν ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν, ὅπως μὴ εὕρῃ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὸ ποίημα, ὃ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς καὶ μέχρι τέλους

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NETS)

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (English Elpenor)
He made everything fine in its right time, indeed, he granted eternity in their heart so that they should not find the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end. All the things which he has made are beautiful in his time: he has also set the whole world in their heart, that man might not find out the work which God has wrought from the beginning even to the end.

The Life

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In Romans, Part 31 I related Paul’s statement—if you live according to the flesh, you will die1—to Jesus’ saying to Martha—The one who believes in me will live even if he dies.2  This connection was new to me, so I thought it deserved a little more study.  In the past I would have related Jesus’ saying to Martha (John 11:25, 26 NET) to the mystery Paul expounded (1 Corinthians 15:51-53 NET):

Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – [Table] in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

In that case, those who sleep are like The one who believes in [Jesus] and lives even if he dies.  That may not be wrong.  But what got my attention was that Martha already believed in the resurrection.  I know that he will come back to life again in the resurrection (ἀναστάσει, a form of ἀνάστασις) at the last day,3 she said.  It was to that belief that Jesus responded, I am the resurrection (ἀνάστασις) and the life (ζωή).4  Suddenly I saw those verses as follows:

Jesus said to her, “I am…

…the resurrection (ἀνάστασις)…

…and the life (ζωή).
The one who believes in me will live (ζήσεται, a form of ζάω) even if he dies…

…and the one who lives (ζῶν, another form of ζάω) and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?”

John 11:25, 26 (NET)

Where I could believe both statements was in Romans 8:13 (NET) once I accepted that die (ἀποθνῄσκειν, a form of ἀποθνήσκω) meant death and not eternal damnation:

Jesus said to her, “I am…

…the resurrection (ἀνάστασις)…

…and the life (ζωή).
The one who believes in me will live (ζήσεται, a form of ζάω) even if he dies…

…and the one who lives (ζῶν, another form of ζάω) and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?”

John 11:25, 26 (NET)
…if you live (ζῆτε, another form of ζάω) according to the flesh, you will die…

…but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live (ζήσεσθε, another form of ζάω).

Romans 8:13 (NET)

The noun ζωή was used forty-seven times in the New Testament to name the new life believers find in Christ both here and now, and in the future.  It was used forty-four times with αἰώνιος and translated eternal or everlasting life.  Jesus spoke of a time when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice [Table] and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection (ἀνάστασιν, another form of ἀνάστασις) resulting in life (ζωῆς, another form of ζωή), and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection (ἀνάστασιν, another form of ἀνάστασις) resulting in condemnation (κρίσεως, a form of κρίσις; literally, judgment).5  Twice Jesus referred to Himself as the bread of life.  Peter called Him the Prince of life (Originator of life, NET).  I found five occurrences that seem to refer exclusively to the resurrected life of Jesus, and six others that seem to refer exclusively to the resurrected life of people as opposed to new life here and now.  It was used twice as Spirit of life, eight times as book of life, three times each as tree of life and water of life.  It was used twice of Melchizedek, which I called Immortal Life.  I found only eight occurrences of ζωή in the New Testament that seemed to refer to ordinary human life or mere vitality.  My list follows:

Life (now and future) Matthew 7:14; 18:8, 9; 19:17; Mark 9:43, 45; John 1:4 X 2; 3:36; 5:24, 26 X 2, 40; 6:33, 51, 53, 63; 8:12; 10:10; 11:25;6 14:6; 20:31; Acts 2:28;7 5:20; 11:18; Romans 5:17, 18; 6:4; 7:10; 8:6; 1 Corinthians 3:22; 2 Corinthians 2:16; 4:12; Philippians 2:16; Colossians 3:4; 1 Timothy 4:8; 2 Timothy 1:1, 10; 1 Peter 3:7, 10; 2 Peter 1:3; 1 John 1:1,8 2; 3:14; 5:11, 12 x 2, 16 47
Eternal Life Matthew 19:16, 29; 25:46; Mark 10:7, 30; Luke 10:25; 18:18, 30; John 3:15, 16, 36; 4:14, 36; 5:24, 39; 6:27, 40, 47, 54, 68; 10:28; 12:25, 50;9 17:2, 3; Acts 13:46, 48; Romans 2:7; 5:21; 6:22, 23; Galatians 6:8; 1 Timothy 1:16; 6:12, 19; Titus 1:2; 3:7; 1 John 1:2; 2:25; 3:15; 5:11, 13, 20; Jude 1:21 44
Human Life Luke 12:15; 16:25; Acts 8:33;10 17:25; Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 15:19; Philippians 1:20; James 4:14 8
Resurrection of Life John 5:29 1
Bread of Life John 6:35, 48 2
Prince of Life Acts 3:15 1
Resurrected Life of Jesus Romans 5:10; 8:10; 2 Corinthians 4:10, 11; Ephesians 4:18 5
Spirit of Life Romans 8:2, Revelation 11:11 2
Exclusively Resurrected Life Romans 11:15; 2 Corinthians 2:16; 5:4; Colossians 3:3; James 1:2, Revelation 2:10 6
Book of Life Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27; 22:19 8
Immortal Life Hebrews 7:3, 16 (Melchizedek) 2
Tree of Life Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14 3
Water of Life Revelation 21:16; 22:1, 17 3

I went to this trouble because in the definition of ψυχή in Strong’s Concordance (the next word I want to consider) ζωή (zoe) is described as “mere vitality.”  That may be true of ζωή in Greek generally.  I don’t know.  It is clearly not true of ζωή as used in the New Testament, except perhaps eight times.  It may be generally true of the verb ζάω even in the New Testament.  I didn’t check that closely.  I am suggesting that ζήσεται (another form of ζάω) in The one who believes in me will live even if he dies11 means the resurrected life that Martha believed in and Jesus claimed to be.  And I am also suggesting that ζῶν (another form of ζάω) in the one who lives and believes in me will never die12 means the new life that Jesus claimed to be and Paul described as being led by the Spirit of God.13

I had the most difficulty with 1 John 5:16 (NET), whether John meant mere vitality or not: If anyone sees his fellow Christian (ἀδελφὸν, a form of ἀδελφός) committing a sin not resulting in death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος), he should ask, and God will grant (δώσει, a form of δίδωμι) life (ζωήν, another form of ζωή) to the person who commits a sin not resulting in death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος).  There is a sin resulting in death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος).  I do not say that he should ask about that.

In the movie “Meet Joe Black” Anthony Hopkins’ character Bill Parrish instinctively restrained Brad Pitt’s character Death from stepping off the curb into traffic.  It is an ironic and humorous moment since the body Death took was killed in traffic, standing in the middle of the street longing for another glimpse of Bill’s daughter Susan, and because Death had just bragged about how much beyond Bill’s comprehension the work of Death was.  But it also displayed Bill’s character, instinctively protecting the life of his nemesis simply because he appeared in form as another human being.  I assume however that John was not talking about stepping off the curb in front of an oncoming bus as a sin resulting in death.

When the Pharisees accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons,14 Jesus replied (Matthew 12:25-29a NET):

Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and no town or house divided against itself will stand.  So if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?  For this reason they will be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you.  How else can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? [Table]

Then Jesus warned, people will be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι) for every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι) [Table].  Whoever15 speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι).  But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι), either in this16 age or in the age to come.17  This, I think, is what John meant by a sin resulting in death.  John continued (1 John 5:17, 18 NET):

All unrighteousness is sin, but there is sin not resulting in death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος).  We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin, but God protects (τηρεῖ, a form of τηρέω) the one he has fathered, and the evil one cannot touch him [Table].

I am connecting this to the verse which precedes it.  The new life, that life fathered by God that does not sin—Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me18—because God protects that life and the evil one cannot touch him, is the true need of the fellow Christian committing a sin not resulting in death.  That life, this grace in which we stand,19 fueled by the credited righteousness of God,20 the fruit of his Spirit,21 is far more important than my censure, my rebuke, even my restoration in a spirit of gentleness.22  And it is this life that we ask for ourselves and for all who call upon our Father whenever we pray (Matthew 6:9-13 NET):

Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven [Table].  Give us today our daily bread [i.e., of life], and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors [Table].  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one [Table].

 

Addendum: September 3, 2024
Tables comparing Matthew 12:25 and 12:32 in the KJV and NET follow.

Matthew 12:25 (NET)

Matthew 12:25 (KJV)
Now when Jesus realized what they were thinking, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and no town or house divided against itself will stand. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

Matthew 12:25 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 12:25 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 12:25 (Byzantine Majority Text)
εἰδὼς δὲ τὰς ἐνθυμήσεις αὐτῶν εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· πᾶσα βασιλεία μερισθεῖσα καθ᾿ ἑαυτῆς ἐρημοῦται καὶ πᾶσα πόλις ἢ οἰκία μερισθεῖσα καθ᾿ ἑαυτῆς οὐ σταθήσεται ειδως δε ο ιησους τας ενθυμησεις αυτων ειπεν αυτοις πασα βασιλεια μερισθεισα καθ εαυτης ερημουται και πασα πολις η οικια μερισθεισα καθ εαυτης ου σταθησεται ειδως δε ο ιησους τας ενθυμησεις αυτων ειπεν αυτοις πασα βασιλεια μερισθεισα καθ εαυτης ερημουται και πασα πολις η οικια μερισθεισα καθ εαυτης ου σταθησεται

Matthew 12:32 (NET)

Matthew 12:32 (KJV)
Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Matthew 12:32 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 12:32 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 12:32 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ ὃς ἐὰν εἴπῃ λόγον κατὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ· ὃς δ᾿ ἂν εἴπῃ κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου, οὐκ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ οὔτε ἐν τούτῳ τῷ αἰῶνι οὔτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι και ος αν ειπη λογον κατα του υιου του ανθρωπου αφεθησεται αυτω ος δ αν ειπη κατα του πνευματος του αγιου ουκ αφεθησεται αυτω ουτε εν τουτω τω αιωνι ουτε εν τω μελλοντι και ος εαν ειπη λογον κατα του υιου του ανθρωπου αφεθησεται αυτω ος δ αν ειπη κατα του πνευματος του αγιου ουκ αφεθησεται αυτω ουτε εν τω νυν αιωνι ουτε εν τω μελλοντι

1 Romans 8:13a (NET)

2 John 11:25b (NET)

3 John 11:24 (NET) Table

4 John 11:25a (NET)

5 John 5:28, 29 (NET)

6 Distinguished here from the resurrection (of life).

7 Quote from Psalm 16:8-11 (NET) according to a note (54) in the NET.

8 τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς might be a poetic reference to Jesus Himself, though I am reading it in context as the life message.

9 Eternal Life is the Father’s commandment.

10 Quote from Isaiah 53:7, 8 (NET) according to a note (85) in the NET.

11 John 11:25b (NET)

12 John 11:26a (NET)

13 Romans 8:14 (NET)

14 Matthew 12:24 (NET)

15 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had ἐὰν following Whoever, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had αν.

16 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Stephanus Textus Receptus had τούτῳ here, where the Byzantine Majority Text had νυν (“now, present”).

17 Matthew 12:31, 32 (NET)

18 Romans 7:20 (NET) Table

Romans, Part 31

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So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation (ὀφειλέται, a form of ὀφειλέτης), not to the flesh (σαρκὶ, a form of σάρξ), to live according to the flesh (σάρκα, another form of σάρξ), Paul continued, (for if you live according to the flesh [σάρκα, another form of σάρξ], you will die [ἀποθνῄσκειν, a form of ἀποθνήσκω])…1  If I consider myself the old man, the sin condemned in the flesh,2 I will die along with the flesh.  This truism is equivalent to Jesus’ saying to Martha, The one who believes in me will live even if he dies (ἀποθάνῃ, another form of ἀποθνήσκω),3 or to his disciples, The one who loves his life [i.e., in this world] destroys [or, loses] it.4  But no, I didn’t see that for a long time.

I thought Paul was threatening me with eternal damnation if I lived according to the flesh, even though the text said die.  I wasn’t happy about it, especially after everything else he had said, but I couldn’t make any other sense of it at the time.  And yes, it is embarrassing to keep admitting how stubbornly dull-witted I am.

Paul continued, but if by the Spirit you put to death (θανατοῦτε, a form of θανατόω) the deeds (πράξεις, a form of πρᾶξις) of the body you will live.5  If I identify with the new man created in the image of God, I will live.  But no, I didn’t see how well this fit with Jesus saying to Martha, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die (ἀποθάνῃ, another form of ἀποθνήσκω).6  And I didn’t relate it to Jesus saying to his disciples, and the one who hates his life in this world guards [or, keeps] it for eternal life.7

I thought it was best, if I wanted to go to heaven, to keep trying to put the deeds of my body to death by striving to keep the law, or at least by striving to love by keeping the definition of the love that fulfills the law as if it were laws.  The idea that I could put to death the deeds of the body by faith, by believing that my old man was crucified with [Christ] so that the body of sin would no longer dominate [me], so that [I] would no longer be enslaved to sin,8 because God achieved what the law could not do…By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit,9 was a slow train coming.

For all who are led (ἄγονται, a form of ἄγω) by the Spirit of God are the sons of God,10 Paul continued.  Surely I am a byword in heaven.  Over and over I was led back to these verses, and over and over I refused to drink them in.  But let me recount the word ἄγω as used in the Gospels as a contrast to my Do-It-Yourself religion.

And you will be brought (ἀχθήσεσθε, another form of ἄγω) before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them and the Gentiles,11 Jesus told his disciples.  When12 they arrest13 (ἄγωσιν, another form of ἄγω) you and hand you over for trial, do not worry about what to speak.14 But say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.15  Go to the village ahead16 of you, Jesus said.  Right away you will find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her.  Untie them and bring (ἀγάγετε, another form of ἄγω) them to me.17  They brought (ἤγαγον, another form of ἄγω) the donkey and the colt and placed their18 cloaks on19 them, and he sat on them.20  Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led (ἤγετο, another form of ἄγω) by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he endured temptations from the devil.21

So here I have Jesus ἤγετο (another form of ἄγω) by the Holy Spirit, and handed over to the devil: Then22 the devil brought (῎Ηγαγεν, another form of ἄγω) him to Jerusalem, had him23 stand on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the24 Son of God, throw yourself down from here…”25  An angry mob got up, forced [Jesus] out of the town, and brought (ἤγαγον, another form of ἄγω) him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.26  A mob of duly authorized law enforcement types arrested Jesus, led (ἤγαγον, another form of ἄγω) him away, and brought him27 into the high priest’s house.28   Then the whole group of them rose up and brought29 (ἤγαγον, another form of ἄγω) Jesus before Pilate.30  Two other criminals were also led away (῎Ηγοντο, another form of ἄγω) to be executed with him.31

Now I look back at the meaning and usage of ἄγω and ask myself incredulously, “Just exactly what part of being led (ἄγονται, a form of ἄγω) by the Spirit did you think was your doing, Dan?”  But I’m not alone, though I might wish that I were.  I want to take the movie “Courageous” as my point of departure here.

Actually, a big part of me doesn’t want to do that at all.  As an independent filmmaker wannabe I have nothing but admiration for what the Kendrick brothers and Sherwood Baptist Church have done.  I can watch their movies without being embarrassed by the quality of the filmmaking, and each film gets better on that score than the one before.  I didn’t feel anything I’m about to say while watching the film (and I watched “Courageous” again last night).  What I feel is comfort, familiarity and a warm nostalgia for the religion of my childhood, my youth and beyond.  I like stirring music.  I want to be courageous, too.  That’s part of my problem, that I only see a problem in retrospect when I analyze the story in the light of the Gospel and the religious mind.

The storyline of “Courageous,” for those who haven’t seen it, is about a father Adam after his daughter Emily dies in a car crash.  She was his favorite, though he was almost as detached from her as from his son, concerned about his work and his appearance to others.  After her death he is concerned that he should have been a better father.  His wife reminds him that he is still a father.  He talks to his Pastor.  He studies the Bible.  He begins to make a rapprochement with his son.  So far so good.

Then he drafts a resolution, a list of rules derived from his Bible study about fatherhood.  He passes it out to his friends.  Most of them, interestingly enough, are other policemen.  He asks these policemen to hold him accountable to his list of rules.  They want to sign it, too.  Eventually, all the men join in a ceremony, effectively swearing an oath to abide by Adam’s rules.  It is all very moving, and courageous.  But Adam, a churchgoing man, was ashamed of the Gospel for exactly the same reason that Paul was not.

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes,32 because the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”33  Anyone might become dissatisfied with the righteousness of God that is showing through him and out into the world at any given moment.  It is an excellent time to return to Christ, to be joined to the one who was raised from the dead, like a wife seeking to enlarge her family comes to her husband, to bear fruit to God.34  It is not a time to attempt to have one’s own righteousness derived from the law.35  You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!36

Instead of rebuking and correcting them privately, Adam’s Pastor praises the men publicly for their resolution and their oath to keep it.  Then Adam is allowed to speak to the entire congregation.  Adam persuades other men to follow him in his defection from Christ.  I feel this defection deeply when I get away from the movie and its rousing music, Adam’s tear-filled eyes, his upraised arm and his hand grasping for something elusive.  But my anger is restrained for two reasons.

First, I find it extremely interesting that the character’s name is Adam.  For all I know there is a “Courageous 2” in the works where Adam (or Shane, but that’s another story) learns to be led by the Spirit rather than by the flesh.  And secondly, I know how much remedial help I’ve needed in the sense that the law was our tutor (παιδαγωγὸς) to bring us to Christ.37  The NET has it, the law had become our guardian until Christ.38  Neither word alone is quite right, governess, nanny, just don’t say it.  I think of Creasy, Denzel Washington’s character in “Man on Fire,” taking Pita, Dakota Fanning’s character, to school, guarding her, protecting her, and preparing her to learn.  He became much more than a bodyguard, but not her teacher.  Jesus is the teacher not the law, or living by laws.

Even those born only of the flesh of Adam bind themselves to laws, rules and ethical principles to keep from becoming complete sociopaths.  It doesn’t take a prophet to see that if the Kendrick brothers’ resolution fails to bring those born of the flesh and of the Spirit to Christ, Shariah is waiting in the wings.  But it must be equally clear that the Kendrick brothers’ resolution derived from the Bible is no more the Gospel than Shariah law is.  Both are of the old way, the old written code, and neither is the new life of the Spirit.39

 

addendum: September 2, 2024
According to a note (38) in the NET, Paul quoted from Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17. A table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation with that of the Septuagint follows

Romans 1:17b (NET Parallel Greek)

Habakkuk 2:4b (Septuagint BLB) Table

Habakkuk 2:4b (Septuagint Elpenor)

ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται

ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεώς μου ζήσεται

ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεώς μου ζήσεται

Romans 1:17b (NET)

Habakkuk 2:4b (NETS)

Habakkuk 2:4b (English Elpenor)

The righteous by faith will live

But the just shall live by my faith.

but the just shall live by my faith

Tables comparing Mark 13:11; Matthew 21:2; 21:7; Luke 4:9; 22:54 and 23:1 in the KJV and NET follow.

Mark 13:11 (NET)

Mark 13:11 (KJV)
When they arrest you and hand you over for trial, do not worry about what to speak. But say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

Mark 13:11 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 13:11 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 13:11 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ ὅταν ἄγωσιν ὑμᾶς παραδιδόντες, μὴ προμεριμνᾶτε τί λαλήσητε, ἀλλ᾿ ὃ ἐὰν δοθῇ ὑμῖν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ τοῦτο λαλεῖτε· οὐ γάρ ἐστε ὑμεῖς οἱ λαλοῦντες ἀλλὰ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον οταν δε αγαγωσιν υμας παραδιδοντες μη προμεριμνατε τι λαλησητε μηδε μελετατε αλλ ο εαν δοθη υμιν εν εκεινη τη ωρα τουτο λαλειτε ου γαρ εστε υμεις οι λαλουντες αλλα το πνευμα το αγιον οταν δε αγαγωσιν υμας παραδιδοντες μη προμεριμνατε τι λαλησητε μηδε μελετατε αλλ ο εαν δοθη υμιν εν εκεινη τη ωρα τουτο λαλειτε ου γαρ εστε υμεις οι λαλουντες αλλα το πνευμα το αγιον

Matthew 21:2 (NET)

Matthew 21:2 (KJV)
telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. Right away you will find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.

Matthew 21:2 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 21:2 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 21:2 (Byzantine Majority Text)
λέγων αὐτοῖς· πορεύεσθε εἰς τὴν κώμην τὴν κατέναντι ὑμῶν, καὶ εὐθέως εὑρήσετε ὄνον δεδεμένην καὶ πῶλον μετ᾿ αὐτῆς· λύσαντες ἀγάγετε μοι λεγων αυτοις πορευθητε εις την κωμην την απεναντι υμων και ευθεως ευρησετε ονον δεδεμενην και πωλον μετ αυτης λυσαντες αγαγετε μοι λεγων αυτοις πορευθητε εις την κωμην την απεναντι υμων και ευθεως ευρησετε ονον δεδεμενην και πωλον μετ αυτης λυσαντες αγαγετε μοι

Matthew 21:7 (NET)

Matthew 21:7 (KJV)
They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.

Matthew 21:7 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 21:7 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 21:7 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἤγαγον τὴν ὄνον καὶ τὸν πῶλον καὶ ἐπέθηκαν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῶν τὰ ἱμάτια, καὶ ἐπεκάθισεν ἐπάνω αὐτῶν ηγαγον την ονον και τον πωλον και επεθηκαν επανω αυτων τα ιματια αυτων και επεκαθισεν επανω αυτων ηγαγον την ονον και τον πωλον και επεθηκαν επανω αυτων τα ιματια αυτων και επεκαθισεν επανω αυτων

Luke 4:9 (NET)

Luke 4:9 (KJV)
Then the devil brought him to Jerusalem, had him stand on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:

Luke 4:9 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 4:9 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 4:9 (Byzantine Majority Text)
῎Ηγαγεν δὲ αὐτὸν εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ ἔστησεν ἐπὶ τὸ πτερύγιον τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ εἶπεν |αὐτῷ|· εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, βάλε σεαυτὸν ἐντεῦθεν κάτω και ηγαγεν αυτον εις ιερουσαλημ και εστησεν αυτον επι το πτερυγιον του ιερου και ειπεν αυτω ει ο υιος ει του θεου βαλε σεαυτον εντευθεν κατω και ηγαγεν αυτον εις ιερουσαλημ και εστησεν αυτον επι το πτερυγιον του ιερου και ειπεν αυτω ει υιος ει του θεου βαλε σεαυτον εντευθεν κατω

Luke 22:54 (NET)

Luke 22:54 (KJV)
Then they arrested Jesus, led him away, and brought him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off.

Luke 22:54 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 22:54 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 22:54 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Συλλαβόντες δὲ αὐτὸν ἤγαγον καὶ εἰσήγαγον εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ ἀρχιερέως· ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ἠκολούθει μακρόθεν συλλαβοντες δε αυτον ηγαγον και εισηγαγον αυτον εις τον οικον του αρχιερεως ο δε πετρος ηκολουθει μακροθεν συλλαβοντες δε αυτον ηγαγον και εισηγαγον αυτον εις τον οικον του αρχιερεως ο δε πετρος ηκολουθει μακροθεν

Luke 23:1 (NET)

Luke 23:1 (KJV)
Then the whole group of them rose up and brought Jesus before Pilate. And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate.

Luke 23:1 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 23:1 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 23:1 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Καὶ ἀναστὰν ἅπαν τὸ πλῆθος αὐτῶν ἤγαγον αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν Πιλᾶτον και ανασταν απαν το πληθος αυτων ηγαγεν αυτον επι τον πιλατον και ανασταν απαν το πληθος αυτων ηγαγον αυτον επι τον πιλατον

1 Romans 8:12, 13a (NET)

2 Romans 8:3 (NET)

3 John 11:25b (NET)

4 John 12:25a (NET) Table

5 Romans 8:13b (NET)

6 John 11:26a (NET)

7 John 12:25b (NET) Table

8 Romans 6:6 (NET)

9 Romans 8:3, 4 (NET)

10 Romans 8:14 (NET)

11 Matthew 10:18 (NET)

12 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had καὶ (not translated in the NET) here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δε (KJV: But).

13 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἄγωσιν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αγαγωσιν (KJV: they shall lead).

14 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had μηδε μελετατε (KJV: neither do ye premeditate) following speak. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

15 Mark 13:11 (NET)

17 Matthew 21:2 (NET)

20 Matthew 21:7 (NET)

21 Luke 4:1 (NET) Table

22 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had δὲ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και (KJV: And).

24 The Stephanus Textus Receptus had the article ο here. The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

25 Luke 4:9 (NET)

26 Luke 4:29 (NET) Table

28 Luke 22:54a (NET) The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the feminine τὴν οἰκίαν here, a form of οἰκία, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the masculine τον οικον, a form of οἶκος.

29 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the plural ἤγαγον here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the singular ηγαγεν (KJV: led).

30 Luke 23:1 (NET)

31 Luke 23:32 (NET)

32 Romans 1:16 (NET) Table

33 Romans 1:17 (NET)

34 Romans 7:4 (NET)

35 Philippians 3:9 (NET)

36 Galatians 5:4 (NET) Table

37 Galatians 3:24 (NKJV)

38 Galatians 3:24 (NET)

You Must Be Gentle, Part 2

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Neither Alexander or his evil stepfather appear during the whipping sequence in “Fanny and Alexander.”  The whipping was implied with a sound effect and a series of close-ups of the witnesses.   There was nothing titillating for a spankophile (though Justine’s pained expression was ambiguous and difficult for me to read).  There was no homoeroticism.  There was nothing to distract one from the bitter irony of a man who, in the guise of punishment for lying, bullied and tortured a boy into a false confession.

Alexander made a brave, if short-lived, stand against confessing something he didn’t believe.  One stroke of the cane later he caved like a little girl.  Frankly, I was embarrassed for Alexander.  The boy Jose in “For Greater Glory” was tortured to death rather than deny his support for the Cristeros, who rebelled against Mexico during Plutarco Elías Calles’ persecution of the Catholic Church.  To be fair, Jose may have been based on a real boy strengthened by the Spirit of God.

Alexander, though Bergman’s alter-ego in the movie, was a fictional character whose reactions were dictated by the writer/director’s rhetorical or dramatic needs.  The pyrrhic victory of Alexander’s evil stepfather stands as a brilliant illustration of Jesus’ warning to hypocrites, You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves!1  The real Ingmar Bergman, as far as I know, rejected his real father’s Lutheran faith with as much vigor as Jose refused to forswear himself.

It got me thinking about growing up in the cult of boyhood.  The cult derides a boy who can’t take it, whether pain or derision.  It lauds a boy who runs at full speed, throws his body down, and slides through dirt and gravel, to be called “safe.”  Bruises and blood are marks of honor.  Tears are forbidden.  The only acceptable response to pain is swearing or responding in kind, returning blow for blow.  Boys are little soldiers in training.  Anyone attempting to use physical pain to force a boy to forswear himself should be prepared for the violence that may require.

I have no idea if Erik Bergman treated his son Ingmar as ruthlessly as the evil stepfather treated Alexander.  I only know that any attempt to produce faith and repentance in another through bullying and torture is a folly of the religious mind.  Faith and repentance come from the Holy Spirit.

Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know (ἀγνοῶν, a form of ἀγνοέω) that God’s kindness leads you to repentance (μετάνοιαν, a form of μετάνοια)?2  And Paul counseled Timothy, the Lord’s slave must not engage in heated disputes but be kind toward all, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness (πραΰτητι, a form of πραΰτης).  Perhaps God will grant them repentance (μετάνοιαν, a form of μετάνοια) and then knowledge (ἐπίγνωσιν, a form of ἐπίγνωσις) of the truth…3

As the ghost of Alexander’s “good” father said, “You must be gentle with people, Alexander.”  And gentleness is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (πραΰτης), and self-control.  Against such things there is no law [Table].4

1 Matthew 23:15 (NET)

2 Romans 2:4 (NET)

3 2 Timothy 2:24, 25 (NET) Table

4 Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)

The Will of God – Jesus, Part 3

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Jesus trusted his Father so completely that the flesh of Adam was much more subjugated in Him than in me.  Still, I can think of two incidents where the flesh made an appearance and was recorded by the Gospel writers.  Matthew and Mark had different opinions as to whether the first incident happened before or after Jesus cleansed the temple, but both associated it with that event.

Now early in the morning,1 Matthew recorded, as [Jesus] returned to the city, he was hungry.  After noticing a fig tree by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves.  He said to it, “Never again will there be fruit from you!”  And the fig tree withered at once.2  The tree appeared as if it should have fruit on it but did not have any.  Mark wrote: Now the next day, as they went out from Bethany, [Jesus] was hungry.  After noticing in3 the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it.  When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not4 the5 season for figs.  He6 said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”  And his disciples heard it.7

Mark added the following details: 1) The fig tree that withered at once was overnight, 2) Jesus saw and approached the tree from a distance; and 3) it was not the season for figs.  This is what persuades me that I am witnessing the flesh of Adam in Jesus, a frustration that overcame his reason.

It’s not too hard to see that the actual frustration Jesus vented on the fig tree was the hypocrisy of his own people.  He might have cursed those who were selling and buying in the temple courts8 with chilling effect.  Instead, as a man like Adam He began to drive out those who were selling and buying9 in the temple courts.  He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.  Then he began to teach them…10

The second incident occurred in the garden of Gethsemane the night he was betrayed.  Jesus, born of the Spirit of God, knew that the death of the flesh of Adam was part of his Father’s purpose for his life and ministry.  Now my soul is greatly distressed, He said.  And what should I say?  ‘Father, deliver me from this hour’?  No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour.11  But Jesus, also born of the flesh of Adam, prayed, My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me!12

It is important to me to believe that Jesus’ willingness to suffer was of utmost concern to his Father.  I believe Jesus could have said, Father, deliver me from this hour, with complete impunity.  He still would have sat at his Father’s right hand, and his Father would have said something equivalent to, “Don’t worry about it.  We’ll get’em next time, Tiger.”  But Jesus did not pray Father, deliver me from this hour.  He never put his Father in that position.

Jesus prayed, Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me!  Yet not what I will (θέλω), but what you will.13  He was strengthened by the Holy Spirit, then prayed a second time, My Father, if this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will (θέλημα) must be done.”14  Luke wrote, Father, if you are willing (βούλει, a form of βούλομαι), take this cup away from me.  Yet not my will (θέλημα) but yours be done.15  As subjugated as the flesh was in Jesus He did not rely on his desires (θέλω or θέλημα) to direct his path, but relied on the will of God.

While I am completely convinced by my own experience (for the Scripture doesn’t say it) that the living Holy Spirit of God interceded with Jesus in real time and space, and strengthened Him at that precise moment, I can’t escape how the same Holy Spirit interceded for Jesus in other ways as well.  The flesh of Adam transmitted to Jesus came through his mother.  When I see Jesus praying My Father, if this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will must be done, I can’t help but see Mary answering Gabriel, Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word.16  This is the spirit of the woman who raised Jesus as a boy.

I am becoming more and more convinced that the idea of human sacrifice (including the death of the Lord Jesus) did not originate in the mind of God.  They have also built places of worship in a place called Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do!  Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing!17  They have built places here for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire.  Such sacrifices are something I never commanded them to make!  They are something I never told them to do!  Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!18  They built places of worship for the god Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom [that is, Gehenna] so that they could sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech.  Such a disgusting practice was not something I commanded them to do!  It never even entered my mind to command them to do such a thing!19

Though I don’t believe that Jesus’ sacrifice originated in the mind of God, I do believe it is evidence of how far God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—will go to communicate to the religious minds of those born of the flesh of Adam, who thought that such sacrifice should have some merit.  So as I see Jesus praying, your will must be done, accepting the death that will put an end to sacrifice—I want (θέλω) mercy and not sacrifice20—and an end to oaths of righteousness—I say to you, do not take oaths at all21—and I see his mother praying, let this happen to me according to your word, I also see an unnamed girl who was commemorated for her words, My father, since you made an oath to the Lord, do to me as you promised,22 after she returned from mourning her virginity and was sacrificed to God to fulfill Jephthah’s reckless oath.  Here I find my understanding of one of Jesus’ more enigmatic sayings, enigmatic to those of us who must follow Him by faith rather than by sight.

If anyone wants to become my follower, Jesus said, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.23  Peter and Paul helped me see what it meant to deny myself, to believe that I have died to sin,24 to say, I do not know the man25 to the old man that was crucified with [Christ] so that the body of sin would no longer dominate26 me.  To take up [my] cross is to join Jesus distrusting my own desires and saying to God, not my will but yours be done.27  And finally, to follow Jesus is to love and forgive others as He did, which is the fulfillment of the law.28  Freely you received, Jesus told his disciples, freely give.29

 

Addendum August 22, 2024:
Tables comparing Jeremiah 7:31 and 32:35 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Jeremiah 7:31 and 32:35 (39:35) in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Matthew 21:18; Mark 11:13, 14; 11:15 and 11:17 in the KJV and NET follow.

Jeremiah 7:31 (Tanakh)

Jeremiah 7:31 (KJV)

Jeremiah 7:31 (NET)
And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart. They have also built places of worship in a place called Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing!

Jeremiah 7:31 (Septuagint BLB)

Jeremiah 7:31 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ᾠκοδόμησαν τὸν βωμὸν τοῦ Ταφεθ ὅς ἐστιν ἐν φάραγγι υἱοῦ Εννομ τοῦ κατακαίειν τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας αὐτῶν ἐν πυρί ὃ οὐκ ἐνετειλάμην αὐτοῖς καὶ οὐ διενοήθην ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου καὶ ᾠκοδόμησαν τὸν βωμὸν τοῦ Ταφέθ, ὅς ἐστιν ἐν φάραγγι υἱοῦ ᾿Εννόμ, τοῦ κατακαίειν τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας αὐτῶν ἐν πυρί, ὃ οὐκ ἐνετειλάμην αὐτοῖς καὶ οὐ διενοήθην ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου

Jeremiah 7:31 (NETS)

Jeremiah 7:31 (English Elpenor)
And they built the altar of Tapheth, which is in the valley of Hennom’s son, to burn their sons and their daughters with fire—which I did not command them, and I did not intend it in my heart. And they have built the altar of Tapheth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom, to burn their sons and their daughters with fire; which I did not command them [to do], neither did I design it in my heart.

Jeremiah 32:35 (Tanakh)

Jeremiah 32:35 (KJV)

Jeremiah 32:35 (NET)
And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. They built places of worship for the god Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they could sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. Such a disgusting practice was not something I commanded them to do. It never even entered my mind to command them to do such a thing! So Judah is certainly liable for punishment.’

Jeremiah 32:35 (Septuagint BLB)

Jeremiah 39:35 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ᾠκοδόμησαν τοὺς βωμοὺς τῇ Βααλ τοὺς ἐν φάραγγι υἱοῦ Εννομ τοῦ ἀναφέρειν τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας αὐτῶν τῷ Μολοχ βασιλεῖ ἃ οὐ συνέταξα αὐτοῖς καὶ οὐκ ἀνέβη ἐπὶ καρδίαν μου τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὸ βδέλυγμα τοῦτο πρὸς τὸ ἐφαμαρτεῖν τὸν Ιουδαν καὶ ᾠκοδόμησαν τοὺς βωμοὺς τῇ Βάαλ τοὺς ἐν φάραγγι υἱοῦ ᾿Εννὸμ τοῦ ἀναφέρειν τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας αὐτῶν τῷ Μολὸχ βασιλεῖ, ἃ οὐ συνέταξα αὐτοῖς καὶ οὐκ ἀνέβη ἐπὶ καρδίαν μου, τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὸ βδέλυγμα τοῦτο πρὸς τὸ ἐφαμαρτεῖν τὸν ᾿Ιούδαν

Jeremiah 39:35 (NETS)

Jeremiah 39:35 (English Elpenor)
And they built the altars to the goddess Baal, which are in the valley of Hennom’s son, to offer up their sons and their daughters to the king, things which I did not intend them to do, and it did not arise in my heart that they do this abomination so as to cause Iouda to sin. And they built to Baal the altars that are in the valley of the son of Ennom, to offer their sons and their daughters to king Moloch; which things I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Juda to sin.

Matthew 21:18 (NET)

Matthew 21:18 (KJV)
Now early in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.

Matthew 21:18 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 21:18 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 21:18 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Πρωὶ_ δὲ |ἐπανάγων| εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἐπείνασεν πρωιας δε επαναγων εις την πολιν επεινασεν πρωιας δε επαναγων εις την πολιν επεινασεν

Mark 11:13, 14 (NET)

Mark 11:13, 14 (KJV)
After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

Mark 11:13 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 11:13 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 11:13 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ ἰδὼν συκῆν ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἔχουσαν φύλλα ἦλθεν, εἰ ἄρα τι εὑρήσει ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ ἐλθὼν ἐπ᾿ αὐτὴν οὐδὲν εὗρεν εἰ μὴ φύλλα· ὁ γὰρ καιρὸς οὐκ ἦν σύκων και ιδων συκην μακροθεν εχουσαν φυλλα ηλθεν ει αρα ευρησει τι εν αυτη και ελθων επ αυτην ουδεν ευρεν ει μη φυλλα ου γαρ ην καιρος συκων και ιδων συκην μακροθεν εχουσαν φυλλα ηλθεν ει αρα ευρησει τι εν αυτη και ελθων επ αυτην ουδεν ευρεν ει μη φυλλα ου γαρ ην καιρος συκων
He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

Mark 11:14 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 11:14 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 11:14 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτῇ· μηκέτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἐκ σοῦ μηδεὶς καρπὸν φάγοι. καὶ ἤκουον οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτη μηκετι εκ σου εις τον αιωνα μηδεις καρπον φαγοι και ηκουον οι μαθηται αυτου και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτη μηκετι εκ σου εις τον αιωνα μηδεις καρπον φαγοι και ηκουον οι μαθηται αυτου

Mark 11:15 (NET)

Mark 11:15 (KJV)
Then they came to Jerusalem. Jesus entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts. He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

Mark 11:15 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 11:15 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 11:15 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Καὶ ἔρχονται εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα. Καὶ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν ἤρξατο ἐκβάλλειν τοὺς πωλοῦντας καὶ τοὺς ἀγοράζοντας ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ, καὶ τὰς τραπέζας τῶν κολλυβιστῶν καὶ τὰς καθέδρας τῶν πωλούντων τὰς περιστερὰς κατέστρεψεν και ερχονται εις ιεροσολυμα και εισελθων ο ιησους εις το ιερον ηρξατο εκβαλλειν τους πωλουντας και αγοραζοντας εν τω ιερω και τας τραπεζας των κολλυβιστων και τας καθεδρας των πωλουντων τας περιστερας κατεστρεψεν και ερχονται εις ιεροσολυμα και εισελθων ο ιησους εις το ιερον ηρξατο εκβαλλειν τους πωλουντας και αγοραζοντας εν τω ιερω και τας τραπεζας των κολλυβιστων και τας καθεδρας των πωλουντων τας περιστερας κατεστρεψεν

Mark 11:17 (NET)

Mark 11:17 (KJV)
Then he began to teach them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have turned it into a den of robbers!” And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Mark 11:17 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 11:17 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 11:17 (Byzantine Majority Text)
καὶ ἐδίδασκεν καὶ ἔλεγεν |αὐτοῖς|· οὐ γέγραπται ὅτι ὁ οἶκος μου οἶκος προσευχῆς κληθήσεται πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν; ὑμεῖς δὲ πεποιήκατε αὐτὸν σπήλαιον λῃστῶν και εδιδασκεν λεγων αυτοις ου γεγραπται οτι ο οικος μου οικος προσευχης κληθησεται πασιν τοις εθνεσιν υμεις δε εποιησατε αυτον σπηλαιον ληστων και εδιδασκεν λεγων αυτοις ου γεγραπται οτι ο οικος μου οικος προσευχης κληθησεται πασιν τοις εθνεσιν υμεις δε εποιησατε αυτον σπηλαιον ληστων

1 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had Πρωὶ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had πρωιας (KJV: in the morning), a form of πρωΐα.

2 Matthew 21:18, 19 (NET)

3 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the preposition ἀπὸ here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

5 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article ὁ here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

6 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ο ιησους (KJV: Jesus) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

7 Mark 11:12-14 (NET)

9 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article τοὺς preceding buying. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

10 Mark 11:15b-17a (NET)

11 John 12:27 (NET)

12 Matthew 26:39a (NET) Table

13 Matthew 26:39 (NET) Table

14 Matthew 26:42 (NET) Table

15 Luke 22:42 (NET) Table

16 Luke 1:38 (NET)

17 Jeremiah 7:31 (NET)

18 Jeremiah 19:5 (NET) Table

19 Jeremiah 32:35 (NET)

20 Matthew 9:13 and 12:7 (NET) ἔλεος θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν a quotation of Hosea 6:6 [Table] from the Septuagint, ἔλεος θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν.  Hosea 6:6 translated from contemporary Hebrew reads, For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice (NET).  See also Hebrews 10:5-9 (NET).

21 Matthew 5:34 (NET)

22 Judges 11:36 (NET) Table

23 Matthew 16:24 (NET)

26 Romans 6:6 (NET)

27 Luke 22:42 (NET) Table

29 Matthew 10:8 (NET) Table

Young, Virginal or Single

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In Romans, Part 30 I said that sexual desire for someone other than my wife was like a distant early warning system, alerting me to which I was asserting control.  Things may not be so clear, however, for the young, virginal or single.  Simply put, how does one distinguish between the sexual desire that is of the flesh and sexual desire for a spouse-to-be?

Paul wrote, If anyone thinks he is acting inappropriately (ἀσχημονεῖν, a form of ἀσχημονέω) toward his virgin, if she is past the bloom of youth and it seems necessary (ὀφείλει, a form of ὀφείλω), he should do what he wishes (θέλει, a form of θέλω); he does not sin.  Let them marry (γαμείτωσαν, a form of γαμέω).1  So if a man (Paul seems to be addressing men) thinks his kissing, fondling, whatever, is inappropriate toward a virgin…  (And I wouldn’t get too carried away with the technicality virgin.)  If a man thinks his kissing, fondling, whatever is inappropriate toward a woman he has not married…  The word translated thinks he is acting inappropriately here is the same word translated rude in [Love] is not rude (ἀσχημονεῖ, another form of ἀσχημονέω), it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful.2

If she is past the bloom of youth, in other words, she is not too young, and it seems necessary (ὀφείλει, a form of ὀφείλω)…  I realize, on the surface of things, this reads like the man alone makes this decision.  But here with Paul’s reprise of a woman’s sexual rights, or a sexual debt owed to the woman (A husband should give to his wife her sexual rights [ὀφειλὴν, a form of ὀφειλή])3 that superficial reading comes most profoundly into question.  Once a woman has decided that she is owed sexual gratification there is not much a man can do about it but marry her or drop her hard.  I hope it is clear that the third option, to take advantage of her sexually and then drop her hard, is of the flesh.

Paul made no secret of the fact that he preferred that men remain single, An unmarried (ἄγαμος) man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.  But a married (γαμήσας, another form of γαμέω) man is concerned about the things of the world, how to please his wife, and he is divided.4  I wish (θέλω) that everyone was as I am, he wrote.  But each has his own gift from God, one this way, another that.5   In the next verse of instruction to the unmarried it seems on the surface that Paul has stacked the deck in favor of remaining single, but as I examine his word choices in detail I think the opposite is actually the case, so that no one but those gifted by God to do so choose to remain single.

But the man who is firm (ἕστηκεν, a form of ἵστημι) in his commitment (ἑδραῖος), and is under (ἔχων, a form of ἔχω) no necessity (ἀνάγκην, a form of ἀναγκή) but has (ἔχει, another form of ἔχω) control (ἐξουσίαν, a form of ἐξουσία) over his will (θελήματος, a form of θέλημα), and has decided (κέκρικεν, a form of κρίνω) in his own mind (καρδίᾳ, a form of καρδία) to keep (τηρεῖν, a form of τηρέω) his own virgin, does well (καλῶς; literally, “beautifully“).6

The phrase firm in his commitment (to stand immovable) is fairly clear even in English as an allusion to an erection.  Paul wanted men to really grapple with the caliber of commitment required.  Then, and is under (literally, having) no necessity, hearkens back to verse 2, because of πορνείας (a form of πορνεία), let each man have (ἐχέτω, another form of ἔχω) his own wife.7  Though necessity here might refer to a pregnancy, I’m convinced that Paul would say that that man’s choice to marry was already made.  It is the same word (ἀνάγκην, a form of ἀναγκή) Paul used in verse 26, Because of the impending crisis (τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν ἀνάγκην) I think it best for you to remain as you are.8  In the NKJV the same phrase was translated the present distress.  The allusion now is to a painful erection.

So I have a man who is 1) firm in his commitment, 2) has no necessity or distress concerning that commitment, but 3) has control (ἐξουσίαν, a form of ἐξουσία) over his will (θελήματος, a form of θέλημα).  This hearkens back to the ἐξουσιάζει that the wife has over her husband’s body: it is not the husband who has the rights (ἐξουσιάζει, a form of ἐξουσιάζω) to his own body (σώματος, a form of σῶμα), but the wife.9  In other words, this particular woman has not crept very deeply into this particular man’s mind, or heart as the case may be.  And, 4) he has decided (κέκρικεν, a form of κρίνω; judged) in his own mind (καρδίᾳ, a form of καρδία; literally, heart) to keep (τηρεῖν, a form of τηρέω) his own virgin.

It sounds as if the man has decided to keep the woman a virgin, but I think there is more to τηρεῖν (a form of τηρέω) than that.  He will keep her, provide for her maintenance and support, love her, care for her (perhaps live with her) in every way a man would keep a wife, except that he will not have sexual relations with her.  And how firm in his commitment will he remain, without painful distress, having control over his will?  That, I think, is more what Paul had in mind here, so that the one who dared such a thing did it with the power of God and, at very least, the acquiescence of his beloved, if not her full participation and support. [Addendum June 27, 2024: I had a change of heart about the Greek in this passage later.]

I have played a lot of weddings in my life, for the ceremony, not the party after.  I have heard the jokes by priests, pastors and preachers at the rehearsal, that “this isn’t the real thing.”  I was close enough to one of those pastors to actually get at what he meant.  He hated wedding rehearsals, not because it was another night away from his family without pay, but because he feared that the young couple would be so carried away by the rehearsal that they would have sex (with each other) twenty-four hours too soon.  I didn’t know what to make of that at the time.  Now I wish to say clearly that I think it is part of the religious mind.  It is exactly the same species of religious thought as the one who supposes that he is free of the sin of adultery because his serial sexual relationships were never blessed by a priest, pastor or rabbi.

 

1 1 Corinthians 7:36 (NET)

2 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NET)

3 1 Corinthians 7:3a (NET) Table

4 1 Corinthians 7:32-34a (NET) Table

5 1 Corinthians 7:7 (NET) Table

6 1 Corinthians 7:37 (NET) Table

7 1 Corinthians 7:2a (NKJV)

8 1 Corinthians 7:26 (NET)

9 1 Corinthians 7:4b (NET) Table

Romans, Part 30

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So then, brothers and sisters, Paul continued, we are under obligation (ὀφειλέται, a form of ὀφειλέτης), not to the flesh (σαρκὶ, a form of σάρξ), to live according to the flesh (σάρκα, another form of σάρξ)…1  The word translated obligation above is also found in Matthew’s version of the Lord’s prayer, and forgive us our debts (ὀφειλήματα, a form of ὀφείλημα), as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors (ὀφειλέταις, another form of ὀφειλέτης).2  This is a powerful concept, but first I want to focus on what the flesh is not.

The flesh as Paul used it is not the body.  Be careful, he warned, not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.3  If4 you have died with Christ5 to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world?  “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”  These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are on human commands and teachings.  Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship6 and false humility achieved by an unsparing treatment7 of the body (σώματος, a form of σῶμα) – a wisdom with no true value – they in reality result in fleshly (σαρκός, another form of σάρξ) indulgence (πλησμονὴν, a form of πλησμονή).8

In other words, “I self-flagellate three times a day and only eat bread and water,” is the same pride and religious thinking that got us into this mess in the first place.  It is the religious impulse of the flesh of Adam.

The flesh is not sexual desire.  A husband should give to his wife her sexual rights (ὀφειλὴν, a form of ὀφειλή), and likewise a wife to her husband.  It is not the wife who has the rights (ἐξουσιάζει, a form of ἐξουσιάζω) to her own body (σώματος, a form of σῶμα), but the husband. In the same way, it is not the husband who has the rights (ἐξουσιάζει, a form of ἐξουσιάζω) to his own body (σώματος, a form of σῶμα), but the wife [Table].  Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a specified time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer [Table].9  While the believer in Christ is not obligated (ὀφειλέται, a form of ὀφειλέτης) or a debtor to the flesh, husband and wife are indebted (ὀφειλὴν, a form of ὀφειλή) to each other sexually.

Interestingly, neither the wife nor the husband possesses the ἐξουσιάζει (a form of ἐξουσιάζω; authority, power) over her or his own body.  That belongs to the spouse.  This is the same authority that Gentile kings lorded over their subjects as Jesus told his disciples, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority (ἐξουσιάζοντες, another form of ἐξουσιάζω) over them are called ‘benefactors.’  Not so with you; instead the one who is greatest among you must become10 like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves.”11  It is the same control Paul would not allow anything to have over him: “All things are lawful for me” – but not everything is beneficial. “All things are lawful for me” – but I will not be controlled (ἐξουσιασθήσομαι, another form of ἐξουσιάζω) by anything.12  I think I’ll go the long way around and circle back to this.

While sex (and sexual desire) in and of itself is not the flesh, if I set my sights on another’s wife (or a prostitute) that is the flesh.  (Or do you not know that anyone who is united [κολλώμενος, a form of κολλάω] with a prostitute [πόρνῃ, a form of πόρνη] is one body with her?13)  Here is where the power I spoke of earlier comes into play.  If I believe that I delight in the law of God in my inner being,14 then the desire for another’s wife or a prostitute, which is clearly contrary to God’s law, is not my desire: Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.15  It is like a distant early warning system, sounding the alarm which I is asserting control.

This distinction may not be so obvious for the young, the virginal, or the single.  I should know.  I’ve spent most of my adult life single.  But I want to address that in a separate essay.

Now not everyone lumps the old man, flesh, sin personified, desire of the flesh and so on together as one thing.  But I have read a lot of Nietzsche, and out of deference, I suppose, for the help he has been to me I try to keep what he would call “imaginary causes and effects”16 to a minimum. I can posit all of this sin and rebellious desire in an old man born of Adam (as well as the credited righteousness of God and the fruit of his Spirit in a new creation born from above in the image of Christ) without feeling that any of this is my imagination.  And the quantum leap (there is no time or space between energy quanta) between the old and new I describes my experience with chilling accuracy, especially in outbursts of anger.17

Even as I rant I wonder, “Who are you?” For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate.18  That’s how my father used to act!  And there have been times when that brought me back from the brink.  (But there have also been times when that did not bring me back from the brink and I reveled in the sensual pleasure of rage.)

The main theological objection to lumping the old man, flesh, sin personified, desire of the flesh and so on together is that our old man was crucified with19 Jesus.  It is therefore dead (and presumably gone).  I take the death of Adam as my key here.  God said, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.20 Something died in Adam when he became knowledgeable of evil.

I heard you moving about in the orchard, Adam said to God, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid,21 yet Adam had been naked all along.  The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed,22 not with God, not with each other, and not with the animals.  In a similar sense something has died in me, too.  The old man no longer has my absolute unquestioned allegiance as me.  And that is all Paul said, We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.23  The entire lifetime of Adam was 930 years, and then he died.24  And in a similar way I await that ultimate condemnation of sin in the flesh,25 the death of this body.

I promised I would circle back via the long way.  Why would Paul counsel Corinthian husbands and wives to treat each other sexually in ways that Jesus did not want his disciples to treat each other at all, and under a control that Paul himself would not allow anything to have over him?  So, here goes.

If the flesh got the wild idea to seek out a prostitute I wouldn’t know where to begin to look for one.  Add to that, I know me.  If I had sex with a pretty young prostitute I would fall in love with a pretty young prostitute.  About a decade after my first divorce it took several days for me to get the pretty nurse who administered a barium enema out of my mind.  I can be a silly old fool, no doubt about it.  But chasing a pretty young prostitute, saying, “I love you, I love you, let me take you away from all of this,” is a sillier old fool than I can be.  I live in the Midwest.  I am working class all the way.  I grew up in a fundamentalist church.  There is something unseemly about visiting a prostitute.

Though the Roman government had apparently put a damper on the sexual worship of goddesses (and gods) in other places, this practice still flourished in Corinth at the time Paul wrote.  Visiting a temple prostitute was good and in some cases necessary for good fortune.  Highly skilled sex slaves, both male πόρνοι (a form of πόρνος) and female πόρνης (a form of πόρνη), were readily available, and Paul counseled husbands and wives, because of this πορνείας (a form of πορνεία), to be that for each other.  He never repented of it.  He never gave it a different spin that I have found.  So I assume that even that degree of sensual and sexual commitment between husband and wife was not living according to the flesh26 in Paul’s understanding of the term he appropriated to describe the situation of the one born of the flesh and of the Spirit.

I want to leave the pelvic sins (as I heard a clever wag call them) to ponder the wider scope of opposition of the flesh to the Spirit of God.  Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality (πορνεία), impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things.27  There is a world of sin less than a hair’s breadth and a nanosecond away from me (there is no time or space between quantum states) at every moment of my life here in this body.  But I say, Paul wrote the Galatians, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.28  So then, brothers and sisters, Paul wrote the Romans, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh…29

 

Addendum: May 31, 2024
Tables comparing Genesis 5:5 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Genesis 5:5 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Colossians 2:20; 2:23 and Luke 22:26 in the KJV and NET follow.

Genesis 5:5 (Tanakh)

Genesis 5:5 (KJV)

Genesis 5:5 (NET)
And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died. And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. The entire lifetime of Adam was 930 years, and then he died.

Genesis 5:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 5:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγένοντο πᾶσαι αἱ ἡμέραι Αδαμ ἃς ἔζησεν ἐννακόσια καὶ τριάκοντα ἔτη καὶ ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἐγένοντο πᾶσαι αἱ ἡμέραι ᾿Αδάμ, ἃς ἔζησε, τριάκοντα καὶ ἐννακόσια ἔτη, καὶ ἀπέθανεν

Genesis 5:5 (NETS)

Genesis 5:5 (English Elpenor)
And all the days of Adam, that he lived, amounted to nine hundred thirty years, and he died. And all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

Colossians 2:20 (NET)

Colossians 2:20 (KJV)
If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world? Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,

Colossians 2:20 (NET Parallel Greek)

Colossians 2:20 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Colossians 2:20 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Εἰ ἀπεθάνετε σὺν Χριστῷ ἀπὸ τῶν στοιχείων τοῦ κόσμου, τί ὡς ζῶντες ἐν κόσμῳ δογματίζεσθε ει ουν απεθανετε συν τω χριστω απο των στοιχειων του κοσμου τι ως ζωντες εν κοσμω δογματιζεσθε ει απεθανετε συν χριστω απο των στοιχειων του κοσμου τι ως ζωντες εν κοσμω δογματιζεσθε

Colossians 2:23 (NET)

Colossians 2:23 (KJV)
Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body—a wisdom with no true value—they in reality result in fleshly indulgence. Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

Colossians 2:23 (NET Parallel Greek)

Colossians 2:23 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Colossians 2:23 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἅτινα ἐστιν λόγον μὲν ἔχοντα σοφίας ἐν ἐθελοθρησκίᾳ καὶ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ ἀφειδίᾳ σώματος, οὐκ ἐν τιμῇ τινι πρὸς πλησμονὴν τῆς σαρκός ατινα εστιν λογον μεν εχοντα σοφιας εν εθελοθρησκεια και ταπεινοφροσυνη και αφειδια σωματος ουκ εν τιμη τινι προς πλησμονην της σαρκος ατινα εστιν λογον μεν εχοντα σοφιας εν εθελοθρησκεια και ταπεινοφροσυνη και αφειδια σωματος ουκ εν τιμη τινι προς πλησμονην της σαρκος

Luke 22:26 (NET)

Luke 22:26 (KJV)
Not so with you; instead the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.

Luke 22:26 (NET Parallel Greek)

Luke 22:26 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Luke 22:26 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ᾿ ὁ μείζων ἐν ὑμῖν γινέσθω ὡς ὁ νεώτερος καὶ ὁ ἡγούμενος ὡς ὁ διακονῶν υμεις δε ουχ ουτως αλλ ο μειζων εν υμιν γενεσθω ως ο νεωτερος και ο ηγουμενος ως ο διακονων υμεις δε ουχ ουτως αλλ ο μειζων εν υμιν γενεσθω ως ο νεωτερος και ο ηγουμενος ως ο διακονων

1 Romans 8:12 (NET)

2 Matthew 6:12 (NET) Table

3 Colossians 2:8 (NET)

4 The Stephanus Textus Receptus had ουν (KJV: Wherefore) here. The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

5 The Stephanus Textus Receptus had the article τω preceding Christ. The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

7 The Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA28 had καὶ preceding by an unsparing treatment (KJV: neglecting). The NET parallel Greek text did not (NET note 46).

8 Colossians 2:20-23 (NET)

9 1 Corinthians 7:3-5a (NET)

10 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had γινέσθω in the present tense here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had γενεσθω (KJV: let him be) in the 2nd aorist tense.

11 Luke 22:25, 26 (NET)

12 1 Corinthians 6:12 (NET)

13 1 Corinthians 6:16 (NET)

14 Romans 7:22 (NET)

15 Romans 7:20 (NET) Table

16 Friedrich Nietzsche: The Antichrist (part 2)

18 Romans 7:15 (NET)

20 Genesis 2:17 (NKJV) Table

21 Genesis 3:10 (NET) Table

22 Genesis 2:25 (NET) Table

23 Romans 6:6 (NET)

24 Genesis 5:5 (NET)

27 Galatians 5:19-21a (NET) [Table] There is no note explaining why, but adultery (μοιχεία) which heads this list in the KJV does not even appear in the Greek text from which the NET was translated. It does begin the list in the textus receptus (received text).

28 Galatians 5:16 (NET)

29 Romans 8:12 (NET)

Peter’s Way?

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Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Jude and the writer of Hebrews managed to expound on the Gospel without recourse to Areté (ἀρέτη),1 Greek virtue.  Paul used it once in a way that seems to question its existence or value: Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue (ἀρέτη) and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.2  But Peter commanded me to add ἀρετήν (a form of ἀρέτη) to faith (πίστει, a form of πίστις): giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue.3

“There is a tale that Arete (Virtue) dwells on unclimable rocks and close to the gods tends a holy place; she may not be seen by the eyes of all mortals, but only by him on whom distressing sweat comes from within, the one who reaches the peak of manliness.”4  In other words, Areté (ἀρέτη) is Gerard Butler as King Leonidas in the movie “300,” straining, leaping, crawling, clawing, dragging himself by brute strength up a sheer cliff face to reach an oracle.  That Peter had this imagery of a slow, painful ascent in mind is obvious (2 Peter 1:5-7 NKJV):

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

And if such a manly man may imagine virtue at the pinnacle of his arduous climb as something like King Leonidas found in the movie—a beautiful, half-naked woman, writhing in ecstasy—that’s all for the better.  Peter’s letters, the only ones preserved in the New Testament, were addressed to people temporarily residing abroad,5 presumably in the churches founded by Paul, probably after Paul’s execution in Rome.  I don’t really believe that Peter held any ill will toward Paul or his teaching.  I believe that Peter was Peter, “Ready! Fire! Aim!”  A fisherman by trade, Peter was ready to take on soldiers in the garden the night Jesus was arrested.6  But I do want to compare and contrast Paul’s and Peter’s How-To writings, because Peter’s writing spoke to me long before Paul’s made any sense at all.

At the time I was ready to believe Jesus again I was more than willing to make every effort to add to [my] faith excellence.7  Excellence is a contemporary attempt to rekindle some Greek fire in Areté (ἀρέτη), since virtue has become an old scold.  I set out, discounting the Gospel as something I’d already tried and found wanting, to obey the law, excellently, virtuously.  And I saw my efforts as the only sure way of escaping the worldly8 corruption that is produced by evil desire (ἐπιθυμίᾳ, a form of ἐπιθυμία).9  After I escaped the worldly corruption produced by evil desire by making every effort to keep the law, then I may become [a partaker] of the divine nature.10  But that wasn’t what Peter said, not really.  Or if it is was, it wasn’t exactly what he meant.

Peter’s point was that God’s divine power (δυνάμεως, a form of δύναμις) has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence (ἀρετῇ, another form of ἀρέτη).11  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, Paul wrote, for it is God’s power (δύναμις) for salvation to everyone who believes.12

Through these things, Peter continued, [through God’s divine power that has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence] he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises (ἐπαγγέλματα, a form of ἐπάγγελμα).13  Abraham, according to Paul, did not waver in unbelief about the promise (ἐπαγγελίαν, a form of ἐπαγγελία) of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.  He was fully convinced that what God promised (ἐπήγγελται, a form of ἐπαγγέλλω) he was also able to do.14

Peter continued, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.15  To become partakers of the divine nature by believing what was promised sounds exactly like Paul, but only after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire?  The translators of the American Standard Version rendered it, having escaped from the corruption that is in that world by lust.16  This, according to Paul, was achieved by God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.17  Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?18  Paul continued, our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.19

The translators of the New International Version rendered Peter’s explanation, so that through [his very great and precious promises] you may participate in the divine nature and [emphasis added] escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.20  But a note (20) in the NET justifies the translation after escaping as follows: “The aorist participle ἀποφυγόντες (apophugontes) is often taken as attendant circumstance to the preceding verb γένησθε (genesthse). As such, the sense is ‘that you might become partakers…and might escape…’ However, it does not follow the contours of the vast majority of attendant circumstance participles (in which the participle precedes the main verb, among other things). Further, attendant circumstance participles are frequently confused with result participles (which do follow the verb). Many who take this as attendant circumstance are probably viewing it semantically as result (‘that you might become partakers…and [thereby] escape…’). But this is next to impossible since the participle is aorist: Result participles are categorically present tense.”

Reading this makes me wonder, did a fisherman who could change from first person plural to second person plural in mid-thought (he has bestowed on us…so that…you) know this subtle nuance of the Greek language?  The alternative—that Peter actually meant to say that God had bestowed his precious and most magnificent promises on Apostles only (or Jews only), so that the laity (or Gentiles) may become partakers of the divine nature, after making every effort to escape the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire—seems untenable to me given his opening salutation.  From Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness (δικαιοσύνῃ, a form of δικαιοσύνη) of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted a faith just as precious as ours.  May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!21

If, however, I accept that Peter was not the writer, not the literary man or learned man, that Paul was, I can make some sense of this.  The Areté (ἀρέτη) Peter wanted me to add to my faith was nothing less than the Areté (ἀρέτη) of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence (ἀρετῇ, a form of ἀρέτη) who by his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness.22  Even the rabbis who translated the Septuagint used ἀρέτη for God’s virtue as Peter alluded to Isaiah 43:21: you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues (ἀρετὰς, another form of ἀρέτη) of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.23

NET

Blue Letter Bible (Septuagint)

NET   Bible (Greek parallel text)
…you may proclaim the virtues…

1 Peter 2:9 (NET)

 τὰς ἀρετάς μου διηγεῖσθαι

Isaiah   43:21

 τὰς ἀρετὰς ἐξαγγείλητε

1 Peter 2:9

Peter changed the word from διηγεῖσθαι24 to ἐξαγγείλητε, something more than mere telling.  It is only used once in the Bible, but is a compound of two words that would literally be from an angel (messenger).  It was translated show forth in the KJV.  [Addendum 5/23/2024: According to the Koine Greek Lexicon online διηγεῖσθαι is a form of διηγέομαι, “to set out in detail, fully describe, show; to explain, report; to narrate, tell, relate fully, declare, recite, proclaim,” while ἐξαγγείλητε is a form of ἐξαγγέλλω, “to proclaim, report, tell out, make known; to give public, vocal expression to.”] It seems that ἀρέτη (ἀρετάς above) served the same function for Peter that δικαιοσύνη served for Paul: But now apart from the law the righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed – namely, the righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe [Table].25

There are really only two ways for me to add virtue or moral excellence to my faith.  I can trust in Christ, relying on the credited righteousness of God through the fruit of the Holy Spirit, or I can strive to keep the law, relying on myself.  Had I like Saul achieved the status of blameless according to the righteousness stipulated in the law,26 I still wouldn’t have qualified as a Pharisee.  And Jesus said, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.27 Though the love that fulfills the law, the credited righteousness of God by the fruit of his Spirit, seems a long way off from Areté (ἀρέτη) in Peter’s arduous climb, it is an appropriate distance between self-acquired blamelessness according to the righteousness stipulated in the law and the righteousness of God.  Of course, I didn’t see it this way before I grasped what Paul was saying in Romans.

I thought I was trusting Christ and striving to keep the law, even that by striving to keep the law I was trusting Christ, as I misunderstood James, Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by MY WORKS.28  I added the emphasis here to indicate how full of the pride of life29 I was.  Thankfully, I can’t satisfy my God-given hunger and thirst for righteousness30 by striving to keep rules.  And I also thank God that Jesus made a special appearance to call a wayward Pharisee named Saul, transformed him into Paul the Apostle, and gave him the words that make up the bulk of the Gospel commentary in the New Testament.

 

Addendum: May 23, 2024
Tables comparing Isaiah 43:21 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Isaiah 43:21 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing 2 Peter 1:4 and 1:3 in the NET and KJV follow.

Isaiah 43:21 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 43:21 (KJV)

Isaiah 43:21 (NET)
This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. the people whom I formed for myself, so they might praise me.

Isaiah 43:21 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 43:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
λαόν μου ὃν περιεποιησάμην τὰς ἀρετάς μου διηγεῖσθαι λαόν μου, ὃν περιεποιησάμην τὰς ἀρετάς μου διηγεῖσθαι

Isaiah 43:21 (NETS)

Isaiah 43:21 (English Elpenor)
my people whom I have acquired to set forth my excellences. my people whom I have preserved to tell forth my praises.

2 Peter 1:4 (NET)

2 Peter 1:4 (KJV)
Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:4 (NET Parallel Greek)

2 Peter 1:4 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

2 Peter 1:4 (Byzantine Majority Text)
δι᾿ ὧν τὰ τίμια καὶ μέγιστα ἡμῖν ἐπαγγέλματα δεδώρηται, ἵνα διὰ τούτων γένησθε θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως ἀποφυγόντες τῆς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ φθορᾶς δι ων τα μεγιστα ημιν και τιμια επαγγελματα δεδωρηται ινα δια τουτων γενησθε θειας κοινωνοι φυσεως αποφυγοντες της εν κοσμω εν επιθυμια φθορας δι ων τα τιμια ημιν και μεγιστα επαγγελματα δεδωρηται ινα δια τουτων γενησθε θειας κοινωνοι φυσεως αποφυγοντες της εν κοσμω εν επιθυμια φθορας

2 Peter 1:3 (NET)

2 Peter 1:3 (KJV)
I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

2 Peter 1:3 (NET Parallel Greek)

2 Peter 1:3 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

2 Peter 1:3 (Byzantine Majority Text)
Ὡς πάντα ἡμῖν τῆς θείας δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ τὰ πρὸς ζωὴν καὶ εὐσέβειαν δεδωρημένης διὰ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως τοῦ καλέσαντος ἡμᾶς |ἰδίᾳ δόξῃ| καὶ |ἀρετῇ| ως παντα ημιν της θειας δυναμεως αυτου τα προς ζωην και ευσεβειαν δεδωρημενης δια της επιγνωσεως του καλεσαντος ημας δια δοξης και αρετης ως παντα ημιν της θειας δυναμεως αυτου τα προς ζωην και ευσεβειαν δεδωρημενης δια της επιγνωσεως του καλεσαντος ημας δια δοξης και αρετης

1 Addendum: May 22, 2019
The Greek word ἀρέτη was used in the Septuagint. In an article titled “Are There Traces of Greek Philosophy in the Septuagint?” [The Jewish Quarterly Review Vol. 2, No. 3 (Apr., 1890), pp. 205-222] J. Freudenthal wrote:

“Aρέτη, as is well known, originally signifies man’s power and capacity; hence the term serves to denote all bodily and mental excellences, and, though more rarely, their effects or ‘great achievements,’ or the ‘glory,’ or ‘fame’ acquired in consequence…In philosophical language these usages fall into the background, and the abstract sense of ‘virtue’ preponderates. But it is precisely this ethical meaning, which afterwards became universal, that is never found in the Septuagint.”

Mr. Freudenthal wrote that ἀρέτη was only used in the Septuagint “in the sense of ‘praise,’ ‘glory,’ ‘honour,’ ‘excellence,’ ‘quality worthy of honour.’”  He offered the following examples:

Reference

 NET Parallel Hebrew Chabad.org Tanakh NET Septuagint (BLB)

Septuagint (Elpenor)
Isaiah 42:8 ותהלתי (tehillâh) וּתְהִלָּתִ֖י praise praise ἀρετάς ἀρετάς
Isaiah 42:12 ותהלתו (tehillâh) וּתְהִלָּת֖וֹ praise praise his deeds ἀρετὰς ἀρετὰς
Zechariah 6:13 הוד (hôd) ה֔וֹד the glory splendor ἀρετὴν ἀρετὴν
Isaiah 43:21 תהלתי (tehillâh) תְּהִלָּתִ֖י praise praise ἀρετάς ἀρετάς
Isaiah 63:7 תהלת (tehillâh) תְּהִלּ֣וֹת praises praiseworthy deeds ἀρετὰς ἀρετὰς

It is worth considering whether Peter meant praise rather than excellence or the virtue of Greek philosophy.  Mr. Freudenthal, however, wrote: “Only in one passage does the word seem used in the philosophical sense, viz. : in 2 Pet. i. 5…”

2 Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)

4 Simonides, Fragment 579 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric III) (Greek lyric C6th to 5th B.C.)  ARETE PERSONIFICATION OF VIRTUE

7 2 Peter 1:5a (NET)

8 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article τῷ preceding worldly. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

9 2 Peter 1:4b (NET)

10 2 Peter 1:4a (NET)

11 2 Peter 1:3 (NET) The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had |ἰδίᾳ δόξῃ| καὶ |ἀρετῇ| here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δια δοξης και αρετης (KJV: to glory and virtue).

12 Romans 1:16 (NET) Table

13 2 Peter 1:4a (NET)

14 Romans 4:20, 21 (NET)

15 2 Peter 1:4b (NET)

16 2 Peter 1:4b (ASV)  A note 21 in the NET acknowledges that the Greek is, “the corruption in the world (in/because of) lust.”

17 Romans 8:3 (NET)

18 Romans 6:3 (NET)

19 Romans 6:6 (NET)

20 2 Peter 1:4b (NIV)

21 2 Peter 1:1, 2 (NET)

22 2 Peter 1:3 (NET)

23 1 Peter 2:9 (NET)

25 Romans 3:21, 22 (NET)

26 Philippians 3:6b (NET) Table

27 Matthew 5:20 (NET)

28 James 2:18b (NET) Table