Word of the week

At our Pickering weekly meeting 'Bible and banter' (alas, not '... and beer'), we are working our way through a course based on the beatitudes, with links to other scriptural passages. From time to time, words come up that we struggle to interpret in modern terms.

Dogs

In Matt 15:26, Jesus says to a Syro-phœnician woman, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." The word for 'dog' here is κυνάριον, a diminutive of the usual word for dog, κύων. What Jesus says to the woman still sounds shocking, at least if it is not immediately followed by her sharp and witty reply. But at least the use of a diminutive renders it a little less harsh.

Meek

In Matthew's version of the beatitudes (Matt. 5:5) appears the word πραεῖς, often translated 'meek'. This word also occurs (Strong 4239) in Matt 11:29, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart," and in Matt 21:5, "See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey," but not elsewhere in the gospels.

The 'meek' that occurs in the Magnificat, "He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble [and meek]," (Luke 1:52) is a different word, ταπεινούς, that appears alongside πραΰς in Matt 11:29.

Sons

"For they shall be called sons of God," we read. Or rather we don't, because modern translations have replaced sons by children, and modern church mores are such that someone who naively translates the Greek word υἱοὶ is subjected to withering ridicule. Greek has a perfectly good word, τέκνα, that is usually translated children, so we might ask why Jesus instead uses the word υἱοὶ that some find so offensively masculine. I can think of two reasons – one is that τέκνα might carry the extended meaning descendants, and we are all in sense descendants of God anyway, making it less of a compliment to the peace-makers. Another idea is that Jesus is himself called the son of God, not least in the ICHTHYS acronym, so the peace-makers are here being compared to Him. I wonder what is right?

Debts

Just to note that the words for owing and debt used in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt 18:21--end) have the same root and the words in the Lord's prayer translated trespasses and to tresspass.

Peace-makers

"Blessed are the peacemakers," says Jesus, using the hapax εἰρηνοποιοί. Helen-Ann Hartley points out that this word has a dual meaning, one that is hidden from English speakers because in English the verb to make and the verb to do are distinct. In Greek (or in French or German, I suppose) the idea of one who creates peace and one who acts peacefully could be expressed in the same word. Though unhelpfully a commonly used French translation has

Heureux ceux qui procurent la paix, car ils seront appelés fils de Dieu!

And Luther has

Selig sind die Friedfertigen; denn sie werden Gottes Kinder heißen.

The word εἰρηνοποιοί is a compound, with the prefix εἰρήνη corresponding to peace, and the suffix ποιος meaning maker or doer, a word that is cognate with the root of the English word poem, a literary confection, if you like.