by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The war between Israel and the Hamas has now come to its 114th<\/sup> day since Hamas launched its October 7, 2023 attack into Israel. The Israelis have now moved further south in the Gaza Strip and encircled Khan Younis amidst heavy fighting. The Hezbollah in Lebanon and are still firing missiles into Israel. Meanwhile, conflict in the Red Sea seems to have escalated as the US and UK with the support of other nations increasingly strike the Houthi rebel missile sites in Yemen. There are high-level negotiations going on for the release of the over 100 remaining hostages in exchange for a 2-month suspension of hostilities. We should continue to pray for the release of all hostages and a just end to this war. Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem as God commands us to (Psalm 122:6-7)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have seen the Hebrew words (\u05db\u05b4\u05bc\u05e4\u05b0\u05dc\u05b7\u0596\u05d9\u05b4\u05dd (kiphlayim) from the underlying \u05db\u05b6\u05bc\u05e4\u05b6\u05dc<\/strong> (kephel); and \u05de\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e0\u05b5\u05a4\u05d4 (mishneh) pointed out by Dr. Meredith G. Kline in the Old Testament (OT) which he says needs a retranslation in the specific contexts where their meaning is best rendered as \u201cmatching\u201d or \u201cequivalent\u201d instead of \u201cdouble\u201d or \u201ctwo-fold.\u201d Dr. Kline keeps the self-revelation of the LORD God, his goodness, as the ultimate basis of his argument. He also notes that God\u2019s just and righteous character is found in the lex talionis<\/em> principle found in Exodus 21:23-25 and its parallel in Deuteronomy 19:21 (\u201c\u2026life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,\u2026\u201d). He says this \u201ctalion\u201d principle applies in some New Testament (NT) passages as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, as with his analysis of the Hebrew words in context, Dr. Kline also looked at some NT Greek words in a similar context and says that they need some retranslation too. His treatment of the Greek words consistently follow his analysis with the Hebrew words. He further notes that these words derive their meaning from the Hebrew as evidenced by their use in the LXX translations of the OT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Greek words to study has limited usage in the NT. One is an adjective and the other a verb. The same Greek adjective is found in 3 different NT verses: Revelation 18:6; Matthew 23:15; and 1 Timothy 5:17. The verb form of this word is found only once; also in Revelation 18:6. We will now look at this Revelation verse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Revelation 18 is all about the fall and judgment of Babylon. Here, the city is personified and becomes a symbol of all that is vile and evil; the antithesis of all that is good (symbolized by the city of Jerusalem later in Chapter 21). As part of the judgment of Babylon, Revelation 18:6 contains the verb and adjective in question. The SBL GNT verse of this verse is given below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6<\/sup>\u1f00\u03c0\u03cc\u03b4\u03bf\u03c4\u03b5 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1fc7 \u1f61\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1f74 \u1f00\u03c0\u03ad\u03b4\u03c9\u03ba\u03b5\u03bd, \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03ce\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5<\/mark> \u03c4\u1f70 \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u1fb6<\/mark> \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u1f70 \u03c4\u1f70 \u1f14\u03c1\u03b3\u03b1 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2\u00b7 \u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u1ff7 \u03c0\u03bf\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1\u03af\u1ff3 \u1fa7 \u1f10\u03ba\u03ad\u03c1\u03b1\u03c3\u03b5\u03bd \u03ba\u03b5\u03c1\u03ac\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1fc7 \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd<\/mark><\/em>\u00b7<\/p>\n\n\n\n The previous verse 5 says that her (Babylon\u2019s) sins have piled up to heaven and God has remembered her crimes. The first part of verse 6 then says \u1f00\u03c0\u03cc\u03b4\u03bf\u03c4\u03b5 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1fc7 \u1f61\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1f74 \u1f00\u03c0\u03ad\u03b4\u03c9\u03ba\u03b5\u03bd,<\/em> meaning give back to her as also she gave<\/em>. After this comes the portion that Dr. Kline says needs retranslation. After asking God to give back to Babylon as she gave, which connotes an equivalent, or matching, or proportionate recompense, the verse continues with \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03ce\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5<\/mark> \u03c4\u1f70 \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u1fb6<\/mark> \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u1f70 \u03c4\u1f70 \u1f14\u03c1\u03b3\u03b1 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2\u00b7<\/em> The Greek punctuation mark indicates that it is the end of a sentence. The questionable part has \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03ce\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5<\/mark> \u03c4\u1f70 \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u1fb6<\/mark><\/em> but the next phrase \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u1f70 \u03c4\u1f70 \u1f14\u03c1\u03b3\u03b1 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2<\/em> just means according to her works<\/em>. The next part of verse 6 has \u1f10\u03bd \u03c4\u1ff7 \u03c0\u03bf\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1\u03af\u1ff3 \u1fa7 \u1f10\u03ba\u03ad\u03c1\u03b1\u03c3\u03b5\u03bd \u03ba\u03b5\u03c1\u03ac\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1fc7 \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd<\/mark><\/em>\u00b7 This is actually another Greek sentence which literally means in the cup which she mixed, mix to her \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd<\/mark><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next verse 7 actually reinforces the thought that a judgment decree of the same degree or commensurate to what Babylon did is in order. Personifying Babylon again, the first part of verse 7 says that as much as she (Babylon) glorified herself and lived sensuously (meaning self-indulgent lustful, wanton behavior), so much should be given back to her as torment and misery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n