by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The war between Israel and the Hamas continues since Hamas launched its October 7, 2023 attack into Israel. The Israelis have now moved further south and would be approaching Rafah along the Gaza border with Egypt. The Hezbollah in southern Lebanon are intensifying missile, mortar and anti-tank fire into civilian areas of northern Israel. In the Red Sea, the US and UK with the support of other nations continue to hit Houthi rebel missile sites in Yemen. Meanwhile, the conflict has expanded in the Iraq and Syria as the US strikes the Iranian proxies responsible for American troop casualties in Jordan. The hostages are still in Gaza captivity, including women, elderly, a child and a baby. The high-level negotiations going on for the release of the over 100 remaining hostages in exchange for a period of suspension of hostilities are intensifying. We should continue to pray for the immediate release of all hostages, as well as Red Cross medical attention for them. We should continue to pray for 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
The late evangelical scholar Dr. Meredith G. Kline pointed out specific words in both the Old Testament (OT) and New Testament (NT) 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 We now have been introduced to the Greek NT words \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb<\/em>\u1fb6<\/em> (dipla) and \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03bf<\/em>\u1fe6<\/em>\u03bd<\/em> (diploun), both from the adjective \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03bf<\/em>\u1fe6<\/em>\u03c2<\/em> (diplous); and \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03ce\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5<\/em> (diplosate) from the cognate verb \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03cc\u03c9<\/em> (diplo\u00f3). Earlier, we had studied 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) from the OT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Greek words had limited usage in the NT and are found in 3 different NT verses: Revelation 18:6; Matthew 23:15; and 1 Timothy 5:17. Last time, we looked at its usage in Revelation 18:6. We will now look at Matthew 23:15 where a differently nuanced use of the inflected form of the Greek adjective \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03bf<\/em>\u1fe6<\/em>\u03c2<\/em> (diplous) is used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The context of Matthew 23:15 is all about the Lord\u2019s condemnation against the scribes and Pharisees, in the form of pronouncement of woes or denunciations. This verse forms part of the \u201cSeven Woes\u201d that some Bibles use as headings for either the whole of Chapter 23 or from Matthew 23:13-36. The 7 woes\/denunciations are found in verses 13, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27 and 29. This series of denunciations share the common thread of external adherence to man-made rules and regulations by the scribes and Pharisees while often disregarding the actual Word of God or its intent. In all but one of these identified passages (verse 16), the woe\/denunciation is coupled with the word \u201chypocrites!\u201d Matthew 23:1-12 starts off the Lord Jesus\u2019 warnings against the actions of the religious leaders (i.e., scribes and Pharisees) versus their avowed teachings. The Lord then exposes their hypocrisies in Matthew 23:13-36. At the end of the chapter, Matthew 23:37-39, the Lord grieves over Jerusalem again, based on the fact that the city kills the prophets God sends to it; and then pronounces judgment over it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The SBL GNT verse of Matthew 23:15 is given below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15<\/sup>\u039f\u1f50\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f51\u03bc\u1fd6\u03bd, \u03b3\u03c1\u03b1\u03bc\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u1fd6\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03a6\u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 \u1f51\u03c0\u03bf\u03ba\u03c1\u03b9\u03c4\u03b1\u03af, \u1f45\u03c4\u03b9 \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03ac\u03b3\u03b5\u03c4\u03b5 \u03c4\u1f74\u03bd \u03b8\u03ac\u03bb\u03b1\u03c3\u03c3\u03b1\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03c4\u1f74\u03bd \u03be\u03b7\u03c1\u1f70\u03bd \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u1fc6\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9 \u1f15\u03bd\u03b1 \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03ae\u03bb\u03c5\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd, \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f45\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd \u03b3\u03ad\u03bd\u03b7\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b5\u1fd6\u03c4\u03b5 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u1f78\u03bd \u03c5\u1f31\u1f78\u03bd \u03b3\u03b5\u03ad\u03bd\u03bd\u03b7\u03c2 \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03cc\u03c4\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd<\/mark> \u1f51\u03bc\u1ff6\u03bd.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Greek translation is quite straight-forward except for the highlighted word that Dr. Kline pointed out. Here is my formal translation of this verse, but without translating the Greek word (an adjective) in question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15<\/sup>Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you(pl) traverse the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when it happens, you(pl) make him a son of Gehenna \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03cc\u03c4\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd<\/mark> of you(pl).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The translation and meaning of the Greek word \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03cc\u03c4\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd<\/mark><\/em> (diploteron) is in question. It is a comparative form of the same adjective \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2<\/em> (diplous) we saw earlier used in Revelation 18:6. A survey of the English translations of Matthew 23:15 shows no surprises. Without exception, the highlighted word \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03cc\u03c4\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd<\/mark><\/em> (diploteron) has been translated as \u201ctwice\u201d or \u201ctwo-fold\/twofold\u201d or \u201cdoubly\u201d by all the 32 Bibles in https:\/\/biblehub.com\/matthew\/23-15.htm<\/a>. For example, the English Standard Bible (ESV) renders the verse this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15<\/sup>Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much<\/mark> a child of hell as yourselves.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Berean Literal Bible translates it this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15<\/sup>Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you traverse the sea and the dry land to make one convert, and whenever it may happen, you make him twofold more<\/mark> a son of Gehenna than yourselves.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Aramaic Bible in Plain English is the outlier with the use of the word \u201cdoubly\u201d instead of \u201ctwice\u201d or \u201ctwo-fold\/twofold\u201d as we can see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15<\/sup>Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, phonies! For you travel around sea and land to make one convert, and when it has happened, you make him doubly<\/mark> the son of Gehenna that you are!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Kline\u2019s point in criticizing the traditional translation of \u201cdouble\u201d or \u201ctwice\u201d is that the context shows that the Lord Jesus is comparing the Pharisees with their proselyte\/convert within the identification and denunciation of being hypocrites and thus \u201ca son of Gehenna\/hell.\u201d The Greek adjective \u03b4\u03b9\u03c0\u03bb\u03bf<\/em>\u1fe6<\/em>\u03c2<\/em> (diplous) is in the comparative form and Dr. Kline argues that it should not mean \u201cdouble\u201d since in a comparison, \u201cthere is no such thing as more double.\u201d Instead he says a \u201cmatching image\u201d is called for with the idea that the proselyte becomes more of a fuller expression of being \u201ca son of Gehenna\/hell\u201d than the Pharisees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here in this case, we are not looking at punishment per se, but still a judgment. Indeed, it seems difficult to recall a Biblical teaching regarding comparative punishments or status in Gehenna\/hell. In the NT Olivet Discourse in Matthew 25:31-46, for example, one is either sheep or goats. The sheep\/righteous go into eternal life while the goats\/unrighteous are taken away to eternal punishment. There are no further classifications mentioned. Hence, how can one be twice\/twofold\/doubly as much a son of Gehenna\/hell than another?<\/p>\n\n\n\n With this in view, I can then revise my formal equivalence translation of Matthew 23:15 as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15<\/sup>Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you(pl) traverse the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when it happens, you(pl) make him a son of Gehenna as much as<\/mark> you(pl).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We will continue with another verse that does not deal with punishment or judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. The war between Israel and the Hamas continues since Hamas launched its October 7, 2023 attack into Israel. The Israelis have now moved further south and would be approaching Rafah along the Gaza border with Egypt. The Hezbollah in southern Lebanon are intensifying missile, mortar and anti-tank fire into civilian…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6,7,9,8,5],"class_list":["post-376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ptr-art-calaguas","tag-church-of-the-risen-lord","tag-crl","tag-spiritual-refreshment-of-the-day","tag-upcemi","tag-upcrl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":377,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions\/377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}