Greek for Mark 10:46-52

Greek Study Mark 10:46-52

10:46 ερχονται (ερχομαι) pres. "[then] they came to" – an historic present used to introduce the next step in the narrative (in English, a new paragraph).

ορευομενου (εκπορευομαι) gen. aor. part. "As ... were leaving [the city]" - a genitive absolute meaning they were actually passing through Jericho, pressing toward Jerusalem.

ικανου adj. "large [crowd]" - taking the sense "significant" crowd.

τοφλος προσαιτης "a blind man" - beggar.

Τιμαιου (ος) gen. "[Bartimaeus (that is, the Son] of Timaeus [which means son] of Timaeus)" - genitive is relational.

εκαθητο (καθημαι) imperf. "was sitting down expressing repeated action; idiomatically , "it was his custom to sit in his usual place beside the road”.

v47 υσας (ακουω) aor. part. "when he heard"

κραζειν (κραζω) pres. inf. "[he began] to shout".

υιε Δαυιδ Ισου "Jesus son of David" – a messianic title that demonstrates even the blind man knows who this is. For Mark, however, this amounts to a misunderstanding of Jesus' identity.

ελεησον (ελεεω) aor. imp. "have mercy on [me]" - the cry of the faithful who recognize that the mercy of God is available to those who cry out for it so this is about what Jesus bears, not who Jesus is.

v48 επετιμων (επιτιμαω) imperf. "[many] rebuked" – literally “without honor” – a pun in the Greek, that the son of “Timaus” i.e. the son of the “honorable one” is accused of having no honor!  

σιωπηση (σιωπαω) aor. subj. "be quiet – shut up" - be silent/still reflects earlier admonitions to demons and disciples. 

v49 στας (ιστημι) aor. part. "[Jesus] stopped [and said]

λεγοντες  [they called the blind man] saying

θαρσει (θαρσεω) pres. imp. "cheer up!" - be brave, be courageous, be cheerful. "Its all good now, get up, he's calling you", an idiom.

v50 αποβαλων (απαβαλλω) aor. part. "throwing [his cloak] aside" This, and the following participle, "having jumped up", are modal, expressing the manner of his coming; "he came throwing off his cloak and leaping to his feet…"

v51 ποιησω (ποιεω) aor. subj. "[what do you want me] to do" – and how many times have we heard this question over the past 2 chapters?  

Ραββουνι "Rabbi" - teacher. the title is of early Palestinian Aramaic origin and should be translated "master/lord", rather than merely "teacher.

v52 υπαγε (υπαγω) pres. imp. "go" - A common linguistic feature of Jesus = "you don't have to sit on the edge of the road begging any more; so go".

η πιστις (ις εως) "[your] faith"  σεσωκεν (σωζω) perf. "has healed [you]" - restored. Of course, "healed" is intended at the practical level, but in the choice of the word, with its instrument "faith", indicates that mark has a double meaning in mind. "Your faith has restored you" heads in the right direction, although Mark would probably like us to use the stronger "saved" = saved from blindness and death.

ακολευθεω imperf. "followed" The imperfect is inceptive, "he began to follow", but a more durative sense is intended, i.e. he willingly followed Christ on the uphill road to the way of discipleship; for Mark, a proper faith-response.

εν τη οδω "along the road" - Mark is possibly just saying that Bartimaeus simply follows Jesus along the road (εν + dat., expressing space), but sometimes the preposition is temporal "while on the way", or as here, modal, expressing manner, "he followed in the way of Christ" as a disciple. It may well be that the blind man's name is remembered because he became a disciple and thus a member of the New Testament church.

Reformation Day 2018 Cycle B Reflection

Our mission is to clothe the hungry and feed the naked. — From “Funny Church Signs” 

The story of one of my favorite bible characters, Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52), is being skipped for Reformation Sunday this year. That is sad indeed. Somehow, for no particular reason, in my minds eye, Bartimaeus sits on some sort of bridge when Jesus and Co. approach. Then the whole situation plays itself out: He calls for Jesus, he is told to shut up, Jesus calls him over, he leaves his coat behind and comes to Jesus, he is asked point blank: “What is it you seek,” he responds: “I want to see, Jesus grants that prayer, saying: “Go; your faith has made you well,” and he follows the throng of disciples and hangers on. 

It is reported that people who have their sight restored by modern medicine after a life of being blind have a rough time at first. Their brains have no idea how to deal with the input that is now flooding it via the optic nerve. They have no concept of distance. They have no way of correlating the visual clues of texture on an object with their tactile experience. They have anxiety attacks similar to agoraphobia when taking in the vastness of the open sky. Distance and space are strange to them. I would suspect they might even wonder why the wind that they have felt all their life has no direct visible manifestation but can only be discerned by the effects of its passing. 

It makes us admire infants who have to likewise program their little heads to do the same thing. We are made to do it by our nature and we all got it done fairly well. But, maybe this phenomenon, learning to see, learning to make sense of all the things your eye send into your brain, is why infants often seem to stare at the world with an expression of utter amazement and fascination. 

What might it be like, I ask myself, to have your eyes opened for the first time and the first signal into your head is the face of Jesus? That is Bartimaeus’ story after all. 

Connected to that, the story of all the disciples and all the authorities and bystanders in both, the 8-10th chapters of Mark and many places in John (cf. ch9) is one of blindness to Jesus’ nature and mission. When and how are their eyes opened? Bartimaeus knows as much about Jesus as does St. Peter. He calls him by the proper title: “Son of David,” just as Peter called him Son of the most high. When Peter does it, he is commended by Jesus, when Bartimaeus does it he is rebuked by the crowd. After Peter is commended he tries to instruct Jesus and he is rebuked, after Bartimaeus is rebuked he is shown mercy and is given eyes to see Jesus. 

Blindness as a symbol to being oblivious to the reality of Jesus Christ and the Gospel are all around. Luther, as he commented on John 8:31-36, our texts for Reformation Sunday, noted that the Gospel is always popular. People hear it and immediately imagine themselves as bishops and popes of it. (He wrote this commentary at the tail end of the peasant revolt) They hear it and imagine themselves as lords, as people owed a fortune. They imagine it as the call to battle and glory. They are as yet blind. Having heard the word they have yet to ask: “Please, let me see.” 

Without that prayer fascination with the work of Jesus ends the moment that following him is actually asked of us. Everyone is happy to impose the Law of God on their neighbor but having ones eyes opened to the truth of Jesus Christ demands that we first of all bow to the law ourselves for the sake of the neighbor. (Freedom of the Christian part 3) 

Having our spiritual eyes opened reveals a landscape that our brains have to slowly make sense of. Luther, again commenting on John 8, would say: “Christ makes everyone a sinner.” What stark words. To be a Lutheran is to walk around with that truth about ourselves. Not an easy sight and not an easy thing to have our spirit get used to. It is equally true, Luther continues, that, having declared and exposed us all as sinners before a mighty God who in olden times has shown that sin goes 

not unpunished, Christ also gives us life by bearing that very punishment on our behalf. We have a place in the kingdom of God in spite of ourselves by invitation of the Son of God and that invitation is written in his blood at Calvary. He, the Son, set us free and we are free indeed and part of the household from now on. (Jn 8:35-36) 

When Luther said: “We are all beggars,” maybe we need to understand that all things belong to the house we live in but not to us, including ourselves. We are rich because God is rich, not because we are. We are priests and bishops and popes because we can dare ask the head of the house, who has made us his and gave us a place there, to have mercy on the world for the sake of the one who set us free is the great high priest who has made the sacrifice that assures that mercy. (Heb 4 & 8) 

I wonder if blind people get scared crossing bridges. They cannot see the hight or the terror below after all. I see Bartimaeus on a bridge for some reason as I meditate on Mark 10. It seems fitting somehow. He meets Jesus at the very moment that Jesus and his disciples cross from the comforts of seeing healing and demons put to flight to the stark reality of what the Gospel requires of Christ. Past Jericho and Bethany there is testing, tribulation, trial, and cross. Who wants that? Sinners whose eyes are opened, that’s who. For without there is only sin and an angry God. With them in sight we are all babes in a state of amazement and fascination. 

Reformation 2018 Cycle B Greek Text Study

Greek Study John 8:31-36

v 31 Ιουδαιουσ - to the Jews (ablative plural) In NT usage the term Ιουδαιοι may refer to the entire Jewish people, to the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (i.e., “Judeans”) or the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple and had believed his claim to be the Messiah, hence, “those Judeans who had believed him.” 

μεινητε εν τω λογω − if you continue in my word a conditional clause

v 32 και η αληθεια ελευθερωσει υμασ- the truth will release you, (aorist future indicative – present condition with future consequence) the translation “set you free” or “release you” (unlike the more traditional “make you free”) conveys more the idea that the hearers were currently in a state of slavery from which they needed to be freed.   The statement the truth will set you free is often taken as referring to truth in the philosophical (or absolute) sense, or in the intellectual sense, or even (as the Jews apparently took it) in the political sense. But in the context of John (particularly in light of the prologue) this must refer to truth about the person and work of Jesus.  αληθεια is a word from 2 Greek words; “λεθοσ” (to forget) and α (not) – hence “truth” is “not to forget”.

v 33 σπερμα lit.  - we are the seed (an idiom) 

v 34 πασ ο ποιων τηναμαπτιαν  - who commits sin - could simply be translated, “everyone who sins,” but the Greek is emphatic, using the participle ποιων  with πασ, a typical Johannine construct. Here continuous action is intended. The one whose lifestyle is characterized by continuous sin is a slave to sin (the same idiom used for addiction in the ancient world). A sin junky is not free but enslaved. To break free requires outside intervention. The particular sin of the Ιουδαιουσ, repeatedly emphasized in the Fourth Gospel, is the sin of habitual unbelief. The present tense in this instance looks at the continual refusal of the Jewish leaders to acknowledge who Jesus is in spite of the evidence.

v 35 μενει εν τη οικια  - remain in the household. The Greek work οικια can denote the family (relatives by descent and marriage) as well as slaves and servants living in the same house (think “extended family”).

ο υιοσ μενει εισ τον αιωνα “the son remains forever” Jesus’ point is that while a slave may be part of a household, the slave is not guaranteed a permanent place, while a son will have a guaranteed place in the house.

v 36 υιοσ  − son  - the question is whether this is to be understood as a direct reference to Jesus or as an indirect reference to the illustration begun in the previous verse – in which case the ‘son” would be the chosen people.