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On Tuesday morning the pastors of Lutheran Saints in Ministry gather in Fairborn Ohio to discuss the texts for Sunday.

These are the contributions that are brought to the table.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Greek Studies for Matthew 18:22-35

Greek Study Matthew 18:21-35

v21 προσελθων (προσερχομαι) aor. part. "came" – approached and said…
κυριε (ος) "Lord" – a common form of address, for the disciples it could range from respect, "Sir" to person in charge, "boss".
ποσακις adv. "how many times?" –they seek a limit for forgiveness and it relates to the previous passage where God has no limit, but it is a different quality of sin. 
ο αδελφος (ος) "[my] brother" – so context implies believer, i.e. church.
εως + gen. "up to [seven times]" – the upper limit - under Rabbinic law the upper limit was 3 so Peter's 7 is generous, twice as much as required plus 1…

v22 εβδομηκοντακις επτα "seventy-seven times"  possibly seventy times seven or 490, or seventy plus seven i.e. 77. If Jesus is quoting Gen.4:24 then it is 77 in any case a lot

v23 των ουρανων (ος) gen. "[the kingdom] of heaven" ωμοιωθη (ομοιοω) aor. pas. "is like" – a comparative (see the Kingdom parables).
λογον (ος) "accounts" – usually means "word” but here in the forensic sense of calculation.
δουλων (ος) "servants" – usually means slave, but here is suggested that these servants are the king’s accountants, so it is likely the man in question is cooking the king’s books!

v24 συναιρειν (συναιρω) pres. inf. "settlement of accounts - infinitive is complementary.
ταλαντων (ον) "[ten thousand] talents " –since a "talent" is a measure of weight and could be gold, silver or copper it varies in value, but 10,000 is a huge pile of loot!
προσηνεχθη (προσφερω) aor. pas. "was brought" – under compulsion, kind of an early form of IRS audit!

v25 μη εχοντος (εχω) gen. part. "since he was not able" – i.e. "because" he was not able αποδουναι (αποδιδωμι) aor. inf. "to pay".
ο κυριος "the master". The use of κυριος, three times in this parable Matthew likely wants us to equate this king with Jesus.
πραθηναι (πιπρασκω) aor. pas. inf. "[he ordered] that ........ be sold"- infinitive forms a dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what the master commanded.
αποδοθηναι (αποδιδωμι) aor. pas. inf. "to repay the debt" as above.

v26 πεσων (πιπτω) aor. part. "at this [the servant] fell" προσεκυνει (προσκυνεω) imperf. "on his knees before" - prostrates himself; imperfect expresses continuation of this position during pleading which is also a position for worship.
λεγων (λεγω) part. "he begged" - modal, expressing the manner; "he worshiped him saying .....".
μακροθυμησον (μακροθυμεω) aor. imp. "be patient" an appeal to a superior for mercy.
αποδωσω (αποδιδωμι) fut. "I will pay [you] back" which is, of course, absurd as the debt is beyond repayment!

v27 του δουλου (ος) gen. "the servant's [lord]" - "the master who ruled over that servant."
σπλαγχνισθεις (σπλαγχνιζομαι) aor. pas. part. "took pity on him" - a word usually used of Jesus.  
αφηκεν (αφιημι) aor. "cancelled/forgave” same word Jesus uses in the Lord’s prayer 

v28 δηναρια (ον) "denarii" - One denarius, a Roman silver coin, the value of a single day’s wage -  comparative, ten hundred denarii is quite a sum, ten thousand talents is a butt load as there were 6,000 denarii in one talent.
κρατησας (κρατεω) aor. part. "he grabbed [him]" and επνιγεν (πνιγω) imperf. "began to choke" him. Not unusual for Greek, but very unusual and violent for the NT. 
αποδος (αποδιδωμι) aor. imp. "pay back" the servant uses the same words.
ει τι οφειλεις (οφειλω) "what you owe" - the sense is "if you have something of mine give it back", is an idiom for "repay what you owe." There is no "if".

v29 πεσων (πιπτω) aor. part. "fell to his knees" as above…
μακροθυμησον (μακροθυμεω) aor. imp. "be patient" as above, the modern image is of the payday lender. The debt is legit, but in light of the circumstances the repayment demand while legal is also abhorrent
.
v30 ουκ ηθελεν (θελω) imperf. "refused" - direct discourse, "I refuse." 
απελθων (απερχομαι) aor. part. "he departed” - "he left and cast him into prison."

v31 ιδοντες (οραω) aor. part. "when [the other servants] saw" - a temporal clause.
τα γενομενα (γινομαι) aor. part. "what was done".
ελυπηθησαν (λυπεω) aor. pas. "they were outraged".
ελθοντες (ερχομαι) aor. part. "going" they  
διεσαφησαν (διασαφεω) aor. "told" - explained, made clear, informed, 
τω κυριω "[their] master" (thus undermining forever the parental direction to not tattle)
τα γενομενα (γινομαι) aor. mid. part. "[everything] that had happened" – a complete account, noting left out, no detail spared – the plain unadulterated truth.

v32 προσκαλεσαμενος (προσκαλεομαι) aor. part. "calling" - attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "said"; 
  πονηρε voc. adj. "you wicked [servant]" – direct address – this is now personal.
σοι "[I canceled] your debt" – a dative of indirect object; "for you." "I said you did not have to pay back a penny!”
επει "because [you begged me to]" - one act of mercy ought to beget another" – call it the logic of love, we might say “I paid it forward”.
  
v33 ουκ "[should]n't [you]" - a negated question formed to prompt an affirmative answer. The verb εδει "is necessary" is quite strong giving the sense "is it not necessary".
ελεησαι (ελεεω) aor. inf. "mercy" – the quality of divine compassion, ως "just as [I had mercy on you]" – a comparative.

v34 οργισθεις (οργιζομαι) aor. pas. part. "in anger" adverbial, so  "because he was angry."
τοις βασανισταις (ης ου) dat. "jailers/torturers” – the idea was to torment the person in prison so that relatives and friends would raise the necessary funds to pay off the debt.

v35 ουτως και "and this [is how]" - once again a Matthean discourse ends with judgment! 
εαν μη + subj. "unless" - introducing a negated 3rd. class conditional clause where the condition has a possibility of coming true.
τω αδελφω (ος) dat. "[his] brother " fellow believer – a dative of direct object after 
αφιημι, "to forgive."


απο των καρδιων υμων "from your heart" prepositional construction is adverbial expressing manner; so "sincerely forgive". In the New Testament, the heart is the center of our will and intellect, not emotion. 

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