Posted on 08/18/2015 7:24:51 AM PDT by Salvation
...often and to strive to master ancient Greek. I am no Greek scholar, but as the years tick by I am becoming more and more familiar with the language in which God chose to inscribe His Holy Word of the New Testament.
Something of the hidden richness of the Greek text struck me recently as I was teaching my parishioners in Bible study. (We are preparing for the arrival of the Pope in Washington by studying the Office of Simon Peter, as laid out in Scripture.)
Why do I speak of the richness of the Greek text as “hidden”? Surely a good translation shows forth the meaning of the text, right? Well, no; not fully. There are too many subtleties and complex constructions that English just cannot accurately convey. Much is lost in the translation; much is hidden.
Consider, then, a well-known section in Matthew 16. The Lord has just declared Simon to be “Peter” (rock) and then goes on to give him the “keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.” The Lord says to Peter, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mat 16:19). The only problem is that this is not exactly what the Lord says. The Greek is much richer and more emphatic. It not only affirms Peter’s authority, but also describes how and why that authority is commendable and infallible.
Here is the Greek text, followed by an English translation that is as literal as possible:
δώσω σοι τὰς κλεῖδας τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ ὃ ἐὰν δήσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται δεδεμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ ὃ ἐὰν λύσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται λελυμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.
I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of the heavens, and whatever, if you might bind on the earth, it will have been bound in the heavens; and whatever you might loose on the earth, it will have been loosed in the heavens.
Note that the verbs related to heaven’s binding and loosing are dedemenon and lelumenon. They are perfect (passive) participles in the middle voice. As such, they indicate something that has already been done in Heaven before Peter does it on Earth.
Hence a literal, though awkward, English rendering would be “Whatever you might bind on the earth, having (already) been bound in heaven, and whatever you might loose on the earth, having (already) been loosed in heaven.”
But this is just not the way we talk in English. And thus most English renderings go something like this: “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” And, while smoother, it loses the inspirational emphasis that the Greek text conveys.
The Greek text makes clear that if Peter binds or looses something on Earth, it is because Heaven has inspired this act; in no way is Heaven engaged in a “rearguard action.” Rather, Peter is inspired to carry out what has already been done in Heaven. Heaven is not forced to comply with Peter’s decision. Rather, Heaven binds or looses, and then inspires Peter and his successors to do likewise. The Greek conveys this important subtlety; the English does not.
This subtle but important description of inspiration also fits well within the context of Matthew 16. Recall that Jesus had said to Peter, who correctly identified Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven (Matt 16:17).
Thus, Heaven “has Peter’s back,” inspiring what Peter utters. Heaven is not bound by Peter, it inspires him. Our Faith is not in Peter as a man; it is not in any of Peter’s successors as men. Rather, our faith is in God, who protects Peter and his successors from error and inspires what is formally taught and proposed for belief.
Is the English text wrong? No. It is just limited in conveying the subtleties. The Greek text is better at affirming the Catholic belief in the infallibility of the formal papal teaching on Faith and morals. It affirms more clearly that our faith is in God, who inspires. And while we pray that whoever is pope is a smart guy, this is not the source of our confidence. The source of our confidence is God’s capacity to inspire even sinful men who are not brilliant theologians. Our faith is in God, not in men as such. The Greek text invites us to believe that whatever is bound by the pope has already been bound in Heaven.
As another example, consider how Peter was prepared to teach properly at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) by the vision God gave to him in Acts 10. In this vision, Peter was instructed to baptize the first Gentiles and receive them as brethren. Thus, when the time for the Council came, Peter was ready to speak and teach the truth. He loosed on Earth what had already been loosed in Heaven. And while it is true that St. Paul later had to rebuke Peter (Gal 2) for not living the teaching fully (for Peter drew back to consort only with Jewish Christians out of fear and social pressure), it remains true that Peter taught it rightly by inspiration. And this is what is promised: that whatever Peter would formally bind or loose on Earth had already been bound or loosed in Heaven.
And thus the Greek, in all its subtlety, sets forth an important reminder that the mechanism of infallible teaching from the Pope is not in the man, but in God, who inspires and leads Peter and his successors.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
By the way. I found out this past Sunday at Mass that my Pastor was recognized as one of the top Five Pastors in the Country.
Have you learned Greek so you can know for sure they have interpreted it correctly? Because I want to understand the richness and the subtleties of the original language, I’m learning Greek and my teenagers are as well. Of all the Bible passages Pope could single out to demonstrate subtleties in Greek, it’s most interesting he chose Matthew 16. I think he’d better study the Greek in that chapter more carefully.
Is Peter the rock on which the Church is built?
https://carm.org/is-peter-the-rock
“For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” (1 Cor. 3:11).
While Msgr. Pope’s initial advice is supremely good—that beginning to apply grammatical construction to discern the nuances of the Greek (and Hebrew) of the Bible is very rewarding—his last sentence here is total nonsense and not found in any legitimate Greek text. It is a purely human supposition, opinionated and is based on the logical fallacy of appeal to the authority of fallible men.
Outstanding!
An interesting commentary on how Biblical Greek is translated into English.
He is VERY Humble. It took someone else to tell us at Mass for us to find out.
“Have you learned Greek so you can know for sure they have interpreted it correctly?”
I have. Msgr Pope’s translation is excellent. His interpretation to the extent that he notes that what is bound and/or loosed has already been bound and/or loosed in heaven, is also correct. Anything further than that strays into the realm of special pleading, but that’s what theologians often do.
Since you know Greek you should understand the CARM piece I linked. That’s excellent!
We don’t need to know Greek to understand what God has revealed to us in the Scriptures. He will correct our misunderstandings through His Word - including mistranslations, whether unintentional or otherwise.
Good to know this. I figured that he knew enough for his translation to be absolutely correct.
You don't say.....
Who ever would have thought?
Does this sound familiar to ANYONE else?
We have discovered the primary problem with the roman catholic understanding of the Word.
They don't study the GREEK!!!!
Here's some advice....ditch the latin and study the Greek and Hebrew.
he has to overcome years of false teaching first.
Just wait until he figures out Luke 1:28 is a greeting from Gabriel to Mary.....not a title.
But it sure cannot hurt and besides, you learn about the language heritage of the NT.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.