4th June 2023, First Sunday after Pentecost

St Paul, 2 Cor. 13: 11-13

13:11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

13:12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

13:13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

11 Λοιπόν, ἀδελφοί, χαίρετε, καταρτίζεσθε, παρακαλεῖσθε, τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖτε, εἰρηνεύετε, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τῆς ἀγάπης καὶ εἰρήνης ἔσται μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν.

12 Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι. ἀσπάζονται ὑμᾶς οἱ ἅγιοι πάντες.
13 Ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἡ κοινωνία τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν· ἀμήν.

Comments

A series of six imperatives, five in the present tense, implying continuous action, and one in the aorist, suggesting a one-off action.

[11] χαίρετε: the first of five present imperatives in the verse; > χαίρω, ‘I rejoice’; the 2^nd person present imperative (sg. or pl.) in ancient Greek (already in Homer) can mean ‘Farewell’, as here. (It can also mean the opposite, ‘Hail!’ ‘Hello!’.) The vb also admits both senses in modern Greek.

καταρτίζεσθε: pass. imperative, 2^nd person, present tense; here = ‘be restored, mend your ways’ (Exeg. Dict. NT, s.v., p. 268). In effect, the imperative here means ‘become whole’, ‘become perfect’, given that the related adj. ἄρτιος = ‘complete’, ‘perfect’, ‘exactly fitted’ (LSJ).

παρακαλεῖσθε: < παρακαλῶ (έω), ‘exhort, urge’.  Here the present imperative is passive, or rather middle-passive, ‘exhort one another’, ‘console one another’/ ‘be consoled’.  

 φρονεῖτε: < φρονῶ (έω), ‘think, reflect’ (Exeg. Dict. NT, s.v., p. 438). In Paul the vb expresses ‘single-minded commitment to something’ (ibid.). τὸ αὐτὸ = ‘the same’, ‘the very one’ (LSJ). Here the combination of the article and the pronoun indicate identity, sameness. The implied φρόνημα, ‘aim, way of thinking’ is modified by ‘the very same’.

εἰρηνεύετε: another imperative, εἰρηνεύω, intr., ‘live in peace’ (class. prose).  εἰρήνης: genet. sg. of εἰρήνη, ‘peace’ . Cf. Engl. irenic.

[12] Ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους:  now Paul uses an aor. imper., suggesting a non-repeated action: ‘Greet each other’. ἀσπάζομαι, middle voice, can mean (like χαίρω), two opposite actions, i.e. ‘welcome, greet’ or ‘say good-bye’.

Matthew 28:16-20
28:16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

28:17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

28:20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

16 Οἱ δὲ ἕνδεκα μαθηταὶ ἐπορεύθησαν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν, εἰς τὸ ὄρος οὗ ἐτάξατο αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς.

17 Καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, οἱ δὲ ἐδίστασαν.

18 Καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς λέγων· ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς.

19 Πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος,

20 διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν· καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος. Ἀμήν.

Comments

The pericope ends with an imperative—a command—and an assurance of Christ’s ever-continuing presence.

[17]  ἐδίστασαν:  < δι-στάζω, abs., ‘doubt, hesitate’ (already in cl. Gr.). The prefix δι-  denotes two possibilities or components, as in the English bi-. The eleven were in two minds, hence ‘hesitatant’ (because of doubt).

[19] μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη: μαθητεύω, tr., a koine vb, means ‘make a disciple (μαθητής) of’, ‘teach’ (cf. LSJ). Christ’s μαθηταί are to make all nations his μαθηταί. μαθητεύω is related to the vb μανθάνω, ‘I learn, understand’. Cf. the Engl. mathematics.

[20] διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς: < διδάσκω, ‘Ι teach someone something’; construed here with an obj. and an infinitive (τηρεῖν), as in cl. Gr. Cf. Engl. didactic.

τηρεῖν: < τηρῶ (έω), ‘I keep’. The temporal context furnished by the next sentence (ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος) suggests that the ‘keeping’ of all of Christ’s ἐντολαί/ ‘commandments’ (cf. πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν)  has eschatological consequences (Exeg. Dict. NT, s.v. τηρῶ, p. 355).

ἐγὼ μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν εἰμι: in ancient Greek poetry and prose the present tense can sometimes express something that is absolutely certain to occur, and thus is the equivalent of the future tense. This can be exampled in prophecies and in Thucyides (6.91), etc.