Sunday, 25th June 2023

24 Οὐκ ἔστι μαθητὴς ὑπὲρ τὸν διδάσκαλον οὐδὲ δοῦλος ὑπὲρ τὸν κύριον αὐτοῦ.

25 Ἀρκετὸν τῷ μαθητῇ ἵνα γένηται ὡς ὁ διδάσκαλος αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῷ δούλῳ ὡς ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ. Εἰ τὸν οἰκοδεσπότην Βεελζεβοὺλ ἐκάλεσαν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τοὺς οἰκιακοὺς αὐτοῦ;

 26  Μὴ οὖν φοβηθῆτε αὐτούς· οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστι κεκαλυμμένον ὃ οὐκ ἀποκαλυφθήσεται, καὶ κρυπτὸν ὃ οὐ γνωσθήσεται.

27  Ὅ λέγω ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ, εἴπατε ἐν τῷ φωτί, καὶ ὃ εἰς τὸ οὖς ἀκούετε, κηρύξατε ἐπὶ τῶν δωμάτων.

28 Καὶ μὴ φοβηθῆτε ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποκτεννόντων τὸ σῶμα, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν μὴ δυναμένων ἀποκτεῖναι· φοβήθητε δὲ μᾶλλον τὸν δυνάμενον καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα ἀπολέσαι ἐν γεέννῃ.

29 Οὐχὶ δύο στρουθία ἀσσαρίου πωλεῖται; καὶ ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐ πεσεῖται ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν.

30 Ὑμῶν δὲ καὶ αἱ τρίχες τῆς κεφαλῆς πᾶσαι ἠριθμημέναι εἰσί.

31 Μὴ οὖν φοβηθῆτε· πολλῶν στρουθίων διαφέρετε ὑμεῖς.

32 Πᾶς οὖν ὅστις ὁμολογήσει ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὁμολογήσω κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς·

33 ὅστις δ᾿ ἂν ἀρνήσηταί με ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀρνήσομαι αὐτὸν κἀγὼ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς.

34 Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν· οὐκ ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην, ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν.

35 Ἦλθον γὰρ διχάσαι ἄνθρωπον κατὰ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ θυγατέρα κατὰ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῆς καὶ νύμφην κατὰ τῆς πενθερᾶς αὐτῆς·

36 καὶ ἐχθροὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οἱ οἰκιακοὶ αὐτοῦ.

 37  Ὁ φιλῶν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔστι μου ἄξιος· καὶ ὁ φιλῶν υἱὸν ἢ θυγατέρα ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔστι μου ἄξιος·

38 καὶ ὃς οὐ λαμβάνει τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθεῖ ὀπίσω μου, οὐκ ἔστι μου ἄξιος.

39 Ὁ εὑρὼν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσει αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ ἀπολέσας τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ εὑρήσει αὐτήν.

  Comments

A string of statements and protropai that include warnings and paradoxes. There is noticeable parallelism in sentences and clauses and strong antitheses (e.g. ‘not A but B’) too.

[24] Οὐκ ἔστι μαθητὴς ὑπὲρ τὸν διδάσκαλον: μαθητὴς, ‘learner, pupil’, cl. Gr. (LSJ) < μανθάνω, already in Homer; in cl. Gr. = ‘learn’; ‘understand’. In ancient Greek one learns by study but also by practice; also by heart (LSJ). Cf. Engl. mathematics.

διδάσκαλον: διδάσκαλος, ‘teacher’ < διδάσκω, ‘I teach’, also in Homer and cl. Gr. Cf. Engl. didactic.

[26] οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστι κεκαλυμμένον ὃ οὐκ ἀποκαλυφθήσεται: κεκαλυμμένον, perf. part. pass. voice < καλύπτω, ‘cover’; ‘conceal’, cl. Gr. (LSJ). Its opposite is ἀπο- καλύπτω, ‘un-cover’; ‘reveal’, cl. Gr.(LSJ). Cf. Engl. Apocalypse.

[27] Ὅ λέγω ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ, εἴπατε ἐν τῷ φωτί, καὶ ὃ εἰς τὸ οὖς ἀκούετε, κηρύξατε ἐπὶ τῶν δωμάτων: the contrasts continue–ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ (‘in the darkness/ σκοτία) vs ἐν τῷ φωτί (‘in the light/ φῶς); ‘what you hear (whispered) in your ear/ τὸ οὖς’ vs ‘proclaim/ κηρύξατε on your rooftops’/ ἐπὶ τῶν δωμάτων.

δῶμα (neut.): in Homer & other poets = ‘house’; in koine  = ‘rooftop’.

[28] Καὶ μὴ φοβηθῆτε ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποκτεννόντων τὸ σῶμα, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν μὴ δυναμένων ἀποκτεῖναι: more contrasts; τὸ σῶμα = ’dead body of a human being or animal’ (in Homer); afterwards it means ‘ living body’. Cf. Engl. somatic.

ψυχὴ = ‘soul’ (after Homer, who uses θυμός). Plato often refers to the disjunction between ‘body’ and ‘soul’ (e.g. Phaedo 91 d, ‘the soul/ ψυχή is more lasting than the body/ σῶμα’).

τῶν ἀποκτεννόντων: gen. pl., pres. part., ἀποκτέννω, a koine  form of ἀποκτείνω, ‘I kill’ (in Homer & cl. Gr.). Socrates says much the same about the indestructibility of the soul in Plato’s Apology 30c: ἐάν με ἀποκτείνητε τοιοῦτον ὄντα οἷον ἐγὼ λέγω, οὐκ ἐμὲ μείζω βλάψετε ἢ ὑμᾶς αὐτούς (‘f you kill me, I being such a man as I say I am, you will not injure me so much as yourselves’). Justin Martyr repeats this in his Apology (1A 2.4, ‘You have the power to kill us, but not to harm us’).

[29] Οὐχὶ δύο στρουθία ἀσσαρίου πωλεῖται: introduced by Οὐχὶ, the question anticipates a ‘yes’ answer: ‘Two little sparrows are sold for a cent, aren’t they?’ στρουθίον, diminutive of στρουθός (masc. or fem.), ‘sparrow’ (in Sappho one of Aphrodite’s favourite birds).

[31] Μὴ οὖν φοβηθῆτε· πολλῶν στρουθίων διαφέρετε ὑμεῖς: i.e. if your Father is aware of every baby sparrow that falls from the sky, He will all the more be aware of you’. This is an a minore ad maius inference.

Unlike God, the ancient Greek gods including Zeus were not really omniscient. The Epicureans held that the gods, unfathomably far removed from mortals, did not care a jot about them.

[34] οὐκ ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην, ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν: a startling contrast—peace vs a knife as a weapon. βαλεῖν, 2^nd aor. inf. <  βάλλω properly means ‘I throw, hurl, cast’ (esp. a weapon); here it means ‘bring’ (Exeg. Dict. NT, s.v., p. 191). βαλεῖν expresses purpose.

μάχαιρα has many meanings, the original one being ‘large (butcher’s) knife’ quite also handy for sacrifices; in cl. and koine Gr. μ. can denote a ‘sword, saber, cutlass, dagger’, essentially a big knife. In the pericope μάχαιρα may point to a domestic situation, as confirmed by vv. 35-7. (For the view that the term means ‘sword’ here and implies the social conflict of persecution, see Exeg. Dict. NT, s.v. μάχαιρα, p. 398, section 3.)

[35] Ἦλθον γὰρ διχάσαι ἄνθρωπον: διχάσαι, another infinitive of purpose < διχάζω, ‘I divide in two’ (cl. Gr.); here, ‘I divide one against another’ (LSJ), ‘I set one against another’ (Exeg. Dict. NT, s.v., p. 337). Cf. Engl. dich-otomy. 

[39] Ὁ εὑρὼν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσει αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ ἀπολέσας τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ εὑρήσει αὐτήν: a paradox, the stuff of religious language. See, e.g., my article ‘Religious paradox and aporia’, Nuntius Antiquus 13.ii (2017), 39-57 [also available online:http://www.periodicos.letras.ufmg.br/index.php/nuntius_antiquus/issue/view/619].