Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax

Matthew 5:21-37 21 Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις, οὐ φονεύσεις· ὃς δ᾿ ἂν φονεύσῃ, ἔνοχος ἔσται τῇ κρίσει. 22 Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὀργιζόμενος τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ εἰκῇ ἔνοχος ἔσται τῇ κρίσει· ὃς δ᾿ ἂν εἴπῃ τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ ῥακά, ἔνοχος ἔσται τῷ συνεδρίῳ· ὃς δ’ ἂν εἴπῃ  μωρέ, ἔνοχος ἔσται εἰς…

Various duties have prevented me preparing this week’s blog entry. I shall resume next week with comments for Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany.

Elizabeth M. Engle Professor of Preaching and Worship Emerita Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton, NJ The Beautitudes that open the three-chapter “Sermon on the Mount” section of Matthew are beloved among Christians. It will come as a surprise to some that, as a rhetorical form, the beatitudes of Jesus are neither “unique” nor “unparalleled” in ancient…

Matthew 5:1-12 [1]Ἰδὼν δὲ τοὺς ὄχλους ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὄρος, καὶ καθίσαντος αὐτοῦ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, [2]καὶ ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς λέγων· [3] Mακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. [4] μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται. [5] μακάριοι οἱ πραεῖς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν. [6] μακάριοι…

Preaching Paths 1.22.23 John the Baptist has been arrested and thrown into prison by Herod. Jesus, recognizing that it is dangerous to preach news of a kingdom unauthorized by Rome, “withdraws” to Galilee. He chooses a region of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, occupied by Rome in his own time, but by the Assyrians…

Matthew 4:12-23 12 Ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὅτι Ἰωάννης παρεδόθη, ἀνεχωρησεν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν, 13 καὶ καταλιπὼν τὴν Ναζαρὲτ ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν εἰς Καπερναοὺμ τὴν παραθαλασσίαν ἐν ὁρίοις Ζαβουλὼν καὶ Νεφθαλείμ, 14 ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ρηθὲν διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· 15 γῆ Ζαβουλὼν καὶ γῆ Νεφθαλείμ, ὁδὸν θαλάσσης, πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, Γαλιλαία τῶν ἐθνῶν, 16 ὁ λαὸς ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκότει εἶδε φῶς μέγα καὶ τοῖς καθημένοις ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου φῶς ἀνέτειλεν αὐτοῖς. 17 Ἀπὸ τότε ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς κηρύσσειν καὶ λέγειν· μετανοεῖτε· ἤγγικε γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. 18 Περιπατῶν δὲ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν τῆς…

Professor of Preaching and Worship Emerita Princeton Theological Seminary We learn in the verses immediately preceding today’s text that crowds gathered at the Jordan both fascinated and terrified by John’s message of an imminent divine epiphany,  a day of reckoning. John adjures them to “repent and be baptized.” According to Jewish law, one could not…

Matthew 3: 13-17 [13]Τότε παραγίνεται ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἀπὸ τῆς Γαλιλαίας ἐπὶ τὸν ᾿Ιορδάνην πρὸς τὸν ᾿Ιωάννην τοῦ βαπτισθῆναι ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ. [14]ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιωάννης διεκώλυεν αὐτὸν λέγων· ἐγὼ χρείαν ἔχω ὑπὸ σοῦ βαπτισθῆναι, καὶ σὺ ἔρχῃ πρός με; [15]ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπε πρὸς αὐτόν· ἄφες ἄρτι· οὕτω γὰρ πρέπον ἐστὶν ἡμῖν πληρῶσαι πᾶσαν δικαιοσύνην· τότε ἀφίησιν αὐτόν· [16]καὶ…

Sally A. Brown, Professor of Preaching and Worship Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary While the gracious host of this blog takes a well-deserved “time out” for other pressing projects, I provide here a few reflections for preaching on the First Sunday after Christmas (Year A). Preaching options are many on 1 January 2023; one can choose…

From the 25th December Greek edition of Huffington Post: Η ΠΟΙΜΕΝΙΚΗ ΣΥΜΦΩΝΙΑ των ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΩΝ Ιωάννης Πετρόπουλος Καὶ ποιμένες ἦσαν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῇ αὐτῇ ἀγραυλοῦντες καὶ φυλάσσοντες φυλακὰς τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπὶ τὴν ποίμνην αὐτῶν. -Κατά Λουκάν Ευαγγέλιον 2: 8 Ἀγγαλιάσθω οὐρανὸς, γῆ εὐφρανέσθω, ὅτι ἐτέχθη ἐπὶ γῆς ὁ Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ! H χειμωνιάτικη νύχτα που…