IT'S GREEK TO ME!

6:12 IS GREEK TO ME!

Friday, June 05, 2015

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

  I still hear the old explanation of not comprehending, “It’s Greek to me!” This for me being a truth about calculus, jazz, and more. Once upon a time true about Scripture, but that changed when I was introduced to Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries and Thayer’s Greek Definitions in hard copy volumes. Then a few years ago friend and brother in Christ Mark Welch introduced me to free wonderful e-Sword software (http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html ), it containing Strong’s and Thayer’s with quick ease of cursor.

  A bit of prudent advice: If you’ve been using regular dictionaries to define words in Scripture, please stop doing so. Such definitions may be strictly English and have little or nothing in common with true meaning. Also consider that English word meanings change over time. Have some not done so in your lifetime? (For you KJV fellows, consider the “gay” of James 2:3.)

  We elders well know of this issue as we speak English to English and at times due to vocabulary changes or lacks we are not understood by those younger or culturally different.

  Why am I writing on this topic today? In the past few weeks I’ve discovered individuals misinterpreting or confused about some Scripture, the underlying reason being they used current English dictionaries to define words in verses.

  For those interested I share several words from recent study of Ephesians 6:12.

“For^G3754 we^G2254 wrestle^{G2076 G3823} not^G3756 against^G4314 flesh^G4561 and^G2532 blood,^G129 but^G235 against^G4314 principalities,^G746 against^G4314 powers,^G1849 against^G4314 the^G3588 rulers^G2888 of the^G3588 darkness^G4655 of this^G5127 world,^G165 against^G4314 spiritual^G4152 wickedness^G4189 in^G1722 high^G2032 places.”

wrestle: G2076 ἐστί; esti; es-tee'   Third person singular present indicative of G1510; he (she or it) is; also (with neuter plural) they are: - are, be (-long), call, X can [-not], come, consisteth, X dure for awhile, + follow, X have, (that) is (to say), make, meaneth, X must needs, + profit, + remaineth, + wrestle.

principalities: G746 ἀρχή; archē; ar-khay'  From G756; (properly abstract) a commencement, or (concrete) chief (in various applications of order, time, place or rank): - beginning, corner, (at the, the) first (estate), magistrate, power, principality, principle, rule. 

powers: G1849 ἐξουσία; exousia; ex-oo-see'-ah  From G1832 (in the sense of ability); privilege, that is, (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence: - authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.

rulers: G2888 κοσμοκράτωρ; kosmokratōr; kos-mok-rat'-ore  From G2889 and G2902; a world ruler, an epithet of Satan: - ruler.

  Okay, no great surprises on “principalities” or “powers”, but aha! on “rulers” as Greek soubriquet for Satan. Also liked seeing that to “wrestle” is constant in this life, and can be profitable instead of weakening and destructive.

  Hopefully my English today is not Greek to you. Sometimes notes in response to Dts tell me I am.

EBB4

For further study on topic, go to: http://www.gotquestions.org/Greek-Hebrew-Bible.html