Nielsen’s Nook

Translation

1 So, they did not nail him to the pyre; rather they bound [a] him. He placed his hands behind [b] him and was bound - like a ram, outstanding from a great flock, for an offering, [c] a burnt offering acceptable to God having been prepared.

He lifted his eyes to heaven and said, “Lord, Almighty God, the Father of your beloved and blessed son, [d] Jesus Christ, through whom we have apprehended [e] knowledge concerning you, the God of angels, of powers, of all creation and of the entire people [f] of righteousness, which lives before you.

[a] προσέδησαν to bind or tie (BAGD, 712). 4 Maccabees 9:26 reads ὀργάνῳ καὶ καταπέλτῃ προσέδησαν αὐτόν. They bound him to the torture engine and the catapult (author’s translation). προσδέω does not appear to be an extremely frequent word; however, when it is used it seems to refer to the binding of people for the purpose of torture (c.f., 1 Clement 27:1). The passive form is also used in this verse.

[b] ὀπίσω an adverb of place only when articular is it translated behind (BAGD, 575).

[c] προσφοράν that which is brought, gift, and in this sense as an offering (BAGD, 720).

[d] Obviously, the technical terms for Christ’s sonship were not galvanized until much later when St. Athanasius and the Three Cappadocians would come on the scene. However, here when there is not the theological baggage, it is not υἱός but παιδός (παι̂ς) that is used to refer to the “son” of the Father. Perhaps, this is incipient Trinitarian subordinationism, for a παι̂ς was socially on the same household level as a servant or slave; whereas, a υἱός was a son come into his rights, an equal participant in the family.

[e] εἰλήφαμεν (λαμβάνω) to take, take hold of, grasp (BAGD, 464). Consider St. John’s use of παραλαμβάνω employing a double entendre in John 1:11 (NA27), εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθεν, καὶ οἱ ἴδιοι αὐτὸν οὐ παρέλαβον. He came into his own and his own did not receive/apprehend him (author’s translation).

[f] γένος descendants, race, people, nation (BAGD, 156).