Nielsen’s Nook

Translation

2 Then in quiet tones he persuaded [1] Nicetes the father of Herod [2] and the brother of Alce [3] to appeal to the magistrate to not give up his body so that this group [4] so it was said, “might not abandon the Crucified One to worship this man.” These things were results of the quiet tones of persuasion [5] and urgent instigation of the Jews, who also kept watch, when we were about to receive death by the fire, not knowing that we are neither able to ever desert Christ, who suffered and died [6] for the sake of the salvation of the whole world - the blameless [7] for the sake of sinners - nor to worship any other.

[1] ὑπέβαλεν (ὑποβάλλω) to instigate secretly, persuade in whispers and quite tones (DBL, GGK5680).

[2] Herod was the police chief. See note on §8.2.

[3] Ἄλκη (Alce) is the name of a particularly esteemed woman in Smyrna. St. Ignatius concludes his Epistle to the Smyrnaeans (§13.2) and his Epistle to Polycarp (§8.3) saying, “I salute Alce, a name very dear to me” (Lightfoot, 159 and 162 respectively). It seems likely that the reason such a name would be dropped here along with the name of the father of the police chief is because while Alce was a faithful Christian she was so completely contrary to the desire of her father Nicetes and brother Herod who hated Christians and persecuted them. Therefore, these names illustrate the contorted nature of the persecutions of any age, reminding us of Jesus’ sober warning, “³⁴Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Matthew 10:34-35, ESV)

[4] i.e., the Christians, viz. who wanted St. Polycarp’s body.

[5] ὑποβαλλόντων is the participial form of ὑποβάλλω used to describe the influence of the evil one upon the authorities to not allow the Christians to depart with the body of St. Polycarp.

[6] παθόντα encapsulates both death and suffering (BAGD, 634).

[7] ἄμωμον blameless, unblemished nature of sacrificial animals (BAGD, 47). See also Num 6:14, 19:2.

Translation

2 Herod, the police chief, and Nicetes, his father, came out to meet [1] him. After they had transferred him to the carriage, [2] they were trying to convince [3] him, taking their seats beside him and saying, “What evil is it to say, ‘Caesar is Lord,’ and to offer a sacrifice to him and so forth [4] and escape death? [5] Initially, [6] he did not answer them; but, when they persisted, he said, “I am not about to do what you advise me.” [7]

[1] ὑπήντα also likely connotes the idea of two opposing sides meeting as in a battlefield. Such use of this word is seen in Matthew 8:28 where two demoniacs come out to meet Jesus (ὑπήντησαν αὐτῷ δύο δαιμονιζόμενοι) upon landing in Gadarenes.

[2] καροῦχα i.e., a paddy wagon of some sort.

[3] The anti-Christian efforts to turn St. Polycarp from devotion to Christ. ἔπειθον (πείθω) is a common word but also one that is found in the NT where St. Paul is attempting to convince his hearers about Jesus (πείθων τε αὐτοὺς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ - c.f., Acts 28:33).

[4] For τὰ τούτοις ἀκόλουθα and ἕτερα τούτοις ἀκόλουθα in §9.2 see BAGD, 31.

[5] διασώζεσθαι (διασῴζω) lit. to bring safely through (BAGD, 189). Here as in 1 Clement 12:5 ff the passive form is used to connote the sparing of one’s own life. 1 Clement 12:6 is in the context of relating the correspondence between the armies of Israel about to lay siege to Jericho and Rahab who had helped the Israeli spies. It is there that we find, … συνάξεις πάντας τοὺς σοὺς ὑπὸ τὸ τέγος σου, καὶ διασωθήσονται· ὅσοι γὰρ ἐὰν εὑρεθῶσιν ἔξω τῆς οἰκίας, ἀπολοῦνται…You will gather all your family under your roof, and you will escape death; for as many as might be found outside the house, they will perish. (author’s translation).

[6] τὰ μὲν πρῶτα is a phrase used often in Greek literature composing the written world into which the Martyrdom of Polycarp was inscribed. Job 8:7 LXX reads ἔσται οὖν τὰ μὲν πρῶτά σου ὀλίγα … Therefore your beginning will be small … (author’s translation). Here, the Greek πρῶτά is rendered for the Hebrew רֵאשִׁית (beginning or chief) used in Genesis 1:1.

[7] Compare Eusebius’ account (οὐ μέλλω πράττειν ὃ συμβουλεύετέ μοι, Historia Εcclesiastica, Book Δ, §ΑΠΟ ΤΟΥ ΤΡΙΤΟΥ ΤΩΝ ΠΡΟΣ ΤΑΣ ΑΙΡΕΣΕΙΣ ΕΙΡΗΝΑΙΟΥ) with Lightfoot’s text (Οὐ μέλλω ποιεῖν ὃ συμβουλεύετέ μοι). πράσσω/πράττω in Eusebius seems to emphasize the idea that in St. Polycarp’s mind, he would have been committing sin or transgressing some sort of bounds he should not. Indeed, to follow the counsel of those accompanying St. Polycarp at this point in the text is to deny flatly the one St. Polycarp loved most, Jesus.

Translation

3 After they granted him permission, [1] he stood up and prayed being full of the grace of God in this manner: [2] for two hours he was unable to keep silent [3] that even those who heard him were fearfully amazed, [4] and so [5] many repented because [6] they had come upon such a revered [7] elder.

[1] ἐπιτρεψάντων (ἐπιτρέπω) BAGD cites as to give permission, to allow. It is used in John 19:38 when Pilate gives permission to Joseph of Arimathea to take the body of Jesus: … ἵνα ἄρῃ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· καὶ ἐπέτρεψεν ὁ Πιλᾶτος.

[2] We are taking οὕτως more as a means of directing the reader to how or in what ways St. Polycarp was full of the grace of God rather than merely giving some sort of comparative that he was so full of the grace of God. (c.f., DBL 4048).

[3] σιγῆσαι (c.f., ) is the same word with significant parallel used in Luke 19:40 where Pharisees were pleading with Jesus to stop his disciples from exalting him on Palm Sunday: καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν οὗτοι σιωπήσουσιν, οἱ λίθοι κράξουσιν (NA27) - And answering he said, “I say to you, if these [disciples] will be silent the stones will cry out.” (author’s translation)

[4] ἐκπλήττεσθαι (ἐκπλήσσω) as a passive we render it as to “be amazed, overwhelmed with fright” (BAGD, 244). After the disciples heard the parable of the Rich Young Ruler (Matthew 19:16-30) they are recorded as being ἐξεπλήσσοντο σφόδρα (extremely fearful), such that they respond, τίς ἄρα δύναται σωθῆναι; (Who then is able to be saved?) in Matthew 19:25.

[5] τε indicates the close relationship between St. Polycarp’s actions and the repentance that followed in light of those actions. This is reinforced with the accusative-infinitive clause πολλούς … μετανοεῖν.

[6] We take the ἐπὶ + dative + infinitive construction (ἐπὶ τῷ ἐληλυθέναι) as causal. (c.f., Dan Wallace’s Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics on the “Dative Articular Infinitive”, p 610). There does not seem to be this sort of construction in the NT, though I may be mistaken. Any insights?

[7] θεοπρεπής, fit for God, revered, venerable, godly (BAGD, 356). Does not seem to appear in the NT.

Translation

1 But the most remarkable is Polycarp, who initially - [a] after hearing about it - was not terrified, [b] but was wanting [c] to stay in various places in [d] the city; however, the majority tried to convince him to leave secretly. So he left secretly for a little country house [e] not far from the city and he stayed there with a few companions. Night and day they were doing nothing other than [f] praying for everyone and for the ecclesiastical world [g] that was familiar to him.

[a] Here μὲν indicates an anacoluthic pattern of thought that incorporates a comparison between Polycarp and those who have been discussed before him in the letter, namely Quintus (c.f., BAGD, p 503, entry 2c).

[b] ἐταράχθη (ταράσσω) in its passive form speaks figuratively of being shaken, terrified or troubled. Luke 24:38 provides a NT example: καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· τί τεταραγμένοι ἐστὲ καὶ διὰ τί διαλογισμοὶ ἀναβαίνουσιν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν; And he said to them, “Why have you been troubled and because of what do doubts rise in your hearts?” (author’s translation). However, a more likely example of the sort of contextual use we have here would be found in Matt 14:26, οἱ δὲ μαθηταὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης περιπατοῦντα ἐταράχθησαν … , And when the disciples beheld him walking upon the sea, they were terrified… (author’s translation).

[c] ἐβούλετο is an imperfect which describes an ongoing or iterative desire in contrast to a one time or generic desire of the aorist.

[d] The use of κατὰ with the accusative here would seem to denote the idea of staying throughout the city in various places in order to avoid being caught by the authorities and fed to the wild animals. Thus, in stark contrast to Quintus who went looking for persecution, Polycarp took great pains to avoid being captured.

[e] ἀγρίδιον, the diminutive of ἀγρός, here meaning a little farm house or country hamlet (BAGD, LSJ).

[f] The particle ἢ here denotes comparison in a way similar to Acts 17:21, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ πάντες καὶ οἱ ἐπιδημοῦντες ξένοι εἰς οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἠυκαίρουν ἢ λέγειν τι ἢ ἀκούειν τι καινότερον. Now all the Athenians and the foreign visitors were spending their time on nothing other than speaking and listening to something new (author’s translation).

[g] οἰκουμένη was a term used by the Romans to denote their realm. More commonly the term refers to the inhabited earth. Thus, οἰκουμένην ἐκκλησιῶν here is analogous to “Christendom,” underscoring Polycarp’s ecumenism under pressure.

Translation

2 Therefore, after this the whole crowd, astonished [1] at the nobility of the God-loved and God-fearing Christian people, cried out, “Sweep [2] the atheists [3] away! Let Polycarp be sought out!”

[1] θαυμάσαν (θαυμάζω) is a common verb, often found in the Gospels in the context of the crowd’s amazement with Jesus’ words or deeds. As in the case of the Gospels, the crowd’s cries of amazement on Palm Sunday turned to astonished shouts on Good Friday, “Crucify him!” The wonder of “nobility” is that it simultaneously inspires and provokes the contradicted elements in fallen humanity.

[2] The imperative force of αἴρω here connotes the desire for the forceful removing of Germanikos and all Christians, who had forcefully dragged (different word) the wild animal onto himself. In Lk 11:22 we find τὴν πανοπλίαν αὐτοῦ αἴρει ([The stronger] forcibly removes [the weaker's] armor). Matt 24:39 uses this word in describing how the Flood came and swept away the unsuspecting. Crowds have great behavioral parallel with floods, hence my choice to use “sweep away” here.

[3] Strangely enough, Christians were regarded as atheists during the time of Polycarp because they refused to worship the many gods of the Roman pantheon, namely the emperor Caesar; the consequence of which was to be thrown to wild animals and torn to pieces for the amusement of the Roman populous.

Translation

4 And likewise also those who were condemned [1] to wild animals [2] endured patiently terrible punishments, being laid out on top of trumpet shells [3] and beaten [4] with other manifold sorts of torture, so that the devil might, if possible, through the persistence of punishment turn them to denial [5] - for he contrives much against them.

[1] κριθέντες (κρίνω) i.e., condemned by courtly decision.

[2] θηρία (θηρίον) These were the wild animals bred for fighting in the arenas.

[3] κήρυκας comes from the familiar κῆρυξ (herald, preacher); however, in this form (acc. pl. masc.) and context it refers to the “trumpet-shell,” which is a “large, sharp seashell, used in torturing.” (BAGD, 431) Here, one would suspect that the subjects here were stretched out over broken shards of trumpet-shells.

[4] For NT usage of κολαφίζω see Mt 26:67; Mk 14:65; 1 Cor 4:11; 1 Pt 2:20.

[5] i.e., a denial of faith.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Translation

the forgiveness [1] of sins

[1] When used with ἁμαρτία, ἄφεσις speaks of the forgiveness or “cancellation of the guilt” of sins (BAGD). 1 Esdr 4:62 employs the word to denote “release from captivity” in the context of Israel being allowed to return from exile to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. The LXX of Isaiah, regarding the Day of the Lord, is compelled “κηρύξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν” (Isa 61:1 LXX) to proclaim the release of the captives and restoring sight to the blind. Here ἄφεσιν is used to translate the Hebrew דְּרוֹר (dərôr), which has the idea of liberty or free flowing as in Ex 30:23 where it is used to describe myrrh (BDB). So when ἄφεσιν arrives in the NT there is a tremendous history and colorful circumference to its semantic field (cf. this list from BAGD: Mt 26:28; Mk 1:4; Lk 1:77; Lk 3:3; Lk 24:47; Acts 2:38; Acts 5:31). Thus, the nature of the forgiveness Christians confess is one that is liberating and free-flowing, one that deals with the forensic (cancellation of the guilt) and the existential (liberation from sin’s dark grip).

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Translation

And in Jesus Christ, his son, the only begotten one, [1] our Lord, who was conceived [2] of the Holy Spirit, born [3] of the Virgin Mary, suffered [4] under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, was put to death, [5] and was buried, [6] after he descended into the lower regions of the earth… [7]

[1] ὸν μονογενῆ comes as the second in a double apposition, which in rendering our translation in this more wooden fashion we attempt to show. The word has to do with the singularly unique place that Jesus occupies as the God-Man.

[2] συλληφθέντα a mysterious word. None of the literature I have access to discusses this.

[3] γεννηθέντα a word rendered born and speaking of Jesus’ incarnate existence into time and space and purposefully different than μονογενῆ which is used to speak of the Son’s eternal relationship to the Father. γεννηθέντα is used in the LXX and NT to speak of biological birth: Job 14:1; Matthew 11:11; Luke 7:28. 1 Clement 30:5 employing an adjectival form of the word reads εὐλογημένος γεννητὸς γυναικὸς ὀλιγόβιος, blessed is woman’s short-lived offspring.

[4] παθόντα (πάσχω) baldly refers to ones experience or treatment; however, even in classical literature it is not often used to refer to positive experiences. The LXX always uses the word to refer to the enduring of suffering and/or death. (BAGD, πάσχω)

[5] θανόντα (θανατόω) especially the death sentence and its execution. There is also a figurative dimension which entails spiritual or eternal death (BAGD).

[6] ταφέντα (ταφή) 1 Clement 16:10 καὶ δώσω τοὐς πονηροὐς ἀντἱ τῆς ταφῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ· And I will give the wicked for his burial and the rich for his death.

[7] Compare the Latin descendit ad inferna with κατελθόντα εἰς τὰ κατώτατα. The Greek seems to be a clear reference to Ephesians 4:9-10. In both the Ephesians passage and the Greek of the Creed, the lower regions (τὰ κατώτατα) is a realm that is not given the identification of Hell as Christians would think of it today or perhaps thought of it by the time the Latin text was received, rendering τὰ κατώτατα as inferna. The underworld in Greek thought was not necessarily the place of eternal punishment after death but simply the place the dead went indiscriminately. Philip Schaff comments, “This clause was unknown in the older creeds, though believed in the Church, and was transferred into the Roman symbol after the fifth century, probably from that of Aquilcia, A.D. 390, where it first appears among Latin creeds…” (Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, p 45, fn 43). I commend the entire note to your reading.

In preparing for a sermon on the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35, I enjoyed some of the connections that came from the broader section of the gospel of Matthew that this pericope seems to punctuate.  Chapters 14 - 18 apparently form a unit¹ in which loads of things are happening.  The section begins and ends with consideration of kings and servants and through out considers two very different kinds of banquets.

Two Kings

Matthew 14 begins rehashing the death of John the Baptist at the hands of the wicked king Herod the tetrarch.  Matthew reminds us that Herod was a king that had unlawfully married his brother Philip’s wife (Matthew 14:3-4).  This Herod was the son of Herod the Great, who had ordered the murder of infants when Jesus had been born.²  In other words, the wickedness of Herod the tetrarch is nothing new; rather, it is iconic of the wickedness that beset this family dynasty.

Matthew 18 concludes with a very different king.  Where Herod had murdered and oppressed and thrived in the context of injustice, this king was one who was exceedingly merciful.  In fact, as the parable of the unforgiving servant goes, we find that this king (Gk. ο κυρίος) was one who found forgiving those who asked for pardon as something more valuable than the immeasurable sum of 10,000 talents.  For in the Greek world this was the highest sum for which the Greek language had a unique word (i.e., μύριοι). 

Two Servants

As mentioned Matthew 14, begins with the account of John the Baptist’s death.  John was the faithful servant, faithfully representing his good King.  He was imprisoned for being faithful to the call upon his life - calling sinners to repentance.  In any age, in any culture the call for repentance is always dangerous business.  At the hands of the unjust king Herod the tetrarch, John was handed over to the jailers and eventually his disembodied head was handed over to Herodias on a platter.

The section ends with the merciful and good king, who would forgive immeasurable debts, and a servant who is quite different than John the Baptist.  Where John had faithfully represented the king he served, the wicked unforgiving servant, who had deserved wrath and received mercy, represented wrath and not mercy to his fellow servants.  It is for this misrepresentation of the king by the wicked unmerciful servant to his fellow servants that this just king handed the unmerciful servant over to the jailers.

Two Banquets

Matthew 14 also begins with a banquet, Herod the tetrarch’s birthday party.  This king of death and sin had celebrated by severing the head of a faithful servant from his body.  The king who had presumably unassailable power as a Roman tetrarch, who commanded enormous taxes from the populous, that king had a banquet that ended in the death and sin to which he had paid tribute.

In the course of Matthew 14-18, the King of Glory, the Lord Jesus begins his feasts that will never end.  The bread of life, as the Gospel writer John would write, feeds the multitudes because he has compassion on them.  This is the same word that we find used by the king in the parable of the unmerciful servant (σπλαγχνίζομαι).  Admittance to this feast is only through the forgiveness and pardon of the king, who works in his servants to will and to act as agents of forgiveness upon this earth until he returns.

Conclusion

So it is that there were two kings.  The one was swallowed up by sin and death.  The other swallowed whole, not only sin and death, but also the grave and hell itself.  And the servants of these kings, while their fates may have seemed for a time to be quite unjust have been vindicated.  The dusty decaying bones of the wicked servant of the wicked king lie dislocated, strewn across a deserted banquet hall full of rotten food and repugnant vermin.  Meanwhile, the servants of the good King, feed upon not bread and wine that perish and rot but on the very body and blood of the King himself, who sustains them as they await the final banquet when injustice and wickedness are finally displaced forever.

__________

¹ Blomberg, Craig. Matthew. The New American Commentary ; V. 22. (Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman Press, 1992), 281.

² Craig S. Keener and InterVarsity Press, The IVP Bible Background Commentary : New Testament (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Lk 9:5.

In preparation for the continuation of a series on Deuteronomy at Bethel PCA in Dallas, I continue to notice a rhetorical theme recurring throughout the opening chapters of Deuteronomy. As chapter 4 transitions into Deuteronomy 5, which some see as the key section of the entire book, and consequently the entire Deuteronomic History, we find that it begins and ends with this rhetoric on life:

¹“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. (Deuteronomy 4:1, ESV)

³³Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? (Deuteronomy 4:33, ESV)

The reapplication of the Law to this new generation at the conclusion of the 40 years of wilderness wanderings, has everything to do with life (c.f., Deuteronomy 5:3). Chapter 5 continues to ask this question:

²⁴And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man and man still live. ²⁵Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. ²⁶For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? (Deuteronomy 5:24-26, ESV)

³³You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess. (Deuteronomy 5:33, ESV)

The holiness of God is perhaps shown to be analogous to combustion.� If left in raw contact with unbridled sinfulness it consumes it.� However, the purpose of holiness here and especially as it is fulfilled and demonstrated in the person of Christ and the sending of the Spirit of Holiness is to empower and cleanse God’s people, imparting life to them.

The sad thing is that until the return of Christ where the defeat of sin is completed, humanity lives in a sort of functional psychosis.� We want holiness and rightness and yet we hate it.� We want order and lawfulness and yet we covet and steal.� As I reflect on this contradiction in my own life, I am compelled to cry out, “Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner!”� And I must believe that the one who said, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest”; that one who is unequivocally holy, will make good on his promise.