Re: SWZW
Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Thu, 1 May 1997 07:01:33 -0500
At 4:30 AM -0500 5/1/97, Mark Goodacre wrote:
>> Reply-to: charis@globalserve.net
>> From: Mike MacKinnon <charis@globalserve.net>
>> To: Biblical Greek Discussion <b-greek@virginia.edu>
>> Subject: SWZW
>> Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 21:06:58 -0400
>
>> Quick question:
>>
>> Regarding the verb SWZW, my understanding is that it contains
>> nuances of healing, curing, making well, etc. over and above
>> "salvation" as it is understood in the Christian (i.e. eternal)
>> sense.
>>
>> Could people please comment on whether or not SWZW can mean the same
>> thing as QERAPEUW in certain circumstances???
>>
>Certainly. In addition to Mk 10.52, SESWKEN, mentioned by Stephen
>Carlson, see also 5.34, again her faith saving/healing, perfect
>tense, with the added clauses hUPAGE EIS EIRHNHN and ISQI hUGIHS APO
>THS MASTIGOS. Mark's Jesus is piling it on here. There are plenty
>of other cases like this. It is not quite a matter of it meaning the
>'same' as QERAPEUW but more a question of overlap.
To piggyback on what Stephen and Mark have already noted, I'd like to
emphasize that I remember being surprised, as other new students of NT
Greek may also be, to find that SWZW covered such a range of meanings quite
apart from salvation in a religious sense. It means to "make safe," "to
rescue," "to preserve," "to restore." It should also be noted that SWTHR
was a political title before it was ever applied to any supernatural figure
in a religious cult, having been the title assumed by the first Ptolemy to
assume royal power in Alexandria.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, USA 63130
(314) 935-4018
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwc@oui.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/