Re: Philadelphia vs agape

James H. Vellenga (jhv0@mailhost.viewlogic.com)
Wed, 13 Aug 1997 14:46:00 -0400 (EDT)

> James Vellenga wrote;
>
> >Thanks for pushing me, Carlton. I found the passage I was
> >looking for -- Luke 11.43:
> >
> > hOUAI hUMIN TOIS FARISAIOIS, hOTI _AGAPATE_ THN PRWTOKAQEDRIAN
> > EN TAIS SUNAGWGAIS KAI TOUS ASPASMOUS EN TAIS AGORAIS.
> >
> > Alas for you, you Pharisees, that you love the chief seat
> > in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces!
>
> Which is a clear parallel to Matt. 23:6;
>
> _FILOUSIN_ DE THN PRWTOKLISIAN EN TOIS DEIPNOIS KAI TAS PRWTOKAQEDRIAS EN
> TAIS SUNAGWGAIS KAI TOUS ASPASMOUS EN TAIS AGORAIS,
>
Yeah, I think that's what I was referring to when I mentioned
that one Synoptic has it one way and one the other.

I'm not sure where to go with this -- I only started out to
point out the AGAPAW (and presumably also AGAPH) was not
necessarily, in Jim West's words, "a God-like love" --
by which I presume he meant "a love like the love with which
God loves others" rather than "a love that is God-like in terms
of how we can be devoted to it." The latter seems more to
characterize both AGAPAW and FILEW in the parallel passages
we have cited -- i.e., the Pharisees seem to be more devoted
to the chief seat/place than they are to God.

For what it's worth, I like to approximate AGAPAW by "to treasure"
and FILEW by "to love" -- and hence FILADELFIA by "love of
brothers [and sisters]". This allows an English translation
to treat them as essentially synonymous, as in the passages
above, but to play delicately on their slight differences,
as in the John 21 passage. And finally, it allows for an
implied genuine difference, as in 2 Pet 1.7.

Regards,
j.v.