>Brian Wilson stated:
>If the official was a centurion, however, should we not also be
>considering whether the phrase might be a Latinism? The Vulgate
>rendering of EIPE LOGWi in both Mt 8:8 and Lk 7:7 is DIC VERBO
>I thought I'd mention that the centurion was almost certainly not
>speaking Latin. Latin soldiers from Italia proper were based in
>Palestine only in Caesarea, and probably at a later date than this
>event. The centurion, though he may have been a Latin himself, almost
>definitely spoke in Greek, for his troops would have been Syrian
>Greeks. And, if the centurion was around for long enough to build a >
>synagogue, he would have spoken with the local Jewish populace in
>Greek. I think, therefore, that we can dismiss the possiblity of a
>Latinism here in this expression.
The language in which the centurion himself actually spoke to Jesus is
irrelevant, whether Aramaic, Greek, or Mishnaic Hebrew of the kind which
Professor Flusser considers was the common language spoken by the
residents of Capernaum at this time. The above SNIP totally cuts out,
and completely misses the point I made and wrote. Here it is again -
>It would seem, therefore, that in Mt 8:8 and Lk 7:7, LOGWi could be an
>instrumental dative in Greek reflecting an instrumental ablative in
>Latin. EIPE LOGWi may be Greek which has been given a deliberate Latin
>turn of phrase to befit a centurion.
My idea is that when eventually the story of the centurion was written
in Greek, then, and only then, the writer gave a deliberate turn of
phrase to befit a centurion. The writer Latinized the wording he
received, whatever the language in which he received it.
I would suggest that we cannot dismiss the possibility of a Latinism in
EIPE LOGWi by supposing anything about centurions in Capernaum during
the ministry of Jesus. Instead, what we need to do is look at the phrase
itself, and think about that.
In my view, the Greek EIPE LOGWi can be taken to mean the same as the
Latin DIC VERBO. In this case, EIPE LOGWi could have been a deliberate
Latin turn of phrase used by the person writing the story in Greek. It
is just possible, therefore, that LOGWi is an instrumental dative
reflecting the instrumental ablative VERBO. The phrase in Greek, as in
Latin, could therefore mean **speak a word of command**. This is the
translation of the Vulgate given by Monsignor Knox in both Mt 8:8 and Lk
7:7, and would be my translation of the Greek EIPE LOGWi. I would be
pleased to read anyone else's positive thinking on what the phrase
itself means.
BRIAN WILSON