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USE OF ADELPHOS IN LXX
In the Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian.bible-study a debate has been
raging
regarding;
> |. . . whether or not the word "adelphos", which means "brothers" in the Greek,
> |actually means/is supposed to mean brothers, in the context of Jesus having
> |brothers and sisters or cousins. "Koine" Greek was the everyday language,
> |as opposed to other dialects. (Attic, etc.) I know that, at least in this
> |dialect, "adelphos" means "brothers".
> quoting Damon Jason Casale <dc56+@andrew.cmu.edu>Mon Oct 24 06:40:21 1994
The point being if Jesus had "brothers" then Mary did not remain a virgin.
I find it interesting that belief in Mary as Ever-Virgin is an ancient
church
tradition--apparently from the fourth century at least. The list of those
Christians who have affirmed the doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity
reads
like a "who's who" of Christian heavyweights (eg. Athanasius, Epiphanius,
Jerome,
Augustine, and Cyril of Alexandria). According to Catholic scholar Alan
Schrek,
even the reformers Luther, Calvin and Zwingli affirmed this belief. (Schrek
quotes
"The Blessed Virgin Mary" _Theotokos: A Theological Encyclopedia of the
Virgin Mary_
pp. 357-61). Given this list of "believers"in this doctrine I was
surprised to
see the following in my Lexicons!
The standard Lexicons and Wordstudy tools: Bauer, Ardnt, Gingrinch, and
Danker
_A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian
Literature_,
p.16, Kittel's, Theological Dictionary of the New testament Vol 1, and
even the new
United Bible Society's _Greek English Lexicon_ Vol. 1, all take _adelphos_
to mean
"brothers"--i.e. male progeny of the same biological mother. Bauer does
note
(reluctantly?) that _adelphos_ was used in the LXX to translate a Hebrew
term (sorry
I'm not transliterating this puppy!) which was "used loosely to designate
masculine
relatives of varying degrees," but states that this is not relavant to it
NT usage.
Is this issue to loaded with denominational posturing to get to the bottom
of? Has
anyone seen an impartial wordstudy on the LXX use of _adelphos_relevant to
this
issue?
Grace and peace!
Scott McKellar MCS Regent College
Veni, Sancte Spiritus
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Scott McKellar
Abbotsford, BC
smckella@cln.etc.bc.ca
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