From: Jack Kilmon (jkilmon@historian.net)
Date: Fri Jul 03 1998 - 12:02:25 EDT
Jim West wrote:
>
>
> >Jim seems to KNOW that there was a
> >scatological/humorous intention in Jesus' words and will persist in chasing
> >the elusive bird that is not to be found, even if it DID ever exist as more
> >than a remote possibility),
>
> I hope I am not that pig headed! I may be, but I hope not. Anyway, the
> possibility exists in my mind that Jesus was poking fun at the Pharisees.
> He may not have been, that is true, and I have no intention of telling
> anyone that he DID. But the possibility intrigued me, so I pursued it with
> vigor.
>
The study of Koine Greek and Hellenistic culture and context is only*one* necessary
ingredient in attempting to understand what Jesus said,
and more importantly, meant in his aphorisms and sayings. This because
the NT was written in Greek by Hellenistic Christians. Koine, however,
merely gets us in the door and unless one transposes Semitic syntax
and cultural context, exegesis of sayings like the "closet" aphorism
cannot be understood. Language is formed by culture and daily
life. There was a difference between Greek culture and Jewish
culture...a big difference. The architecture of a Greek house and
a Jewish house were different. Just as a mikvah was not a "bathtub"
a "thana" was not necessarily a "closet." TAMEION, even in the
Greek context was a small enclosure with a built-in focus on
privacy. The suggestion that Jesus may have been referring
to a latrine is, therefore, not outrageous but the point is that
scholars that take NT exegesis a step further by transposing
the Semitic linguistic and cultural context behind the Greek often
come closer to the ipsa verba than those Graecists who
tendentiously cling to Greek exegesis alone. Summarily,
Jim's suggestion is the way NT exegesis ought to be done.
Chasing the Hebrew context and nuance behind the Greek
LXX or the Aramaic behing the NT is not "remote"
territory and not an "elusive bird."
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