From: Christopher Hutson (crhutson@salisbury.net)
Date: Fri Dec 03 1999 - 15:26:48 EST
"Garland Shinn wrote:
>
>Regarding PAIS, I note that the word is used of the centurion's servant
>in Matt 8:5-13 while Luke uses the word DOULOS in what is apparently the
>same incident in 7:1-10. I would welcome your take on how is PAIS being
>used in the Matthean account. Is there some cultural phenomenon occuring
>here?
to which Steven Miller replied:
>Sure, PAIS could also be used to refer to a servant or slave. In a similar
>manner, the English term "boy" was used to refer to a male servant or
slave.
Yes. And that would be an option, if one wanted to harmonize Matt and Luke.
Matt 14:2 clearly uses PAIS to mean something like "slave" or "henchman."
Reading Matt alone, however, it seems most natural to read the centurion's
PAIS as his son. Matt 17:18 clearly uses PAIS as parallel to hUIOS in
17:15. So Matt could use the word either way.
In general, I tend to think of PAIS as a child approximately age 7-14, give
or take, but that is not necessarily what it means in Matt 8. It is often a
generic term of a child of whatever age (e.g., Matt 2:16). I think your
question about a cultural phenomenon is the right question, Garland, but I
don't have an answer. One would need to establish the typical usage of PAIS
in the cultural context of the Matthean community. But that could be
slippery, depending on when you date Matt and where you think it was
written. And anyway, more than one usage may pertain in the same culture,
as Matthew illustrates.
And David Palmer pointed out that
>In Luke 18:15-16, "they were bringing BREFH to Jesus...but Jesus said,
>"Allow the PAIDIA to come to me..."
All of these examples illustrate how slippery usage is for such terms. You
really have to look closely at the context in every case in order to
determine how a particular writer uses a word in a given passage.
In general, BREFH is equivalent to English "infant" or "baby," but in actual
practice in both Greek and English such terms are not reserved only for
babes in arms.
Sorry I can't be of more help. I'll be happy to read others' insights on
Matt 8 and the other passages mentioned.
XPIC
------------------------------------
Christopher R. Hutson
Hood Theological Seminary
Salisbury, NC 28144
crhutson@salisbury.net
------------------------------------
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