From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Sat Feb 12 2000 - 11:27:20 EST
At 6:43 PM -0600 2/11/00, dell linn wrote:
> In the phrase, 'who is and who was and who is to come', is the use of
>ERCHOMAI an idiom? Must this latter part of the phrase refer to eternal
>existence in the future or can it refer to an actual event (an actual
>coming)? Please support your answer.
I see there has been no other response to this as yet. Suffice it to say
that ERCETAI is common in an apocalyptic sense especially, for example:
Matt. 17:11 HLIAS MEN ERCETAI KAI APOKATASTHSEI PANTA
Matt. 21:5 EIPATE THi QUGATRI SIWN: IDOU hO BASILEUS SOU ERCETAI SOI PRAUS ...
Matt. 24:42 GRHGORETE OUN, hOTI OUK OIDATE POIAi hHMERAi hO KURIOS hUMWN
ERCETAI
My impression is that this is an expression in Hebrew, "he that
cometh"--and if I recall aright, there was a celebrated book on the topic
(I haven't read it) by Sigmund Mowinckel, _He that Cometh_.
So yes, although I don't think it would be said that ERCOMAI in the older
Greek tradition has the particular sense of referring to the future (Homer
refers to TA ESSOMENA when he says that the Muses know past, present and
future), yet within the Greek-speaking Jewish tradition it does have that
sense. If I'm wrong about this, I doubt not that someone will correct me.
> Also, is 'seven spirits' an allusion to the Holy Spirit or is it
>reference to angels or other created beings? Please give support for your
>choice.
This I'll leave to the apocalyptic buffs.
--Carl W. Conrad Department of Classics/Washington University One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018 Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649 cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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