From: John Barach (jbarach@telusplanet.net)
Date: Mon Apr 17 2000 - 15:00:05 EDT
When Matthew reports Peter's denial of Jesus, he says
TOTE HRXATO KATAQEMATIZEIN KAI OMNUEIN OTI OUK OIDA
TON ANQRWPON.
The swearing of an oath here (OMNUEIN) is self-imprecation: Peter is
calling for God to judge and punish him should he be lying when he says
he does not know this man, Jesus.
According to R. T. France (Tyndale), the cursing (KATAQEMATIZEIN) is
different. Matthew doesn't say Peter called God's curse *on himself*,
and KATAQEMATIZEIN "does not elsewhere refer to a curse on oneself
except where (as in Acts 23:12, 14, 21) this is explicitly stated. Did
Peter then actually pronounce a curse on Jesus (as later Christians were
required to do as proof of their apostasy)? If Matthew and Mark have
understandably refrained from stating this explicitly, it is the
probably implication of the words they have used" (France 383).
There seem to be three options (or some combination thereof):
(1) Peter pronounced a curse on himself and the curse is virtually
synonymous with the oath.
(2) Peter pronounced a curse on Jesus. (Problem: France's
"understandably refrained" to the contrary, would not Matthew have
stated exactly what Peter did? After all, Matthew is describing the
depths to which Jesus sank in his suffering and being rejected.)
(3) Peter pronounced a curse on those who kept pestering him with
questions.
Does the verb itself really indicate that (1) is unlikely, as France
suggests? Is there a grammatical reason for opting for any one of these
three?
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
Regards,
John
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
John Barach (403) 317-1950
Pastor, Trinity Reformed Church (URCNA)
113 Stafford Blvd. N.
Lethbridge, AB
T1H 6E3
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