[b-greek] daily bread

From: HARRYJ (harryj@poczta.onet.pl)
Date: Sun Feb 18 2001 - 10:02:39 EST

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It
was so quiet on the line yesterday (Febr.17) that I already began to fear there
was a major breakdown in transmission, had it not been for Mr Castellanos’
subscription request.
I
would like to express my thoughts on a subject that was already discussed some
time in the past, but never solved I think, and probably it will never be
solved. But it may be worthwhile discussing it again from time to time. It
concerns a minor problem (though to some it may be important), but in a very
prominent and exposed part of the NT: the Lord’s Prayer. Strictly speaking, a
particular verse, concerning the ‘daily bread’, and a particular word
‘EPIOUSION’, translated in most cases as ‘daily’. Just to fulfill the formal
requirements, it is Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3, as everybody knows these verses
well.
I
would like to say that I am far from being an expert at Greek; quite the
opposite, I only have a smattering of it, and learned it just to able to clear
up the unclear points that may occur in translations. I am a linguist, but in
the field of modern languages like English and German, not classical ones.
Therefore, what I write is not lecture, but invitation to discussion, and, more
personally, ‘getting it off my chest’, as I have been meditating on it for quite
a long time.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
 Firstly,
why has the word EPIOUSION been translated as daily? Has it not been a makeshift
translation? As they say here, makeshift solutions are the most permanent ones,
if I may be excused the contradiction (something  either is permanent or
not, of course, there are no degrees of permanency), and it may have been so in
this case.<o:p></o:p>
One
thing everybody is in agreement with is that it is a rare word, perhaps even
confined to the NT. To me, an eternal beginner in Greek, it means literally
‘being above’, if one considers the parts ‘EPI’ and ‘OUSION’. In every language
there is the liberty to make new word-formations, and perhaps the writers of the
gospels just availed themselves of this liberty; though it must be remembered of
course that Matthew’s Gospel was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic, so
what we have is a translation already. Just for the purpose of checking it,
I once bought a Modern Greek Bible to see how the word has been translated into
Modern Greek, but I was disappointed, as the word looks exactly the same,
‘EPIOUSION’. Perhaps some Greek people could help me by telling me: when they
pray, using the words of the Lord’s Prayer, what do they have in mind when they
say ‘EPIOUSION’?<o:p></o:p>
 An
explanation like this would give us ‘bread from above’, which is the first and
foremost reason for my doubts about the translation ‘daily’. ‘Bread from above’
would seem to mean ‘spiritual bread’, or more directly, ’The Holy Spirit’. Some
translations render it ‘supersubstantial’, patterned probably on the Latin
translation ‘supersubstantialem’. The translation ‘daily’ also seems to have
been based on Latin rather than Greek, ‘panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis
hodie’, which appeared in later Latin manuscripts, the stress being on the word
‘later’, as it is very significant here, as it gives us some idea where the
source of inexactitude lies. It
would be easy and convenient to end the discussion here, but actually there is
more to it. I heard it said somewhere that the ancient Greeks had a peculiar
visual idea about time and the calendar: they imagined all days as ‘descending’
from above, one by one. So ‘EPIOUSA’ is supposed to have been ‘the day being
above’, in our modern terminology, simply ‘tomorrow’. Tomorrow’s bread? Give us
today our tomorrow’s bread? Does it make sense? Seemingly it doesn’t; it’s
nonsense. On deeper thought, however, it may not be such nonsense as it seems.
But the explanation would lie outside the linguistic scope. If we remember that
the  Holy Spirit is something
promised for the future, in the case of every ‘developing’ Christian, it would
seem to be a request for the promise to come true NOW, for THE FUTURE to become
NOW. <o:p></o:p>
Less
attention has been paid to Luke’s Gospel, perhaps, regarding this verse, and
especially the difference between Matthew and Luke. Let us notice that in
Matthew we have ‘DOS hEMIN  SEMERON’, while in Luke we have ‘DIDOU
hEMIN TO KAT’ hEMERAN’.  (Sorry for
any transliteration inaccuracies, but I have no practice at all in using it, and
actually it would be easier for me to use the original Greek
alphabet).
What
IS the difference? The difference between ‘DOS’ and ‘DIDOU’ is impossible to be
rendered in English, as the word ‘give’ would be used in both cases. But some
modern languages do make a similar difference, a difference between the
imperative for one single occasion, and for more occasions, for something
habitual. The Polish language is among them, and other Slavonic languages, too,
I believe. The corresponding Polish words would be ‘daj’ for ‘DOS’ and ‘dawaj’
for ‘DIDOU’.  This is corroborated
by the following phrase ‘TO KAT’ hEMERAN’ (every day) as opposed to ‘SEMERON’
(today).<o:p></o:p>
 My
makeshift conclusions, and my contention:<o:p></o:p>
 1.
Spiritual
bread is meant in both Matthew and Luke, not material bread. Other explanations
might be provided, but they lie outside the linguistic scope. One should be
mentioned, though; Christ’s own comment immediately following the text of the
prayer, in the form of a parable, with the closing words   ‘DWSEI PNEUMA ‘hAGION’ TOIS
AITOUSIN AUTON’, (Luke 11:13), the Holy Spirit being mentioned directly, in a
parable where bread also appears, but as a metaphor, verses 5 and
11.
2.
The
difference is in the request; Matthew stresses the one fulfillment, now (DOS),
Luke stresses the regularity and continuity (DIDOU). Christ could not have meant
both at the same time, but both are plausible (or perhaps both meanings were
intended after all, and the stresses distributed in both translations; it’s a
pity Matthew’s original Hebrew text got lost). The dilemma which version to use
in one’s personal prayers is solvable, but again it lies outside the scope of
this forum. Those interested may contact me off-list.
3.
‘Give
us today our bread promised for the future’  is one of possible suggested
translations, but there are a number of others, as far as Matthew goes.
‘Our bread from above give us every day’ (spiritual bread) is a possible
translation of Luke.<o:p></o:p>
 Henryk
Jędraszczak
ul.Rydla
8 m.9<o:p></o:p>
70-783
Szczecin,
Poland            

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