Does κόσμος in the NT connect with the OT usage?
Posted: May 12th, 2019, 5:21 am
Disclaimer: I have no formal education in biblical languages.
In the "LXX" (which is part of the Koine period) κόσμος seems to be to generally be used to refer to jewelry, as in BDAG's first glosses:
κόσμος, ου, ὁ (Hom.+)
① that which serves to beautify through decoration, adornment, adorning (Hom.+; Diod S 20, 4, 5 τῶν γυναικῶν τὸν κόσμον; OGI 531, 13; SIG 850, 10; IMaronIsis 41; PEleph 1, 4; PSI 240, 12 γυναικεῖον κόσμον; LXX; TestJud 12:1; JosAs 2:6 al.; Philo, Migr. Abr. 97 γυναικῶν κ.; Jos., Ant. 1, 250; 15, 5; Just., A II, 11, 4f) of women’s attire, etc. ὁ ἔξωθεν … κόσμος external adorning 1 Pt 3:3 (Vi. Hom. 4 of the inward adornment of a woman, beside σωφροσύνη; Crates, Ep. 9; Pythag., Ep. 11, 1; Plut., Mor. 141e; on the topic of external adornment cp. SIG 736, 15–26).
② condition of orderliness, orderly arrangement, order (Hom. et al.; s. HDiller, Die vorphilosophische Gebrauch von κ. und κοσμεῖν: BSnell Festschr., ’56, 47–60) μετὰ κόσμου in order Dg 12:9 (text uncertain; s. μετακόσμιος).
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 561). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
In NT usage, also koine period, it is generally understood by translators as referring to "the world" by which they mean something like "lost mankind".
Doesn't it seem that the difference in usages of κόσμος between the OG ("old greek") and the NT, both koine, is uniquely and inexplicitly abrupt?
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Secondly, and I realize I'm pretty much alone in this view, doesn't it seem theologically driven that κόσμος is rendered "[secular] world"? I mean, isn't that a religious use of the word, imbued with theological presumption rather than the way the word was used in the secular usage? IE: Isn't the way translators treat the word more "Biblish" than English? It seems to me that it is better understood as referring to Judaism, not to "the secular world".
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For example, don't some of these make more sense if they refer to Judaism?:
>[Col 2:16-23 ESV] (16) Therefore let no one **pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath**. (17) These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (18) Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, (19) and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. (20) If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, **as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations**-- (21) "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (22) (referring to things that all perish as they are used)--according to human precepts and teachings? (23) These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
>[Jhn 17:6, 9 ESV] (6) "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ... (9) I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
(The "not praying for the κόσμος seems to be a reference to this:
Jeremiah 7:16 καὶ σὺ **μὴ προσεύχου περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου** καὶ μὴ ἀξίου τοῦ ἐλεηθῆναι αὐτοὺς καὶ μὴ εὔχου καὶ μὴ προσέλθῃς μοι περὶ αὐτῶν ὅτι οὐκ εἰσακούσομαι
I could go on and on with what I consider compelling examples.
---
So what I'm wondering is if κόσμος might not have become a reference to Israel as God's "jewelry" or "treasure box" or something which would give the NT usage some continuity with the OG:
[attachment=0]Kosmos Usages.jpg[/attachment]
Regardless, though I think that NT makes more sense if in most cases (at least in the gospels and Paul) if we understand the referent of κόσμος to be Israel, not "the secular world".
In the "LXX" (which is part of the Koine period) κόσμος seems to be to generally be used to refer to jewelry, as in BDAG's first glosses:
κόσμος, ου, ὁ (Hom.+)
① that which serves to beautify through decoration, adornment, adorning (Hom.+; Diod S 20, 4, 5 τῶν γυναικῶν τὸν κόσμον; OGI 531, 13; SIG 850, 10; IMaronIsis 41; PEleph 1, 4; PSI 240, 12 γυναικεῖον κόσμον; LXX; TestJud 12:1; JosAs 2:6 al.; Philo, Migr. Abr. 97 γυναικῶν κ.; Jos., Ant. 1, 250; 15, 5; Just., A II, 11, 4f) of women’s attire, etc. ὁ ἔξωθεν … κόσμος external adorning 1 Pt 3:3 (Vi. Hom. 4 of the inward adornment of a woman, beside σωφροσύνη; Crates, Ep. 9; Pythag., Ep. 11, 1; Plut., Mor. 141e; on the topic of external adornment cp. SIG 736, 15–26).
② condition of orderliness, orderly arrangement, order (Hom. et al.; s. HDiller, Die vorphilosophische Gebrauch von κ. und κοσμεῖν: BSnell Festschr., ’56, 47–60) μετὰ κόσμου in order Dg 12:9 (text uncertain; s. μετακόσμιος).
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 561). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
In NT usage, also koine period, it is generally understood by translators as referring to "the world" by which they mean something like "lost mankind".
Doesn't it seem that the difference in usages of κόσμος between the OG ("old greek") and the NT, both koine, is uniquely and inexplicitly abrupt?
---
Secondly, and I realize I'm pretty much alone in this view, doesn't it seem theologically driven that κόσμος is rendered "[secular] world"? I mean, isn't that a religious use of the word, imbued with theological presumption rather than the way the word was used in the secular usage? IE: Isn't the way translators treat the word more "Biblish" than English? It seems to me that it is better understood as referring to Judaism, not to "the secular world".
---
For example, don't some of these make more sense if they refer to Judaism?:
>[Col 2:16-23 ESV] (16) Therefore let no one **pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath**. (17) These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (18) Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, (19) and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. (20) If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, **as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations**-- (21) "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (22) (referring to things that all perish as they are used)--according to human precepts and teachings? (23) These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
>[Jhn 17:6, 9 ESV] (6) "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ... (9) I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
(The "not praying for the κόσμος seems to be a reference to this:
Jeremiah 7:16 καὶ σὺ **μὴ προσεύχου περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου** καὶ μὴ ἀξίου τοῦ ἐλεηθῆναι αὐτοὺς καὶ μὴ εὔχου καὶ μὴ προσέλθῃς μοι περὶ αὐτῶν ὅτι οὐκ εἰσακούσομαι
I could go on and on with what I consider compelling examples.
---
So what I'm wondering is if κόσμος might not have become a reference to Israel as God's "jewelry" or "treasure box" or something which would give the NT usage some continuity with the OG:
[attachment=0]Kosmos Usages.jpg[/attachment]
Regardless, though I think that NT makes more sense if in most cases (at least in the gospels and Paul) if we understand the referent of κόσμος to be Israel, not "the secular world".