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Greek 'meros'

Posted: October 16th, 2013, 8:03 am
by David Arnold
This is not an assignment question but a personal study question.

My work with Indigenous Peoples has led me to dissect 1 Cor 13:12. I am working through an understanding of the Greek word 'meros' in this passage. I see a reference to 'a part assigned' (Strong's). Am I stretching things to suggest that we are only assigned a part of God's full truth, this side of eternity. If so, could this be extrapolated to suggest that perhaps God has 'assigned a part' to different cultures and as we 'partner' inter-culturally, we share and learn a fuller truth.

Any input appreciated. Thanks

Re: Greek 'meros'

Posted: October 23rd, 2013, 5:39 am
by David Lim
David Arnold wrote:My work with Indigenous Peoples has led me to dissect 1 Cor 13:12. I am working through an understanding of the Greek word 'meros' in this passage. I see a reference to 'a part assigned' (Strong's). Am I stretching things to suggest that we are only assigned a part of God's full truth, this side of eternity. If so, could this be extrapolated to suggest that perhaps God has 'assigned a part' to different cultures and as we 'partner' inter-culturally, we share and learn a fuller truth.
Sorry David, but we don't involve theology on B-Greek as we want to focus on what the Greek text itself probably means or can possibly mean. All the writer says is that at the present he sees through a mirror obscurely and knows (the truth) in part. In general "μερος" does not imply assignment (John 21:6, Acts 23:6,9, 1 Cor 11:18). In fact, just 2 verses before the one you are asking about makes it clear what "εκ μερους" means here. Also, I don't know what you may be referring to in Strong's, which actually says "in a wide application", but it is better to avoid Strong's dictionary as there are much better ones like LSJ, an old version of which is at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/mor ... ek#lexicon. Finally, I would like to caution against extrapolating anything at all, because we are far too likely to make mistakes in guessing the unobvious. :)