Cyril of Jerusalem, Προκατήχησις, §2: Ἀφὲς ἴδωμεν...

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Mike Baber
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Cyril of Jerusalem, Προκατήχησις, §2: Ἀφὲς ἴδωμεν...

Post by Mike Baber »

Μήτις ὑμῶν εὑρεθῇ πειράζων τὴν χάριν· μήτις ῥίζα πικρίας ἄνω φύουσα ἐνοχλῇ· μήτις ὑμῶν εἰσέλθῃ λέγων· Ἀφὲς ἴδωμεν τί ποιοῦσιν οἱ πιστοί· εἰσελθὼν ἴδω, ἵνα μάθω τὰ γινόμενα.
My question is, how should Ἀφὲς be translated? I consulted Schaff's translation and it seems he ignored it entirely, although I could be wrong. Your thoughts?

Full section:
2 Προσῆλθέ ποτε καὶ Σίμων τῷ λουτρῷ ὁ μάγος· ἐβαπτίσθη, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐφωτίσθη· καὶ τὸ μὲν σῶμα ἔβαψεν ὕδατι, τὴν δὲ καρδίαν οὐκ ἐφώτισε Πνεύματι· καὶ κατέβη μὲν τὸ σῶμα, καὶ ἀνέβη· ἡ δὲ ψυχὴ οὐ συνετάφη Χριστῷ, οὐδὲ συνηγέρθη. Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω τὰς ὑπογραφὰς τῶν πτωμάτων, ἵνα μὴ σὺ ἐμπέσῃς. Ταῦτα γὰρ τυπικῶς ἐγένετο ἐκείνοις, γέγραπται δὲ πρὸς νουθεσίαν τῶν μέχρις σήμερον προσερχομένων. Μήτις ὑμῶν εὑρεθῇ πειράζων τὴν χάριν· μήτις ῥίζα πικρίας ἄνω φύουσα ἐνοχλῇ· μήτις ὑμῶν εἰσέλθῃ λέγων· Ἀφὲς ἴδωμεν τί ποιοῦσιν οἱ πιστοί· εἰσελθὼν ἴδω, ἵνα μάθω τὰ γινόμενα. Ἰδεῖν προσδοκᾷς, τὸ δὲ ὀφθῆναι οὐ προσδοκᾷς; καὶ νομίζεις, ὅτι σὺ μὲν πολυπραγμονεῖς τὰ γιγνόμενα, Θεὸς δὲ σοῦ οὐ πολυπραγμονεῖ τὴν καρδίαν;
Louis L Sorenson
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Re: Cyril of Jerusalem, Προκατήχησις, §2: Ἀφὲς ἴδωμεν...

Post by Louis L Sorenson »

BDAG: ἀφίημι
ⓑ The imperatives ἄφες, ἄφετε are used w. the subjunctive esp. in the first pers. (this is the source of Mod. Gk. ἄς; B-D-F §364, 1 and 2; Rob. 931f) ἄφες ἐκβάλω τὸ κάρφος let me take out the speck Mt 7:4; Lk 6:42 (cp. Epict. 4, 1, 132 ἄφες σκέψωμαι; POxy 413, 184 [II 1d] ἄφες ἐγὼ αὐτὸν θρηνήσω). ἄφες (ἄφετε) ἴδωμεν let us see Mt 27:49; Mk 15:36 (cp. Epict. 3, 12, 15 ἄφες ἴδω). It is also used w. the third pers. (Epict. 1, 15, 7 ἄφες ἀνθήσῃ). And w. ἵνα in a colloquially expressed sentence ἄφες αὐτήν, ἵνα τηρήσῃ αὐτό let her be, so that she can keep it for the day of my burial J 12:7. (The usage Epict. 4, 13, 19 ἄφες οὖν, ἵνα κἀγὼ ταὐτὰ ὑπολάβω is not strictly parallel, for the impv. is not followed by a pronoun. The rendering let her keep it [s. Mlt. 175f] treats ἄφες as an auxiliary. NRSV’s addition, ‘She bought it’, is unnecessary.) The second pers. is rare ἄφες ἴδῃς Hs 8, 1, 4 acc. to PMich. Abs. let it be so, let it go (Chariton 4, 3, 6) Mt 3:15; GEb 18, 40 (w. ὅτι foll.=‘for’).—B. 768; 839; 1174. DELG s.v. ἵημι. M-M. TW. Sv.



Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.) (157). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
I take it as in English we would say "Come on now, do this!," Perhaps in the sense 'let go!" or "take a step back." It is sort of similar to ἄγε, which is used to exhort the listener to do the action action, whereas, ἄφες, exhorts people to let someone else do the action. I think that those nuances are somehow involved in the word.
Mike Baber
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Re: Cyril of Jerusalem, Προκατήχησις, §2: Ἀφὲς ἴδωμεν...

Post by Mike Baber »

Ah yes, Very nice.

Thank you.
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