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Please quote the Greek text you are discussing directly in your post if it is reasonably short - do not ask people to look it up. This is not a beginner's forum, competence in Greek is assumed.
Philippians 1 wrote:Εἴ τις οὖν παράκλησις ἐν Χριστῷ, εἴ τι παραμύθιον ἀγάπης, εἴ τις κοινωνία πνεύματος, εἴ τις σπλάγχνα καὶ οἰκτιρμοί
Can someone help me sort out the distinctions being made between παράκλησις, παραμύθιον, σπλάγχνα, and οἰκτιρμοί in this verse?
Is παράκλησις 'encouragement' or 'exhortation' here? Are both equally likely?
I'm not convinced that what's being expressed in the text is deliberately nuanced; I think it's more-or-less synonymous notions collaborating for rhetorical impact: "comfort, consolation, compassion, pity." Together they say something like, "Unless you are altogether heartless, ... "
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
cwconrad wrote:I'm not convinced that what's being expressed in the text is deliberately nuanced; I think it's more-or-less synonymous notions collaborating for rhetorical impact: "comfort, consolation, compassion, pity." Together they say something like, "Unless you are altogether heartless, ... "
That's helpful. I'm more likely to over-analyze when I'm reading in Greek ...