Re: Matthew 28:19

From: Carl William Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Fri Jan 23 1998 - 11:46:36 EST


On Fri, 23 Jan 1998, Scott Schreiber wrote:
>
> Does anyone have any insight they can give me as to why common modern
> english Bible translations translate MAQHTEUSATE (do I have that
> right...matheteusate) in Matthew 28:19 as "make disciples" when a more
> clear translation might be "disciple" or "teach" or "instruct." Or is that
> not more clear? I understand MAQHTEUW (matheteuo?) from Vine's Expository
> Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words to be a verb. I am assuming that
> MAQHTEUSATE is a form of the same, but due to my new-ness I don't know if
> I'm missing something in this form of the word...

You're quite right: MAQHTEUW is indeed a verb, but it is one of that class
of verbs called "denominative" because they derive from nouns; this one
derives from the noun MAQHTHS, "disciple." And in this gospel of Matthew,
which is so heavily charged with first-century Jewish, even Pharisaic,
perspectives on learning and the authority of the teacher and the distinct
status of the apprentice who sits at the feet of the rabbi, the notion of
"make disciples" means considerable more than "turn them into
Christians"--it means "transform them into intense students of what Jesus
said and deed who will not only transmit the rabbi's lore but also act it
out in their lives." More or less ... (but more rather than less).

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, USA 63130
(314) 935-4018
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwc@oui.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/



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