Re: HELP: Paul and the greek word musterion

From: dalmatia@eburg.com
Date: Fri Sep 25 1998 - 14:29:54 EDT


Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>
> At 7:45 AM -0700 9/25/98, Messmers wrote:
> >Carl W. Conrad wrote:
> >
> >> And the suggestion that
> >> there's some linkage between MUSTHRION and MUQOS strikes me as very
> >> strange;
> >
> >One of the things I noticed in reading John is the thematic difference between
> >vertical and horizontal, between laying down and standing up, between
> >active and
> >passive posture: hISTHMI vs QEW. Theta is the horizontal letter
> >[middle/passive]
> >indicator. With the MU root, MUSTHRION denotes a standing in silence, MUQOS a
> >laying down in silence, in a very broad and general way.
>
> So this is a new theory of how Greek words are compounded?

Well, I do have a kind of maverick way of approaching John in Greek,
Carl, and a non-conventional approach to understanding Greek word
compounding. Remember my approach to AION? As a compound of A
privative, EI and ON? To my thinking, the neuter fact of 'without if'
gives a much more intelligible rendering of AION than 'eternal', which
is far too long a time for my little brain, and accords well with the
idea of being outside of the 'if-ness' of material existence and 'in
Christ', where there is no 'if' to be concerned with.

> We ought to
> understand MUSTHRION as compounded of MU and STH (from hISTHMI) and
> similarly we ought to understand MUQOS as compounded of the same MU and
> some root beginning with a Theta--you seem to be suggesting QEW, which
> means "run," but I don't know whether you seriously meant that or not.

Well, quoting Zodhiates' 'Word Study' Greek dictionary section page 36
~ Between 2333 and 2334 [Strong's numbers] : QEW theo See 5087

And 5087: TIQHMI tith'-ay-mee A prol. form of a prim.
           QEW theo [which is used only as an alt. in cert. tenses]
to place [in the widest application lit. and fig.; prop. in a passive
or horizontal posture, and thus different from 2476, which properly
denotes an upright and active position, while 2479 is prop. reflexive
and utterly prostrate]:+advise, appoint, bow, commit, conceive, give,
x kneel down, lay [aside, down, up] make, ordain, purpose, put, set
[forth], settle, sink down.

So I was unaware of QEW meaning 'to run', Carl, and was looking into
the roots in an endeavor to see beneath the surface of the narrative ~
Its 'deep structure', if you will.
>
> >A myth is a fable that tells a simple story whose very structure [deep
> >structure?]
> >is actually telling another story, but in silence. The simple story
> >stands forth,
> >the real one lies hidden within it. Thus the mystery that those who stand
> >silently
> >witness after their initiation into it. They tend to speak simply and in
> >parables... How else to describe? They know both sides of it in a way
> >that before
> >they only knew one.
> >
> >I hope I'm not sounding too mysterious!!!
>
> This, I think, is not so much mystery as pure witchcraft! Magic! Hocus
> Pocus Dominocus!

Carl!!!

I don't do witchcraft, magic and hocus pocus! Never have, never
will. And I never heard of Dominocus ~ [Does it rhyme with 'Don't ya
poke us?]' I had a large tongue in a big cheek in my last post, but
the simple truth lies in the difficulty of talking about heavenly
matters with words that are fleshily derived. Misunderstandings are
inevitable...
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics/Washington University
> One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
> Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
> cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cconrad@yancey.main.nc.us
> WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
>
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Lisa Messmer..................ICQ# 5666415
George Blaisdell        dalmatia@eburg.com

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