Re: AIDIOS (off-list)

From: Dennis Hukel (HUKEL@irwd.com)
Date: Thu Sep 09 1999 - 19:12:03 EDT


Dear Carl,

Thank you for giving me feedback on my word study. I was hoping others might comment, but yours was well to the point. "Ever-perceptible" does seem to suggest strongly the idea of "always seeing" which was not the idea I was contemplating. I was thinking more along the lines of OIDA than EIDON and "ever-discernible" comes closer. I knew Philo was a Platonist to some degree, but I did not know how that would apply here.

In contrast with Josephus, Philo used AIDIOS far more often, and (I was thinking) far more loosely. Since God knows everything, it seemed trite for him to apply it to God's discernment, while Josephus limits it to human discernment (in life and in the resurrection).

I was doubly concerned with its word-formation. Not just the waws, but that I could not find another word with a stem formation of WID + IOS either.

I was particularly looking for a nuance of meaning different from AIWNIOS and some of the passages really seemed to push in the direction of "knowing" (my concept of AIDIOS CRONOS had been "the time since human beings, capable of human discernment, had been on earth"). But in light of your criticism, it does seem "everlasting" fits as well or better in every passage. Thanks again.

Dennis Hukel
hukel@irwd.com



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