[b-greek] Re: Mt. 24:28

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Fri Apr 13 2001 - 20:40:24 EDT


At 6:29 PM -0400 4/13/01, Ed Siefert wrote:
> A more telling comparison than those previously mentioned is
>between Mat 24:28 and Luke 17:37, where Matthew states corpse, Greek
>PTOMA, and Luke states living body, Greek SOMA; and both refer to ìgatherî
>through the Greek word SUNAGO, used for people, rather than for animals
>and goods (SULLEGO).
> Placed into context, Lukeís quotation represents Christís response to
>the question of where will the church be taken. His answer is, where the
>living body (church: Rom 12:4-5) is, there the eagles (angels: living)
>will be assembled; thus heavenñthe heavens.
> Matthew, on the other hand, uses a corpse to represent those dead to
>Christís words. And he adds, there the vultures will gather: false
>messiahs and false prophets (living people) who feed upon the flesh of
>these dead.
> As to a reference from the Hebrew bible, some could apply. But thereís
>just so much alliteration. Ancient Greek, however, is highly descriptive
>and the metaphorical clear.
> Hope this helps.
>Ed Siefert Costa Mesa, CA, USA sieferted@netzero.net

I rather think that this gets beyond the Greek into figurative
interpretation. SWMA, by the way, was used as much in Hellenistic Greek of
the corpse as was PTWMA, even if SWMA had been used in Attic and was also
used in Hellenistic Greek of "self" or "living body." The main square of
Alexandria was called "SWMA" because the mausoleum of Alexander the Great
lay there just as for most of the past century the body of Lenin lay in the
great mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow.
--

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad@ioa.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

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