On Sat 20 Oct 2001 (08:29:01), cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu wrote: > I do find a preponderance of views in favor of reading hEBDOMHKONTAKIS > hEPTA = 77--but no definitive conclusion. I am amused to observe L&N on > this question perched firmly on the fence: > > 60.74 hEBDOMHKONTAKIS: seventy occurrences - 'seventy times.' hEWS > hEBDOMHKONTAKIS hEPTA¿ 'up to seventy-seven times' Mt 18:22. For > another interpretation of hEBDOMHKONTAKIS in Mt 18:22, see 60.77. > > 60.77 hEBDOMHKONTAKIS: seventy multiples of a quantity - 'seventy > times.' > hEWS hEBDOMHKONTAKIS hEPTA¿ 'seventy times seven' (a total of 490 > times) Mt 18:22. One should not, however, interpret hEBDOMHKONTAKIS > hEPTA¿ as > referring to a specific number, such as 490, but simply an unusually > large number with symbolic significance of being totally adequate or > complete.8 > For another interpretation of hEBDOMHKONTAKIS in Mt 18:22, see 60.74. > If I may stick my oar in, it will be to observe that neither Hebrew nor Greek had numerical script with decimal characters 0-9. Whether it is 70+7 or 70x7, this is not a sum one can quickly calculate by writing on the back of an old envelope "LXX times VII" (using Roman numerals) or [OMIKRON] times [ZHTA] or [`aYiN] times [ZaYiN]. "Seventy plus seven" is easier to enumerate, of course. It seems to me that Jesus probably meant "times without number". Contributors have alluded to Genesis 4:24 and Lamech's "seventy and seven fold". But could Peter have been alluding to the repeated "For three transgressions... and for four" in Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6? If God would go no further than 3+4, then Peter may have thought he was giving the right answer to his own question. ERRWSQE Ben -- Revd Ben Crick, BA CF 232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK) http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm --- B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [jwrobie@mindspring.com] To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-327Q@franklin.oit.unc.edu To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu