The Word Συντελεία in a Commentary on the Book of Isaiah

[Bernd Strauss]

Commentary on the Prophet Isaiah attributed to Basil of Caesarea, chapter 2, extract from section 66 (comments on Isa 2:2): “Ὅτι ἔσται ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐμφανὲς τὸ ὄρος Κυρίου καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπ' ἄκρων τῶν ὀρέων.
Ἔσχαται ἡμέραι αἱ προσεγγίζουσαι τῇ συντελείᾳ τοῦ χρόνου τούτου λέγονται.”

Translation from Commentary on the Prophet Isaiah: Translated Into English by Nikolai A. Lipatov: “'In the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest and the house of God [shall be] on the tops of the mountains.'
By 'last days' are meant the days drawing near to the end of this present time.”

Is the translation correct? Is the συντελεία a termination point of the “last days” to which the “last days” are drawing near? Or is the συντελεία commensurate with the last days?

[Stirling Bartholomew]

The translation is accurate. Thank you for drawing attention to Nikolai Lipatov-Chicherin. It is good to know about his work.

L&N (abridged)
13.88 συντελέω: to cause to exist by virtue of its having been finally accomplished — ‘to cause to exist, to accomplish.

67.67 τελέω; συντελέω: (derivatives of τέλος and συντέλεια ‘end,’ 67.66) to occur or happen at the end of a duration — ‘to end, to come to an end.’

67.66 τέλος, ους n; συντέλεια, ας f: a point of time marking the end of a duration — ‘end.’

As I said before, this project isn't well conceived. Your splitting hairs over lexical semantics will not stand up under scrutiny from people who can read the language. Lexical semantics isn't a game for beginners. Most beginners don't understand this. Your not alone. There are mountains of exegetical discourse containing dubious NT greek lexical argumentation.

[Stirling Bartholomew]

... For example, see this dissertation SOME LEXEMES ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONCEPT OF JOY IN BIBLICAL HEBREW : A COGNITIVE LINGUISTIC INVESTIGATION at: http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/86427.

For an excellent readable "executive summary" (overview) of modern lexical semantic theory see the introduction §1.1 (pages 17-22 pdf) to Some Lexemes Associated with the Concept of JOY in Biblical Hebrew: A Cognitive Linguistic Investigation April 2014 Michael L. Megahan (see link above). This will give you some hints about the complexity of that task. It isn't a matter of looking something up in a lexicon. You must be able to read the language.

[Bernd Strauss]

Thank you for the information. I understand that words can acquire different meanings with the passage of time, so that morphology alone does not always facilitate the means of determining the meaning of a word in a particular context. Since the meaning of a word often depends on how people use it rather than on its morphology, it is essential to take into account the context where it is used.

[Jonathan Robie]

Thank you for the information. I understand that words can acquire different meanings with the passage of time, so that morphology alone does not always facilitate the means of determining the meaning of a word in a particular context. Since the meaning of a word often depends on how people use it rather than on its morphology, it is essential to take into account the context where it is used.

Yes, definitely. And good lexicons do that. I'm pretty sure you aren't saying something Stirling doesn't know ;->

I think he's being a little gruff with you, but he does have a point: reading and understanding the meaning of these words accurately in a large number of texts requires really getting a solid understanding of what each text means. Can you say more about your project, your goals, and the approach you are taking?

[Bernd Strauss]

Thank you for the information. I understand that words can acquire different meanings with the passage of time, so that morphology alone does not always facilitate the means of determining the meaning of a word in a particular context. Since the meaning of a word often depends on how people use it rather than on its morphology, it is essential to take into account the context where it is used.

Yes, definitely. And good lexicons do that. I'm pretty sure you aren't saying something Stirling doesn't know ;->

I think he's being a little gruff with you, but he does have a point: reading and understanding the meaning of these words accurately in a large number of texts requires really getting a solid understanding of what each text means. Can you say more about your project, your goals, and the approach you are taking?

I am preparing some material which deals with the eschatology of the New Testament, particularly the second coming and the last days. Some people advance the uncommon view that the word παρουσία cannot mean “coming” and that Jesus’ παρουσία is not his coming in the future but an invisible presence which has already started many years ago and has continued down to the present. They also teach that the συντελεία mentioned at Mt 24:3 is not the end of the age in the future but a long concluding period of time called the last days, and that this period runs synchronously with Jesus’ long invisible presence.

According to the above views, the last days, the παρουσία, and the συντελεία cover the same period of time which started a long time ago and has continued to the present.

In order to show that such views are inaccurate, I am gathering linguistic evidence which proves that the word παρουσία does not mean “presence” only but can also mean “coming” in certain contexts. Therefore, I am collecting instances from ancient Greek writings where the word is used in parallel with such words as ἔλευσις, ἔρχομαι, ἥκω in the contexts where it is evident that the word refers to a coming rather than a presence. This evidence can be used in support of the correct view that at Mt 24:3, the word means “coming.”

Similarly, to show that the word συντελεία does not only mean “conclusion” (as a long concluding period) but also has the simple meaning “end” in some contexts, it is helpful to consider contexts in ancient Greek writings where it is used interchangeably with the word τέλος.

[Jonathan Robie]

I just started one thread and revived another two discuss your two central issues.

[Bernd Strauss]

Thank you.
http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/vie ... 673#p30673

https://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/vi ... 675#p30675