destructive

June 4, 2019

The tenants beat the slave (Lk 20:10-20:10)

“When the harvest time came,

The vineyard owner

Sent a slave

To the tenants.

Thus,

They might give him

His share

Of the produce

Of the vineyard.

But the tenants

Beat him.

They sent him away

Empty-handed.”

 

καὶ καιρῷ ἀπέστειλεν πρὸς τοὺς γεωργοὺς δοῦλον, ἵνα ἀπὸ τοῦ καρποῦ τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος δώσουσιν αὐτῷ· οἱ δὲ γεωργοὶ ἐξαπέστειλαν αὐτὸν δείραντες κενόν.

 

Luke indicated that Jesus said that when the harvest time came (καὶ καιρῷ), this land owner sent a slave to these tenants (ἀπέστειλεν πρὸς τοὺς γεωργοὺς δοῦλον), so that they might give him (δώσουσιν αὐτῷ) his share of the produce from the vineyard (ἵνα ἀπὸ τοῦ καρποῦ τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος).  However, the tenants beat him (δείραντες).  They sent him away empty-handed (οἱ δὲ γεωργοὶ ἐξαπέστειλαν αὐτὸν…κενόν).  This parable about the wicked tenants can also be found in Matthew, chapter 21:34-35, and Mark, chapter 12:2-3.  Mark said that when the harvest season time came, the right time (τῷ καιρῷ), the landowner sent a slave (καὶ ἀπέστειλεν…δοῦλον), to these tenants or renters (πρὸς τοὺς γεωργοὺς).  He was to collect or receive (λάβῃ) from these tenant farmers (ἵνα παρὰ τῶν γεωργῶν) his share of the fruit produced from this vineyard (ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος).  This all seemed very reasonable.  However, these tenant farmers seized this slave (καὶ λαβόντες αὐτὸν).  They beat him (ἔδειραν).  Then they sent him away empty-handed (καὶ ἀπέστειλαν κενόν).  There was only one slave in both these accounts, instead of the 3 different slaves that Matthew indicated that Jesus talked about at this harvest time.  Matthew remarked that Jesus said that when the time came when the grapes were ripe for picking (ὅτε δὲ ἤγγισεν ὁ καιρὸς τῶν καρπῶν), the landowner sent his slaves (ἀπέστειλεν τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ), not one slave, to these tenants or renters (τοὺς γεωργοὺς) to collect his fruit produce (λαβεῖν τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτοῦ).  However, these tenant farmers seized his slaves (καὶ λαβόντες οἱ γεωργοὶ τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ).  They beat one slave (ὃν μὲν ἔδειραν).  Then they killed another slave (ὃν δὲ ἀπέκτειναν) and stoned still another slave (ὃν δὲ ἐλιθοβόλησαν).  These tenant farmers were not very nice.  Only Matthew had the 3 different slaves rather than the one slave as in Luke and Mark.  They were also more destructive in Matthew.  Have you been a good tenant?

March 21, 2016

Immortality (Wis 1:12-1:15)

“Do not invite death

By the error of your life.

Do not bring on destruction

By the works of your hands.

God did not make death.

He does not delight

In the death of the living.

He created all things

So that they might exist.

The generative forces of the world

Are wholesome.

There is no destructive poison in them.

The dominion of Hades is not on earth.

Righteousness is immortal.”

This author states clearly that God did not create death (θάνατον). Man has created death that leads to hell, Sheol, or Hades (Άδης). You invite death by the error of your life. You bring on destruction by your own hands. God does not delight in death. God created living things as a generative wholesome force with no destructive poison in them so that they might exist. The kingdom or dominion of Hades is not on earth. Righteousness, or those who act justly, will make you immortal (δικαιοσύνη γὰρ ἀθάνατός ἐστιν), the opposite of death, not dying. Thus this is a vague immortality, somewhat like the Greek immortality of the soul that comes from a good life.

July 4, 2015

Job is not happy with his companions (Job 6:14-6:20)

“Those who withhold kindness from a friend

Reject the fear of the Almighty Shaddai.

My companions are as treacherous as a flood.

My companions are like streams of water that pass away.

They are like dark spots on ice.

They are like murky spots on melting snow.

In time of heat they disappear.

When it is hot,

They vanish from their place.

The caravans turn aside from their course.

They go up into the waste.

They perish.

The caravans of Tema look.

The travelers of Sheba hope.

They are disappointed

Because they were confident.

They come there

But they are confused.”

Job then turned on his 3 companions. He said that they were not so friendly. However, they did come to spend some time with him. He, however, called them treacherous. He compared them to a flood of water, an uncontrolled stream of water. He also compared them to a flash flood. In other words, they were like quick and destructive flows of water. He also compared them to dark ice and murky snow in that when it got hot, they would disappear. Then he compared them to caravans from Tema, an Arab tribe descendent from Ishmael, and Sheba that got lost in the desert. Both these caravans in ancient times were very confident but in the end they were confused. Job was comparing his 3 friends to these lost confusing caravans. They were not helping him with their torrent of confusing words.