same words

November 15, 2018

Jesus prayed again (Mk 14:39-14:39)

“Again,

Jesus went away.

He prayed,

Saying

The same words.”

 

καὶ πάλιν ἀπελθὼν προσηύξατο τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον εἰπών.

 

This is similar to Matthew, chapter 26:42, but he has the actual words instead of “the same words.”  In Luke, chapter 22, and John, chapter 22, there was nothing more about these 2nd and 3rd prayers of Jesus.  Mark indicated that again, Jesus went away, for a 2nd time (καὶ πάλιν ἀπελθὼν).  He prayed to his Father (προσηύξατο) once again.  This time Mark said that Jesus used the same words that he had said the first time (τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον εἰπών).  Matthew indicated what these words were.  Jesus said that if this cannot pass unless he drank it, then his Father’s will should be done.  Clearly, Jesus would have preferred not to undergo this great suffering.  However, he subordinated his will to the will of his Father again.

July 15, 2018

Jesus prays for a third time (Mt 26:44-26:44)

“So!

Leaving them again,

Jesus went away.

He prayed

For the third time,

Saying the same words.”

 

καὶ ἀφεὶς αὐτοὺς πάλιν ἀπελθὼν προσηύξατο ἐκ τρίτου, τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον εἰπὼν πάλιν.

 

This is unique to Matthew, but implied in Mark, chapter 14.  In Luke, chapter 22, and John, chapter 22, there was nothing more about these extra prayers of Jesus.  In fact, Matthew even mentioned that after Jesus left them again (καὶ ἀφεὶς αὐτοὺς πάλιν), he prayed for a 3rd time (ἀπελθὼν προσηύξατο ἐκ τρίτου), saying the same words as before (τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον εἰπὼν πάλιν), that sound redundant.  Jesus would follow the will of his Father, so let’s move on.

May 24, 2018

Binding and loosening (Mt 18:18-18:18)

“Truly!

I say to you!

Whatever you bind

On earth,

Shall be bound

In heaven.

Whatever you loose

On earth

Shall be loosened

In heaven.”

 

Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅσα ἐὰν δήσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται δεδεμένα ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ὅσα ἐὰν λύσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται λελυμένα ἐν οὐρανῷ.

 

This saying about binding and loosening is unique to Matthew.   Earlier in chapter 16:19, Jesus had given Peter this exact same power, using the exact same words, to bind and loosen on earth with consequences in heaven.  This power of binding and loosening also had been the authority that rabbis had used to forbid or permit things to happen.  In a solemn pronouncement “truly, I say to you!” (Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν), Jesus granted this authority to bind and loosen to the whole community and not just Peter.  Whatever they bound on earth (ὅσα ἐὰν δήσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς) would be bound in heaven (ἔσται δεδεμένα ἐν οὐρανῷ).  Whatever they loosened on earth (καὶ ὅσα ἐὰν λύσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς) would be loosened in heaven (ἔσται λελυμένα ἐν οὐρανῷ).

November 6, 2017

Amos asks for the fire to stop (Am 7:5-7:6)

“Then I said.

‘O Yahweh God!

Cease!

I beg you!

How can Jacob stand?

He is so small!’

Yahweh relented

Concerning this.

‘This shall not be.’

Said Yahweh.”

Once again, Amos interfered using the same words as above. He begged God to be merciful. He told him how small Jacob was. Yahweh once again listened to Amos and stopped the fire.

December 9, 2016

The prophet Uriah (Jer 26:20-26:20)

“There was another man

Prophesying

In the name of Yahweh.

This was Uriah,

The son of Shemaiah,

From Kiriath-jearim.

He prophesied

Against this city,

Also against this land,

In words exactly

Like those of Jeremiah.”

Uriah the prophet was from Kiriath-jearim, about 10 miles from Jerusalem. He had prophesied in the name of Yahweh against Jerusalem and Judah in almost the same words as Jeremiah had done, since he was almost a contemporary of Jeremiah. This Uriah is not the same as Uriah, the Hittite husband of Bathsheba in 2 Samuel, chapters 11-12, that David had killed. We know very little about this prophet Uriah, except what is here in Jeremiah. What happened to him is a little different than the fate of Jeremiah.