Galilean Gospel 5: Safeguarding the Word

⬜This episode starts with a rather unique translation of John 14:23: And Jesus told him, "If anyone longs to be with me, they will safeguard my words." 

◻But first, a bit of podcast background: My agenda for The Heretic Christian  was to introduce contemplative prayer and share how to do what some call the prayer of faith.

This May, I posted Dogma: Nest of Vipers on Reddit. (This is an updated link.) My podcasts have few downloads on Spotify and such, and 50-60 views on Reddit. But Nest of Vipers?  949. Surprised the hell out of me. Or would, if there was a hell to be surprised out of. Clearly it's time to bring the Gospel in it's most trustworthy form to people without attached agendas. 

⬜WHICH BRINGS US BACK TO THE OPENING QUOTE. Biblegateway has a page of 58 English translations of this verse. Most are standard but for the one that added a whole sentence: “Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world." Yet, none have the meaning/connotation of the Greek word they are translating "keep." In these cases, as a translator, I will comment for clarification. Here, He said something meaning far more than "be obedient."

◻Bringing the Gospel in it's most trustworthy form also means choosing the earliest reliable English translations. I copied what's below from "FanFic" episode notes 

KJV: Matthew 5:22

But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: ...

When Jerome translated the Canon into Latin, he realized that sine causa was added later and thus did not include it. It is not found in any Alexandrine text, such as the Codex Sinaiticus. Its not found in the NAB or the NIV or other translations that use earliest sources.  When scholars note these discrepancies, they often use this language: "Not found in the earliest manuscripts."  

⬜Here are the text types and their timeframes: 

• The verse is absent from all known "Alexandrian family" of manuscripts, which date from 200 to 400 AD. 
• The verse is present the majority of Old Latin copies, dating from the 4th and 5th centuries and a majority of medieval (mid 5th to 14th centuries) Greek manuscripts. 
• The verse appears in the "Byzantine family" of manuscripts, which are from 500 to 1000 AD. 

◻Unless otherwise noted, I'll be using the Codex Sinaiticus and other Alexandrian texts, like  the Jerusalem Bible, NIV and NAB.  You might like this Wikipedia article on the Alexandrian and other text-types. 

---Kyrie Discentis - a Galilean (Because "Christian" has come to imply ignorance and hate) following "THE Galilean." 

THIS PODCAST IS NOT MONETIZED. LINKS:
Contact: kyriedicentis@gmail.com
CLOUD OF UNKNOWING Evelyn Underhill edition - free
HERETIC'S REDDIT HOME
Revelations of Divine Love [free PDF] Julian of Norwich
What the Gehenna?
The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross

Transcript

WARNING: As usual I write out the podcasts or they are terrible to edit. Also, as usual when I read the transcript, I go off-book, so to speak. BUT - you only get links here. So it's kind of a wash...

GG 3.3 Safeguarding the Word

The title of this episode comes from the fourteenth chapter of John.

“...whoever wants to be with me [loves me], safeguards my word…”

Safeguards MIGHT SEEM WRONG.  The most common translation is “keeps” - or “obeys.” At biblegateway dot com, there are over fifty examples of English translations. “...obey my commandments…” is one, though the Greek word is logos, which doesn’t translate directly to commands, or imply that, really.

LOGOS: In Jesus’ time, the most basic meaning and common use of logos was:  something someone said, like an explanation or a description or an opinion. Or gossip, or endearments. Logos was simple.
 
And then there were and are the more complex uses derived from the writings of philosophers: The  logos is a thing comprising the fundamental laws of the universe and/or the divine reason/intellect that orders the cosmos. Divine does not necessarily refer to a specific god of anyone. Not a  Hebrew God nor Roman gods, or anyone else’s god. Just Divinity, as the elemental force or person. 

That is LOGOS as the ultimate god. But this is philosophy, the science of the ancients, if you will. I haven’t checked, but I’m willing to bet the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has at least ten-thousand words on the definition and use of logos.

But all we care about is what Jesus said, in the time He spoke, where He spoke and to whom He spoke. What did He mean? I’m thinking that to these apostles and disciples He was eating with, just before He was arrested, He meant very plainly everything He had told them: His teachings and His commands, His advice and parables and assurances and warnings. ALL of it.

 
So what does this have to do with “safekeeping” His logos if we love Him and want to be with Him? 

“Keep” is an English word used in 1611 to translate this verse. At that time, using middle English, the verb “keep” meant "to hold, guard, or look after." As a noun, it was a fortified tower within a castle, the safest place, jewels and armour might be stored there, or refuge taken  there by those most cherished or valuable during sieges.

This gives us some insight into what the translators thought Jesus was saying, but what did the Greek word it translates mean? That would be tereo, G5083:  to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard. Metaphorically—to retain, hold, maintain someone or something in the state they/it are in when taken in.

So how many ways did the KJV translate it using the English of their time? The KJV translates Strong's G5083 in the following manner: keep (57x), reserve (8x), observe (4x), watch (2x), preserve (2x), keeper (1x), hold fast (1x).

In this century, “preserve” would be a good word, or “safeguard.” These etymological facts show “safeguard” is reasonably preferred to the simple word “keep”—which has changed meaning and connotation in the last 400 years—for seekers of Jesus in our time who read English.

THE PODCAST AGENDA FOR DELIVERING THE GOSPEL includes finding the earliest, reliable sources and protecting His Word, His Logos from modern mistranslation or adulteration, but without preaching. Preaching will be a separate set of podcasts. I will someday do an entire episode on this specific section of the last supper discourses, because it is dense with theological implications under the preaching umbrella.

But I’m going to assume those who listen to this podcast would prefer Galilean’s Gospel to stick to the simple agenda of delivering His Word. Moving on to:

MARK!!!!

Man, I do so love the book of Mark and John Mark who wrote it.  I trust it  because Clement of Alexandria wrote a letter he never meant for public distribution that was found by Morton Smith at the Mar Saba monastery outside Jerusalem in 1958. He also did the translation. This is the part that is relevant to this podcast:

“As for Mark, then, during Peter's stay in Rome he wrote an account of the Lord's doings, not, however, declaring all of them, nor yet hinting at the secret ones, but selecting what he thought most useful for increasing the faith of those who were being instructed. But when Peter died a martyr, Mark came over to Alexandria, bringing both his own notes and those of Peter, from which he transferred to his former book the things suitable to whatever makes for progress toward knowledge. Thus he composed a more spiritual Gospel for the use of those who were being perfected.”

John Mark was Peter’s companion, translator and scribe.  Keep in mind as we go along, that most events are not in literal chronological order in any synoptic gospel, and not in Mark. Skipping the programmatic first 13 verses, Mark tells us that it was after the Baptist was arrested that Jesus came to Galilee “preaching the gospel of God.”

Near the sea, Jesus calls His first disciples, Peter and Andrew and James and John and they walked straight on to Capernaum.

CUT TO: [as the film scripts say] THE SABBATH

Jesus goes to the synagogue and starts teaching, “and they were astonished.” (1:22)

I want to point out here, that if you look this up in your own Bibles, most say, “The people” were astonished.

But the earlier Alexandrian manuscript just says “they entered Capernaum and on the sabbath he taught in the synagogue and they were astonished”

Sounds to me like the writer is referring to the disciples Jesus had called that were following Him. And, looking at the definitions of the Greek for “astonished” I’d say they were “gobsmacked” or “blown away” by... what?

They were “astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority…”

I can’t help myself, listen to the meanings of the Greek word for “authority” as used in Scripture:

exousia: [G1849]
             

• power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases
• leave or permission, physical and mental power
• the ability or strength with which one is imbued, 
• the power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege)
• the power of rule or government (the power of him whose will and commands must be submitted to by others and obeyed)         

Now that’s a pretty significant revelation. And what’s more, he not only announced His teachings with this kind of authority, but He wasn’t teaching what the scribes taught

“They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught as one having authority. And not as the scribes taught.”

OK. So we’re hanging around in the back and everyone is astonished - I mean, probably if the disciples were, and He’s saying all this stuff that’s not what they expect to hear - so - how long before someone says, 

“Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?”

EXCEPT the very next line of scripture is: “And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit and he cried out…”

This is the one where the unclean spirit uses Jesus' name and hometown and Jesus tells it/them to be quiet and leave the man, who gets thrown into convulsions and then is cured.

3 verses in 50 words.  A new authority with a new teaching who commands even unleans spirits. Skipping down to verse 28:

“And his fame immediately went forth everywhere into the whole surrounding country of Galilee.”

Jesus has arrived. 

I covered 14 verses and it’s an example of how I’ll be working. Telling the story, quotes and commentary to define or expand what is written. Scenes we were not present for that we can imagine ourselves in. 

But we know the end. 

Jesus brought God among them. And still does.