Romans: Heart of Salvation
The case for Christ and the Apostles' doctrine
The Gospel of Jesus Christ: The Power of Salvation
Paul was First a Servant
From Giving to Taking Orders
ἐξαίφνης τε αὐτὸν περιήστραψεν φῶς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ*
19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20
Three Things Paul Identifies With
̈δοῦλος, σύνδουλος, δούλη, δουλεύω, δουλεία
All the words in this group serve either to describe the status of a slave or an attitude corresponding to that of a slave. δοῦλος is a “slave,” δούλη a “female slave,” δουλεύω “to be a slave,” “to stand in the relationship of a slave,” δουλεία “slavery,” σύνδουλος a “fellow-slave,” the adj. δοῦλοσ-η-ον “enslaved” or “performing the service of a slave.” The meaning is so unequivocal and self-contained that it is superfluous to give examples of the individual terms or to trace the history of the group. Distinction from synonymous words and groups (→ θεραπεύω, → λατρεύω, → λειτουργέω, → διακονέω [→ 81]) is made possible by the fact that the emphasis here is always on “serving as a slave.” Hence we have a service which is not a matter of choice for the one who renders it, which he has to perform whether he likes or not, because he is subject as a slave to an alien will, to the will of his owner. → οἰκέτης is almost exactly synonymous, but in δοῦλος the stress is rather on the slave’s dependence on his lord, while οἰκέτης emphasises the position of the slave in relation to the world outside and in human society. This shows us again how strong is the passive element in δοῦλος, and in the whole word group to which it belongs.
A. ἀποστέλλω and πέμπω in Secular Greek.
1. ἀποστέλλειν in its basic meaning “to send forth,” together with the simp. στέλλειν and along with πέμπειν, is well attested both in the literature and the common speech of the classical period as well as Hellenism, and it is often used of the sending of persons as well as’ things, As a compound of στέλλειν, it has an additional emphasis as compared with it. This emerges esp. when it is used figuratively2 or almost technically, Thus it is more sharply accentuated in relation to the consciousness of a goal or to effort towards its attainment. There is also a significant difference from πέμπειν. In the latter the point is the sending as such, i.e., the fact of sending, as in the transmission of an object or commission or the sending of a man. ἀποστέλλειν, however, expresses the fact that the sending takes place from a specific and unique standpoint which does not merely link the sender and recipient but also, in virtue of the situation, unites with the sender either the person or the object sent. To this extent it is only logical that ἀποστέλλειν should also carry with it the significance that the sending implies a commission bound up with the person of the one sent. This emerges more clearly in Hellenistic Gk. The expression: οἱ ἀπεσταλμένοι ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως (3rd. century B.C.), in Dikaiomata ed. Graec. Hal., 1, 124; cf. 147 and 154, gives us already an interesting example of this development, the more so as the construction is purely verbal. To be sure, the rulers of provinces sent from Rome are sometimes referred to as οἱ πεμπόμενοι (Ael. Arist. Or., 24 [14], 37 [II, p. 102, 12, Keil]); but the context is sufficient to show that what is in view is less the goal of their coming, i.e., the assumption of the office for which they are commissioned, than the fact of their coming from Rome as an impressive concretion of the empire. In relation to the distinction between πέμπω and ἀποστέλλω the different meanings of πομπή are also instructive, as is the fact that this word is never used in the NT and only once in the LXX in a very doubtful passage (ψ 43:14) which is attested only by Chrysostom (Field, Hexapla, ad loc.) and has no MS support. In general the word πομπή is only externally related to the basic term πέμπω, and in content it is closer to → θέατρον, 1 C. 4:9. Compounds in the LXX are ἀποπομπή, Lv. 16:10; παραπομπή, 1 Macc. 9:37; προπομπή, 1 Εσδρ. 8:51
Gospel of God
“εἰς εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ”
What is the Good News
And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;