For those who say Jesus words do not make sense

More than once we get questions from people wondering what Jesus meant by saying such a strange thing. We also get several remarks that Jesus said so many strange things, that we should not take them seriously.

All Gospel readers want to understand Jesus’ teachings, but it’s not always so easy! Luckily, a little ancient Jewish context can go a long way to aiding our understanding.

Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenber in his article “When Jesus Does Not Make Sense” looks at such strange remarks of Jesus, like

“Allow the dead to bury their own dead” (Luke 9:60)

which for many do not

seem to make no sense at all.

He also looks at the weird saying

“The eye is the lamp of the body….”

Then, as if this were not confusing enough, Jesus adds,

“So, if your eye is healthy (ἁπλοῦς; aplous) your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad (πονηρὸς; poneros), your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matthew 6:22-23a.)

The most popular way of dealing with texts such as these is to ignore them!

Though, we can not agree with that. We have the opinion that one should look at those sayings in the manner of speaking at the time of Jesus Christ. I am convinced that when we want to read the Old or the New Testament, we should look at those texts as Jewish texts from previous times, when certain idioms and ways of speaking were used. Therefore, one must be familiar with the techniques of Jewish literary traditions.

One should consider the thought-language of the gospels in light of Hebraisms and Aramaisms.

We must be aware that in the Hebrew and Aramaic scriptures there was (is) a lot of use of descriptions. Hebrew has many idiomatic terms that can not easily be translated to other languages; for example בארבע עיניים be’arba enayim, literally ‘with four eyes,’ means face to face without the presence of a third person, as in, ‘The two men met with four eyes.’ The expression לא דובים ולא יער lo dubim ve lo ya’ar is literally “neither bears nor forest” but means that something is completely false. The saying טמן את ידו בצלחת taman et yado batsalahat “buried his hand in the dish” means that someone idles away his time.” ^{[ Bivin, David. “Hebrew Idioms in the Gospels,” Jerusalem Perspective Online. Archived 2007-05-26 at the Wayback Machine]}

Furthermore, we should take into account that often those writers use a description instead of going for just one word or term. When reading the Holy Scriptures we should try to come into that way of thinking. We should almost make Judaic thinking our own.

Regular Bible scholars have tried to convey the view of the saying. To this end, they took the liberty of expressing that thought with simple words in the language of translation. In this respect, those who have made paraphrased translations have gone furthest, but have also sometimes taken a little too much liberty by writing things out on the basis of their doctrine.

Furthermore, we should not underestimate metaphorical language or figure of speech, and we should take it fully into account. It is true that by using such language one can have a system of thought antedating or bypassing logic. At the time of use, they might have been very originally vivid images and clear for those who listened to the texts.

Jesus for example uses the terms of the “healthy eye” versus “evil eye” metaphorically.

A man with a “single-minded eye” looks at a God-given path alone! God’s word becomes the guiding light (Psalm 119:105). But the one with “the lustful eye” gets distracted and greedy by coveting the possessions of others. As envy takes root, generosity dies. Then darkness settles in.

This is why we must remember that “the eye is the lamp of God,” so that our eye stays healthy and we always walk in God’s paths. {When Jesus Does Not Make Sense}

If one takes the time to read and reread the text carefully, while trying to put oneself in that ancient language, one will find that the words of Jesus and other prophets do have meaning and significance. In comparison with sentences spoken in the past, everything will become clearer, but then one has to be prepared to do verse and text comparison. Also, reading more than one translation can often bring more clarity.

10 Fascinating Words About Words

Dave Taubler has been known to describe words as “delicious.” He keeps lists of interesting words he encounters. He also maintains a simmering lamentation about the slow, sad death of the word “irony” (it’s the one word the English language has to describe “a state of affairs… that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result”… we have enough words that mean “something that sucks”).

He writes:

So when I discover a savory new word, I get excited. But even more exciting, I’ve found, is to discover a word that describes other words. It’s like biting into a rich, creamy, chocolatey tart and discovering an even richer, creamier, chocolatey-er filling inside.

So without further delay, I present 10 of the tastiest words about words that I’ve recently discovered.

1. Retronym
2. Tmesis
3. Capitonym
4. Bahuvrihi
5. Embolalia
6. Metonym
7. Mondegreen
8. Exonym
9. Portmanteau
10. Slurvian

Learning new words is always a treat. Learning new words about words? That’s like a double-helping of a treat.

Read more: >

10 Fascinating Words About Words You’ve probably used examples of all of them

 

About proverbs, anti-proverbs, perverbs and malapropisms

Paremiologist Wolfgang Mieder defines anti-proverbs or perverbs as “parodied, twisted, or fractured proverbs that reveal humorous or satirical speech play with traditional proverbial wisdom”.

Soundeagle, in one of his many whimsical posts, looks at the allusive distortion, parody, misapplication, or unexpected contextualization of a recognised proverb. At the same time, he looks at errors in natural speech or malapropism and the subject of media attention, especially when made by politicians or other prominent individuals.

Malapropisms differ from other kinds of speaking or writing mistakes such as eggcorns or spoonerisms, and from the accidental or deliberate production of newly made-up words (neologisms).

Please find to read:

🤭😜 Speech Error: Anti-Proverb, Perverb, Malapropism, Eggcorn, Yogi-isms, Spoonerism, Sreudian Flip 🤪😂

J.B Mackinnon’s The Day the World Stops Shopping: Book Review

A very good question is to wonder if we have to buy things or to exchange things, and what would happen if we come to a society where nobody shall have to shop.
For sure in this capitalist world there is too much individualism and greed for having personal things, no matter what it might cost to others or to nature, to have those things in personal possession.

Sabbaths or Sundays used to be days when everybody took time for themselves and/or for God, not being bounded to work or material goods. Many, in the past, considered that one day of the week as a ‘holy’ day, in which there was no place for material gain, but all the more for spiritual gain. There was that one day in the week that people stopped, relaxed, and recharged for the week ahead, and stopped consuming for the day.

But in the capitalist world, such time for oneself is considered damaging the economic world and our society, which has continued to thrive on the expenditure of money. Money has become the modern god. Most people have come to worship Mammon, the god of money, and feel bad if they become limited or restricted in their game of gaining more and more personal stuff.

People should come to understand that the way of consumerism like it has gone with a bullet train since the 1980ies has to be stopped. Demarketing, the concept of using marketing to dissuade people from consuming, or encouraging them to consume less, offers a solution that marketing could provide to the problem of climate change and overconsumption.

 

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Preceding

P5 The Empire we’re in: Individualism & Consumerism

Summer holiday time to knock and ask, and time to share

Watch out

What climate activists can learn from Sunday School leaders

Less… is still enough

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Additional reading

1. A look at materialism
2. Capitalism and economic policy and Christian survey (Our World) = Capitalism and economic policy and Christian survey (Some View on the World)
3. Gang Fascism: How Capital Weaponizes the Social Ills It Creates
4. Daily thought for July the 8th and the Summer months
5. Today’s thought “Fools despise wisdom and instruction” (March 23)
6. A way to prepare for the Kingdom
7. Utopism has not ended
8. Entering 2022 still Aiming for a society without exploitation or oppression

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Related

1. When Will Enough Be Enough? Our Society Has a Serious Obsession with Growth.
2. Overconsumption
3. Overconsumption is what happens when an ecosystem can no longer sustain the use of its resources
4. Overconsumption: uncovering the dark side of economic growth
5. On overconsumption and Christmas shopping
6. A Reality Check and A Challenge 
7. The Unedited Truth About Why Americans Are So Unhappy In Life
8. “I Don’t Want to Know”
9. Column: Overconsumption has no place in the holidays
10. overconsumption and the dulling of the senses
11. The Occupiers Claim: Working for A Living is Slavery
12. The case against consumerism: Part 1 – The real cost of our everyday purchases
13. P5 The Empire we’re in: Individualism & Consumerism
14. Consumerism’s Effect on Creating an Addictive Society – Pt. 3
15. Buying more stuff won’t make you happy
16. 11.11 sales are a symptom of the greater disease of mindless consumerism
17. Green Consumerism: Who Cares About The Environment?
18. “…Drop your weapons of greed and gluttony …for when you do, peace will return to society….”
19. Sustainable Fashion: Less is More
20. Explaining Fast Fashion
21. The Curse of Fast Fashion
22. Supply line panic
23. There is no green growth
24. Hunger Cycle
25. From Sustainable Development to Developing Sustainability
26. Overcoming Overconsumption
27. Choosing a time to listen to God

Working Zillennial

What if the world stopped shopping? J. B. Mackinnon shines a light on the damaging effects of overconsumption on the planet and our health, wellbeing and happiness.

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How Did Scandinavia Become Christian?What If It United?

Teaching History's Slender Threads, Including 'What Ifs', Almosts, Alternatives and Turning Points

The Infographics Show: “What exactly is Scandinavia? The countries of Scandinavia are Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. We might also refer to the Scandinavian Peninsula, or Fennoscandia, which also comprises Finland and parts of Russia. Moreover, we talk about Nordic countries, and these include Iceland, Greenland and Faroe Islands. But today we are talking about three countries alone, and they are Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The countries have similar customs and cultures, and the languages are not far apart. The EU tells us the citizens of all these countries will likely be able to read each other’s language, although Swedes and Norwegians can have trouble understanding spoken Danish, even though the Danish and Norwegian languages are the most similar. Now, let’s look at what would happen if those countries finally came together, in this episode of the Infographics Show, What if Scandinavia United?

For those of us of at least…

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Why Does Denmark Own Greenland?

Teaching History's Slender Threads, Including 'What Ifs', Almosts, Alternatives and Turning Points

History Matters: “Greenland is massive. Denmark is not. Given its size, it’s strategic position and its distance from Denmark? How does Denmark own it and why didn’t anybody take it from them? If you want to find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.”

The comments section is also informative:

1. “Britain shelled Copenhagen, finally teaching the Danes how it feels to have a bunch of angry ships turn up at your shore and set things on fire” God I love this channel.
2. “America in 19th century: ‘Can we buy Greenland?’ Denmark ‘No’. America in 1905 “Can we buy Greenland?” Denmark “No” America in 1945 “Can we buy Greenland?” Denmark “NO.” America in 2019 “Can we buy Greenland?” Denmark “NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!”
3. “Napoleon is in every European story.”
4. “1:18 this is incorrect. The shelling of Copenhagen happened before Denmark joined Napoleon. Denmark was neutral, but the king of the…

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Point of view

THE PRODIGY OF IDEAS

Punctuation is very strange as I see it. The ellipsis make me anxious, yet I use them a lot, they give me that feeling of indefinite, of something to leave pending. The two points are used to define and explain precisely, but I remain with the idea that you cannot always explain everything and, you know, to define is to limit. The exclamation points are overbearing, like a cry, a firework, when they explode they make a lot of noise. The question marks? Sore point, they are very dangerous. They leave you with only doubts and uncertainties. There is the point. Definitely too final, it is always difficult to put a period, not to mention that sometimes you have to go to the head or even turn the page. And then there are commas, I love commas. After a comma, everything can change, or nothing can change. Each comma is…

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UNESCO Fears Ukraine Harm As Russian Culture Backlash Grows

AMRAH

BUCHAREST, Romania – An Amsterdam museum said Thursday it has cut its close links to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and UNESCO warned of damage to Ukraine’s cultural heritage, as international cultural institutions stepped up their condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Hermitage Amsterdam said it has long distanced itself from politics in Russia under President Vladimir Putin as it built close ties with the Hermitage, giving the Amsterdam museum ‘access to one of the world’s most famous art collections, which we could draw from’ for exhibitions.

‘Russia’s recent attack on Ukraine makes keeping this distance no longer tenable’, the Dutch museum said in a statement. ‘Out Board and directors have decided to cut ties with the State Hermitage Museum’.

It added that it hoped to eventually be able to restore ties pending peace and ‘changes in the future of Russia’.

In another move to culturally isolate Moscow…

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Thoughts from a Ukrainian refugee

 

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Preceding

A letter from Kyiv

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Find also to read

Baby Yar summary

the scroll

CN: war, trauma

SUPPORT ON PATREON

OPINION

How do I write that my older brother could go to war? How do I write that I cannot comfort my godchildren, wipe their tears away and protect them from the injustice now taking place? How can I write that the peace in which my goddaughter believes does not exist?

Imagine the place you have always called home, the place where you planned to start a family, being bombed into terror and destruction. This is what I’m experiencing. And I am still struggling to believe it.

The country I proudly call my home is Ukraine. Let us not call this a ‘crisis’. Let us open our eyes to see that this is nothing short of a re-invasion by one aggressor. People are dying, families are being destroyed. Children, women and men are being killed every day. For what? For a rich man…

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Why do we like Music?

 

Charly W. Karl

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