I heard a pastor I respect tremendously say once that we shouldn’t bother with Greek and Hebrew. His argument was that we shouldn’t have to deal with a foreign language to understand who God is.
I thought about what horrible advice that is last night. I stayed up late reading yet another book about the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and the beatitudes (those eight blessings I’m STILL writing a book about). I’ve been asked to teach about “peace” this weekend at Origins Church in NY, NY so I flipped ahead to that chapter just to see if there was anything all those other books I’ve read about all this might have missed.
And there was.
Most books on the Sermon on the Mount or the beatitudes (the ones I’ve read) talk only about the Hebrew word for peace: shalom. And how it has a very broad meaning. It means wholeness or completion. Shalom happens when what’s wrong or broken is righted or repaired. This Hebrew word for peace is important to understand – I think – because Jesus was a Jew and grew up hearing and studying the Hebrew scriptures and so did the folks He taught the Sermon on the Mount to.
But the Sermon on the Mount we have today was translated into English from a Greek version of the New Testament. When Jesus says, “Blessed are the peace makers…” the word used in the Greek version isn’t so general. It’s very specific. It always means, I learned last night, an absence of war.
Now, I’m checking this out of course. I’m not teaching anything based on one source, especially when it’s the source out of dozens that bothers to mention it. But the point is that ignoring the language scripture was written in is a good way to insure scripture is interpreted to fit our own place and time. Before I started studying the beatitudes (three years ago) I thought “peace” meant an inner well-being or maybe a spiritual peace but definitely not an absence of war or a wholeness of all things.
There’s not a lot going on today. I’m studying and setting up a new bank account. But I woke up with peace on my mind and realizing one way it’s been twisted by the modern American church into something non-threatening and easy to pursue. We’ve defined Jesus’ words as if He spoke them in English to Americans today, when in fact He spoke them as a Jew to Jews in Aramaic in the context of teaching about something called a “kingdom”. His words were then translated into Greek and then, much much later, into English and sold to us at LifeWay stores.
If we could go back and ask the people on that hill side 200 years ago what THEY thought Jesus meant, what would they tell us? That’s what “bothering” with original languages gets us closer to. And that makes this kind of study too important to shrug off.
Don’t you think?
Shaun,
I love reading your blog but I have to respectfully disagree with the statement “When Jesus says, “Blessed are the peace makers…” the word used in the Greek version isn’t so general. It’s very specific. It always means, I learned last night, an absence of war.” I’m not sure what your source is, but it is incomplete. The word peacemaker is the Greek word “eirēnopoios,” which has a much broader meaning. It is part of the word group including the verb eireneuo (“peacing”) [#1514], the adjective eirenikos (“peaceful”) [#1516], the verb eirenopoieo (’peace-making”) [# 1517], and the noun eirenopoios (“peacemaker”) [# 1518]. Altogether you will find this word used 100 times in the NT. The books of Luke (13) and Romans (12) have the highest usages. Eirenopoios means to be a peace-maker, i.e. (figuratively) to harmonize or make peace. It does not apply specifically to an absence of war, but also includes striving to prevent all contention, strife, and war.
I know you have very strong convictions about war, but when we look at the Beatitudes, I think we should focus (as Jesus did) on the root cause of war: contention and strife.
Jeff beat me to it. I was going to visit Kittel and find out where that root shows up across the NT and how it’s used there.
Jeff, it might be good if you could post some of those 100 occurrences. Then we could get some insight into which occurrences COULD relate to war and which absolutely could not.
A good dictionary will also give you good study on where the word shows up outside of Scripture. For example, “hilasmas” occurs once in the entire Bible. We translate it as “propitiation”. Awesome! A word we’re exposed to once in all of Scripture, and we translate it into a word we’ve never used outside of that one occurrence. We might as well give it NO definition.
We’re better off finding out what that word really meant in 1st century greek culture and bringing THAT meaning into our translation.
I’m a Greek minor, a linguist at heart. I LOVE this kind of stuff and use it weekly in teaching
God did not give His word to only scholars, but to all men – both of simple understanding and deep thinking. That being said, He also made some of us scholars and thinkers. Not everyone is going to go to the Greek or Hebrew; God did not make them that way. But, those of us He did make that way seem to have to obligation to not rest on our laurels, expecting words translated into English 5, 50, or 500 years ago to have the same meaning as when the translator selected that word. How else would we know the import of words like “peace” or “blessed” when spoken by Christ, when they have been diluted so in our own language today. Also, how else would we see some of the vanities of previous translators, catering to their benefactor by translating the Greek “Iakobos”, a transliteration of the Hebrew “Ya`aqob” or Jacob, as James in the New Testament?
I will try to do that if I can get a little extra time. Since we are referring to “peacemakers” as found in Matthew 5, I will probably only look for eirenopoieo (’peace-making”) [# 1517], and the noun eirenopoios (“peacemaker”) [# 1518]. I think these are the most applicable words in that group.
What I would really like to see is an example that specifically means “an absence of war.” I’m really curious where Shaun read that.
That would be great… I’d also love to see what the extra-biblical meaning of that word is during the time period. Anyone familiar with the Koine Greek writings of peacemaking?
I would be interested to see that as well. I do know that the Greek word eirenopoios was later translated into Latin as pacifici, which means “those who work for peace” (which is where we got the word pacifist). You may have better luck finding that.
It is great that you blogged about this today. This is a subject that myself and another blogger who comments here sometimes have been discussing. I served four years in the Army (I was a medic) and have always been uneasy with war.
I have always had a conscience about wars, that is not typical to most evangelical americans, especially who have served in the military. Her original blog was about the movie “Hotel Rhwanda” and the link is here.
http://emmsy.wordpress.com/2007/01/03/hotel-rwanda/#comments
So I have been looking into it more and what that phrase peace-makers implies and if you continue on in Matthew 5:38-48 in goes into more detail.
After reading a few blogs and looking into different Christian movements, particualarly ones grown out of Europe, my view is starting to have a more solid foundation for me to believe what I do.
I think N.T.Wright in his book “Simply Christian” hit the nail right on the head when talking about justice, and how we are suppose to go about it as followers of Christ.
So I can say, I am against war and I don’t feel bad about that view. If someone would give me a reason to support war that is given by Jesus, I would love to hear it.
Peace(no, really) Shawn
Likes I said in the post, I don’t believe one source and plan to check out the book’s take on the Greek word for “peace.”
So, you’re not disagreeing with me at all. You’re disagreeing with some scholar whose work I read.
But thanks for doing so.
I’ve read the same things you guys have posted: that the greek word for peace is not as specific and all about war as this guy says it is. But then why does this guy say it is?
That’s what I’m checking into.
His claim – and I didn’t go into it all in this post for fear of boring the crap out of just about everyone – is that those other scholars have made an error. he goes in great detail about what their error is and why he’s right instead. And he references a lot of other scholars and works. I’m wading through it all to decide for myself.
On a side note, this scholar isn’t actually a pacifist. Nor does the subject of his book have anything to do with non-violence etc. It’s a book exploring the Jewish roots of Jesus’ teaching. And the part about peace is actually contrasting the Jewish idea of peace (shalom) with the greek and debating how Jesus may have defined peace – guessing at what words Jesus may have actually spoken, based on his Jewishness, before those words were translated into Greek and later into English. The book is about original meaning not about war or pacifism. That’s one reason I;m interested in what he has to say – he doesn’t seem to have an agenda as it relates to the issue of war and non-violence.
-SG
I have an agenda, and it’s called justice. Can justice be reached without war, by simply following Jesus? I think it can. One simple and not so distant martyr who can used as an example for this would be Martin Luther King. I know you rintent may not have been to start a debate about war, but to me it is one aspect of justice and our duty as Christians, as pertaining to the words of Jesus.
I would love to get your take on peace and it’s relation to justice Shaun. I think Jeff’s arguement which, by the way, had nothing to do with your statements that you were looking for our opinion on the matter and that was his opinion. His opinion though was really nothing spectacularly different than what is taught in most modern evangelical church’s and there blind support of a certain political groups idealism(which I won’t even get into).
Anyway, that’s my take on it, but I was hoping to have more discussion about this matter. If I am wrong, I would love to know the right answer and am willing to learn what it is.
I love this thread! Seriously! Would love to know what specific book it is your reading Shaun, as I’d like to read it for myself. I have a book on my wishlist that I haven’t got round to yet, but would like to soon, on a similar topic – it may in fact be the same book? It’s called “Hebrew Thought Compared with Greek” by Thorleif Boman. I have a few books I’d love to read on the topic of Jesus Jewishness and how that affects his teaching.
I’m finding this interesting. Studying the Bible in Greek and Hebrew and the context of the original statements (and context is just as important) brings so much more light to the passages.
Of course, I also think that the Holy Spirit can use an English translation to reach the hearts of a believer. As with everything else in life, there should be a balance.
And, above all, we need to have our heart open to God’s leading.
Shawn,
Jeff offered some biblical foundation for the word from which we get “peacemaker” with specific instances. The study of the original language gives us great context for understanding the original author’s meaning—that’s what Shaun was posting for discussion.
We are not looking to side with a certain political or even religious subset—we’re trying to figure out what Jesus really meant when he said, “Blessed are the peacemakers”.
As for a view on war, it’s pretty clear Jesus’ method for defeating evil was in surrendering his own life for others.
Ditto! Thanks jwise.
I do feel that “His opinion though was really nothing spectacularly different than what is taught in most modern evangelical churches and their blind support of a certain political groups idealism” is a gross misrepresentation of what I wrote and my motives. My only agenda was to point out the shortcomings of an author’s interpretation of “peacemaker” in Matthew 5 mentioned in the blog (not Shaun’s – it appears that was clear to Shaun, at least). I had no political agenda whatsoever.
In reality, what I wrote (“It does not apply specifically to an absence of war, but also includes striving to prevent all contention, strife, and war”)offers both Shaun and Shawn (do you guys have a cd?)a more biblical and reasonable basis for your views on war.
Tracking with you. I know i’m still wrestling with what my response to war should be… but its just that, MY response. I don’t mean to impose it on anyone else. I’m happy to faciliate and dialogue like Shawn and I have on the Hotel Rwanda post, because I very much appreciate the different perspectives. This post however, is not specifically about war, but about how Jesus background should affect how we read and understand his words today. The Bible wasn’t wrote in a vacuum, so it must have ideas/words in it that will b hard for us to understand in our cultural context. Which is why studying it and discussing it is so important and encouraging!
Jeff, you’re definitely thinking of Shane and Shane
I couldn’t resist
Here’s the source:
Jesus The Jewish Theologian by Brad H. Young, p.85 says
“Jesus directed his listener’s attention to the word “peace” when he said ‘Blessed are the peacemakers…’ The Greek word for peace, eirene, usually means the absence of war.”
(Usually, and not always.)
He footnotes that he gets this info from: A Greek-Engligh Lexicon by Liddell and Scott p490
and from: The Sermon On The Mount by P. Lapide, p34
He then discusses how the Jews associated the priest Aaron with peace because the great rabbi Hellel called Aaron a man who pursued peace. Then he shares a story from rabbinic literature about how Aaron stopped the fighting between two men and got them to consider the one another’s point of view, and how he reconciled a man and his wife. These two examples help us understand what peace was to the Jewish audience Jesus spoke to: reconciliation, an end to physical violence.
As I’ve already said, I’m not convinced, just intrigued. I’m wondering why no one has mentioned this in any of the other more than thirty books I’ve read on the subject if it is true. And I’m not teaching anybody that this Greek word usually means an absence of war until I get some confirmation.
Thanks for you help thinking this through. Any confirmation or denial you can give is appreciated for sure.
This is why I say, btw, that we can’t know God or make God known as fully alone as well as we can together. Greek and Hebrew are hard enough. No need figuring it out all by myself.
Thanks,
SG
As for Shawn’s question, which I think I can summarize: Can we make peace by making war?
I THINK the Christians closest to Jesus chronologically understood the answer to be “no.”
When they heard about peace making they thought it meant they shouldn’t war. That’s important to figuring out what scripture means I think – I mean, if the guys who learned from the guys who learned from Jesus thought Jesus meant one thing by “peace making” we better have some dang good reason to believe they were wrong.
A bit off topic but it’s my blog so what are you gonna do??
Here’s two early Christian’s and their thoughts…
“If a catechumen or a baptized man wished to become a soldier, let him be cast out. For he has despised God.” -HYPOLYTUS 217AD
“How will a Christian man war, nay, how will he serve even in peace, without a sword, which the Lord has taken away?” (On Idolatry) -TERTULLIAN 180AD
“When Christ disarmed Peter in the garden, he disarmed all Christians.” Tertullian
“I am a Christian and cannot fight.” Maximilian
“We (Christians) no longer take up sword against nation, nor do we learn war any more, but we have become the children of peace.” –Origin, great Alexandrian theologian of the 3rd Century, A.D.
The test of the sincerity of one’s prayer is the willingness to labor on its behalf. –St. John Chrysostom
“Christians no longer take up the sword against nation, not do we learn war any more, having become children of peace, for the sake of Jesus, who is our leader.” Origen
“We who were filled with war and mutual slaughter…changed our warlike weapons into plowshares and our spears into implements of tillage.” –Justin Martyr, 2nd Century church leader
And I’ve got lots more where those came from. I haven’t found ANY – but I’m no scholar – from this time period that contradict them either. Interesting – I think.
SG
Shaun,
Great examples. How about Jesus’ rebuke against Peter for pulling a knife in Gethsemane? Why did the martyrs through Acts never fight back when they were about to lose their lives? Even in defense of the oppressed, Jesus called for perseverance through faith, never an uprising or taking away of a life.
If God, who is righteous, is patient, wanting none to perish but all to come to repentance, then how much more patient should we be as we wait for even the vilest of sinners to repent? God knows better than us that many will not repent. But the wheat and the tares parable tells us he’d rather we wait, showing mercy to all, until he comes to judge those who have eternally refused.
Shaun could you recommend two or three books on this topic (Jesus as Jew, Sermon on the Mount, etc) that I could read? Saying as you say this is the first one that you’ve come across this thought in, maybe there are others you’d recommend firstly?
Love the thread of comments I could jump into the whole Greek thing about peace makers. My Pastor did a great sermon once on peace keeping versus peace making. BUT I am jumping on the war and justice comments. My views are to say the least very skewed toward polar opposites.
First I grew up in a war based home. I am a victim of war and gave up my Father for a year due to war and other times do to conflict. I stood up before every movie as a child while the national anthem was played. I stopped all activity at eight in the morning and four in the afternoon as the flag was lowered and raised. I was a military brat and it came with a view that their is no other way than war.
Secondly God played a trick on me and sent me to a Quaker/Friends University for four years where I became a victim of peace and pacifism. I heard a professor attempt to change the National Anthem to make it less about war and more about peace. I saw guys learn how to avoid a draft should one arise. I attended peace and justice conferences and heard from great scholars how the Bible is against the military and war.
Lastly I watched as my father slowly died a death due to war. He came back a changed man when I was ten from war and over the process of years in the military got sick and spent days at the VA hospital. I saw men maimed by war both mentally and physically during those years and saw a lack of compassion as my own father lay dying. When we layed him to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors I believed in the things my Dad died for.
Am I for war not when there is another way. Am I for peace yes even if it means we have to go to war to keep it.
Am I a contradiction of views Probably but is there really one good answer ?
Jesus came to bring a sword is what I read and then I read blessed be the peacemakers.
I first want to clarify to jwise and Jeff that I am not a Democrat. Seond, I served four years in the U.S.Army and I did so because I thought I was supposed to “serve my country”. Third, there is no denying that there isn’t a blind support of a certain politcal party in the modern Amrican evangelical church, inwhich a pastor will give his opinion from the podium and the congregation will take his word as law, doing what he thinks is right. I have come to the conclusion that while I have been blessed by being born and growing up here (in the states) but I am a citizen of a bigger Kingdom and I realize this now. To quote a Switchfoot song “I pledge allegence to a country without borders, without politicians…”. I also have the conviction that like Shaun, being a more intelligent writter than myself, that we cannot make peace by war. There is a simple factor in this equation and the Iraq war is a great emaple. While going into Iraq maybe have been a noble, just idea, the end result is simple, we looked at the future outcome to be what would happen if everyone knew Jesus. Fact of the matter is muslims don’t know Jesus as their savior, so a positive outcome will never happen. And incase anyone was wondering if I am a passivist, hit someone who cannot defend themselves infront of me and see how passive I am.
Peace(I say this in a genuine way) Shawn
Richard B. Hays, a colleague of Hauerwas at Duke, has got a great book called The Moral Vision of the New Testament (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996). He uses the social and literary context of the Sermon on the Mount and makes a good case for pacifism. He also address other ethical issue facing Christianity today is a very Biblical way. His pacifism chapter is called “Violence in Defense of Justice.” Quite excellent and scholarly sound.
I used this book for a paper on Christian pacifism. You might want to check it out.
Very good thread.
Can you make Peace by/through Peace?
Certainly Jesus by disarming Peter de-escalated the situation, however there was much violence in the next several hours.
I find my Fundamental Independent Baptist friends are very quick to dismiss the original languages. I’m delighted when anyone reads/studies their Bible. Having said that, other resources certainly can add to ones understanding.
Also, Thanks for the Book references, always looking for something to read.
Bapster (Dave)
too bad that Origen took a sword to himself.
Cruz-Control, thanks for the heads-up on that book, planning to pick it up.
Shaun,
Yeah.. so I grab Kittel tonight and go searching for eirene (no idea how to write it in English). I find the following:
A. The Greek Concept of eirene. Here it is “originally conceived of purely as an interlude in the everlasting state of war,” the opposite of polemos (war). Interestingly, eirene is “seldom used for concord between men.” Instead, Kittel suggests, it means more a “peaceful state of mind.”
B. “Shalom” in the OT. The primary emphasis in the OT is on one’s well-being, “with a strong emphasis on the material side.” Often the word relates to a group of people (especially the Jews), such that they enjoyed a time of prosperity.
Also, shalom was purely a gift from Yahweh and cannot be viewed any other way (see Ps. 85).
…
There’s a discussion on shalom in prophetic messages and shalom as an element in eschatological expectation.
…
C. eirene in the LXX
Important to note that during the period of Classical Greek, nearly every occurrence of shalom in the OT was translated into eirene in the LXX. This means that the Hebrew shalom passed its meaning into the Greek eirene as far as the Jewish mindset was concerned.
D. Shalom in Rabbinic writings (won’t bore you with this).
E. eirene in the Pseudepigrapha, Josephus, and Philo. In the Pseudepigrapha, with Enoch, for example, eirene means “the salvation displayed in the cessation of war.” Interestingly, though, the opposite of eirene is not war, but the judgment of God. In a state of eirene, there is no judgment, so mercy and grace are present with eirene.
F. eirene in the NT. Kittel says that eirene is very much like the OT shalom. This is evident when epistles are opened with a greeting of “Grace and peace” (charis kai eirene), just like the Hebrew greeting, Shalom. IMPORTANT: In the NT, eirene often refers to concord between men—this means eirene was redefined from the Greek connotations we read about above! Instead, in the NT, it receives more definition from the Hebrew understanding of Shalom. See Acts 7:26, Gal. 5:22, Eph 4:3, Jms 3:18, 1 Pt. 3:11. Also, Acts 12:20, 24:2, Mt. 10:34, Rev. 5:4 seem to use eirene as peace opposed to war.
eirene shows these meanings in the NT:
a) normal state of all things (1 Cor. 14:33)
b) salvation of the whole man (Lk 2:14, 19:42, etc.) eirene also parallels with Zoe (life), opposite of enmity toward God, judgment, and death.
c) peace with God (Eph. 2:14-17, cf. Is. 57:19). This is a very rare use within the NT.
d) eirene of men with one another. In a state of eirene, there will be no sickness, evil, or discord. Perfect unity and righteousness.
e) peace of soul (Rev. 15:13). Only as God grants it, obviously.
Discussion then goes into several forms of the word; I’ll hit on just one: eirenopoios, because it appears once in the NT, in Mt. 5:9. Kittel holds strongly that Jesus’ blessing was for those who come between two contending parties and try to make peace. God calls these men his sons because they are like him.
So what does all this mean? There seems to be great support that eirene can NOT involve war because it is a state of existence where war has been purged. If we desire the Kingdom, then we desire peace/eirene. We make peace whenever and wherever we can. In doing so, we receive the blessing of being like God, and the blessing of the eirene we’ve just built.
Kittel has 21 pages on this one word. I’ve scratched the surface
Thanks for double-checking the source, Shaun. I think you can still make your point using “eirenopoios” as it is used in Matthew 5 (“striving to prevent all contention, strife, and war”).
At the end of your original post, you wrote “If we could go back and ask the people on that hill side 2000 years ago what THEY thought Jesus meant, what would they tell us?” What if they said, “Jesus said people will call us the children of God if we strive to end all contention, strife, and war?”
Think about that for a minute…not just the absence of war, but end ALL CONTENTION, STRIFE, AND WAR. He might as well have told them, “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Oh yeah, He did, didn’t He?
Still no politics here but feel free to label me a “pacifici” – I give up.
)
Have a great weekend everyone.
Jeff – very well put. I think our aiming to end war is taking the very tip of the iceberg of what “peace” (eirenes) really means. Kinda like thinking the Gospel only means forgiveness of past sins. Yet both mindsets are predominant in Christian circles.
Jesus had much more hope and faith. He speaks of a kingdom where, as you said, contention, strife, war, and all evil are a thing of the past. A kingdom where sin is forever destroyed and we who believe with him live for eternity with him. THIS is shalom.
Just to throw in another strand of thought…
It’s been commented by scholars before that meaning is not so much found in a text as it is created, that we are active in ‘making’ meaning from what we read. What if in this case we accept all the possible meanings?
Jwise posted that long list of how eirene was used in ancient literature. I was struck by the phrase “In a state of eirene, there is no judgment, so mercy and grace are present with eirene.” So easy to overlook… but no judgement?? That’s huge! Never mind actually going to war, but we become so full of eirene that we don’t even judge?
I think the problem with this is that the focus is on the word eirene and no one really mentions the other word Poieo.
Together these two words mean Peace-Maker. Ok so we’ve found out what Peace means… but what about maker. In the greek it means to create, to author, to cause to be, to and simply to make.
Apart, these two words are used throughout the NT and OT in various forms. But together they are only used once in Matthew. It’s not enough just to say that because there are variations of the word used in other places that they mean the same thing.
The place that this term in the greek society was see was on the coins along with the faces of Roman emperors. Emperors were called makers of peace because they were strong enough to unite and protect the countries they ruled. They did this through military might.
Now apply this to life.. If I am called to be a peacemaker what does that mean? I come up to 2 men in an argument how do I make peace? I get them to think about what they are discussing, talk about it respectfully, work out a compromise. Sure that will work most of the time. Sometimes they will just push me out of the way and punch each other. My friend pastor dave is very good at stopping arguments. He’s 350 pounds and can bench 450. He says to knock it off and people do.
But take another situation… Hitler is committing an act of Genocide, trying to wipe Jews from the face of the earth. He has one of the most powerful armies along with powerful allies. Maybe I should go over and try to reason with him? My argument is that sometimes peace is only found on the other side of war. JFK said to speak softly but carry a big stick. He knew that in order to combat what he thought was evil, it take might. Just the way the world works.
Though I don’t believe that this verse is at all talking about Just War Theory or whether or not it is right to join the Army. Jesus said that we have an enemy who has come to steal, kill, and destroy…much like Hitler.. Satan does not want us to exist. We often believe that peace is just that funny feeling of everything going right. I agree with the views of the Shalom peace. But the fact of the matter is that if we stand aside and wait and watch while the world is going to hell around us because we want this funny feeling of everything going right then we are going to be eradicated.
The bible states that we do not war against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities. I believe that the idea of a peacemaker is a call to war but a spiritual war fought with prayer and the word of God for the souls of man. I don’t know, that’s just my take on the subject of that word.