(B) But the current Gr. of our Lord’s day had appropriated other foreign elements from the languages spoken in the various provinces of the empire. These, again, were chiefly names of local objects or usages. Among such are reckoned the following :---βαΐον, βίβλος (βύβλος), σίναπι, σινδών (yet ef. Ινδός, Sind), recognized as Egyptian ; κράβαττος (cf. Lat. grabatus), παρεμβολή, ῥύμη , as Mace- donian ; ἀγγαρεύω (yet see Alsch. Agam. 282), γάζα, σανδάλιον (-dadov), as Persian ; ἀρραβών as Phoenician ; ῥέδη (-6a) as Gallic or Celtic ; βουνός as Cyrenaic and Sicilian. Several of these words, however, had long before become naturalized in Greek.
IV. But the element which most conspicuously distinguishes the Gr. of the NT is the RELIGIOUS ELEMENT. Here we come to the very centre and soul of our subject. For the NT language is no mere medley of miscellaneous linguistic sur- vivals, no mechanical mingling of diverse in- gredients; its vitality resides in the spirit that
uickens it. This discloses itself on every page. t ushers a reader into a new realm of thought, and introduces him to a new type of life. Both had their natural effect on the speech of the first believers. Yet just because the essence of the language consists in its new spirit, it escapes anatomical dissection. It is as pervasive as the atmosphere, but as intangible as a perfume. Hence it is most inadequately exhibited by any catalogue of specifications. The few particulars that can here be set down will serve, at the best, as mere suggestions of its character.
(A) The religious element in its Lexical aspects. Many of the NT words denoting concrete objects or external institutions and relations were in- herited from Judaism, and have been illustrated under II. A. aand b above. We will here, there- fore, confine ourselves mainly to those of a more internal or spiritual character.
a. The words wholly new are, from the nature of the case, comparatively few, and any list of them that may be attempted is subject to doubt and revision by reason of present imperfect know- ledge. Butamong the more distinctive the following may perhaps be mentioned: ἀγαθοποιΐα, αἰσχροκερδῶς, ἀκατάκριτος, ἀλίσγημα, ἀνακαινόω (-Kalywors), ἀντιμισθία,
ἀντίχριστος, ἀπέκδυσις, ἀπελεγμός, αὐτοκατάκριτος, ἀφιλάγαθος, ἀφιλάργυρος, βαττολογέω, δαιμονιώδης, δικαιοκρισία, δίλογος, διώκτης, δοκιμή, ἐγκομβόομαι,
LANGUAGE OF THE NEW TEST.
LANGUAGE OF THE NEW TEST.
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ἐθελοθρησκία, εἰδωλολατρία etc., ἐπιούσιος, ἑτεροδιδα- σκαλέω, εὐαγγελιστής, εὐμετάδοτος, εὐπροσωπέω, θεοδί- δακτος, ἰσάγγελος, καλοδιδάσκαλος, καρδιογνώστης, καταθεματίζω, κενοφωνία, λογομαχέω (-χία), ὀλιγόπιστος {(-πιστία), ὀρθοποδέω, ὀφθαλμοδουλία, πληροφορία, πολύ- σπλαγχνος, προσωπολήμπτης (-λημπτέω, -λημψία), πρωτοκαθεῦνα, συνζωοποιέω, συνκακοπαθέω, συνκα- κουχέω, συνσταυρόω, σύνψυχος, φρεναπατάω (-πάτη»), φυσιόω (-clwots), χρηστεύομαι, ψευδάδελφος, ψευδαπό- στολος (and other compounds of ψευδο-).
Incomparably more noteworthy are—
κ᾿ The New Meanings with which the new faith has freighted the old terms.
A few of these meanings are of a technical or ritual character ; as, ἀδελφός of fellow-Christians, τὸ ἀντίτυπον (τύπος), ἀποστολή (-Aos, in the official sense), ἀρχαί, ἐξουσίαι, ete. of angels, βάπτισμα, γλῶσσα of the ‘gift of tongues,’ διάκονος, ἐκκλησία (ef. ἐκλεκτοί, κλητοί), ἐπίσκοπος, εὐαγγέλιον (-λιστήΞ), ἱερεῖς of Christians, παράδεισος (2 Co 192), ὁ παρά- κλητος, προφητεύω (-φήτης) οἵ a Christian function (cf. IT. A. Ὁ. above), ὁ χριστός.
But the aggregate influence of Christianity is shown in modifying, more or less, the mass of the NT vocabulary. It has elevated, spiritualized, transfigured words previously current. It has set old terms in new relations. It has added lustre to conceptions already radiant. It has made sub- stantial, and clothed with divine majesty, ex- pressions embodying the instinctive judgments and aspirations of men. Its transforming power, being diffused and a matter of degree, cannot (as has been already said) be adequately exhibited in isolated particulars. The attempt, furthermore, to illustrate it would require space not here at command. Only a few terms, therefore, will be set down, the study of which, it is believed, will more than verify the statements just made: such words as ἀγάπη, εἰρήνη, ζωή, πίστις, συνείδησις, σωτηρία, χάρις are monuments of its power to raise language to a new level. Words of secular reference like κόσμος, of national application like οἱ ἅγιοι, ὁ λαὸς τοῦ θεοῦ (He 49), Ἰσραήλ (Ro 9°), of everyday life like ὁδός, παγίς, πρόσκομμα, φορτίον, even the very component parts of man’s being —odpt, ψυχή, πνεῦμα, take on an ethical significance, of which in this last case the later Einloee hie use furnishes but aforegleam. A servile word like ταπεινοφροσύνη is ennobled; a term like σταυρός, suggestive of infamy, is crowned with a halo of glory. The emphasis given to other words has made them the cardinal terms of doctrinal discussion through the Christian centuries: witness δικαιόω and its cog- nates, ἀπολύτρωσις, ἀπώλεια, ἐπιστρέφεσθαι, ἔργα, θάνατος, μετάνοια, etc.
(B) Even the Grammatical influence of the new religious thought bears witness to its fertilizing power. Take as an instance πιστεύω with its half a dozen different constructions in the NT (viz. absol.; with the dat. ; with els and the acceus. ; with ἐπί and the accus. or the dat. ; with ἐν and the dat.; with an object accus.). ᾿Ελπίζειν, ὁμο- λογεῖν, and other words experienced a similar enlargement of construction under Christian con- ceptions (see A. Buttmann, Gram. of NT Greek, § 133, 4 sq., Eng. tr. p. 173ff.); and the wealth of suggestion made to reside in such phrases as ἐν Χριστῷ, ἐν κυρίῳ, is full of instruction (cf. G. A. Deissmann, Die neutest. Formel ‘in Christo Jesu’ untersucht, Marburg, 1892).