a brief koine greek lesson from an uppity koine greek student--and a smidgen of latin
amor misceri cum timore non postest (publilius syrus)
love is not able to be mixed with fear.
φόβος ’ουκ ’έστιν ’εν τή ’αγάπη ’αλλ’ ‘η τελεία ’αγάπη ’έξω βάλλει τόν φόβον, ‘ότι ‘ο φόβος κόλασιν ’έκει, ‘ο δέ φοβούμενος ’ου τετελείωται ’εν τή ’αγάπη. --ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ Α 4:18
1 john 4:18--
my translation:
fear is not in love, but complete love throws out fear, because fear possesses punishment, and the one who fears is not made complete in love.
niv (new international version):
there is no fear in love. but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. the one who fears is not made perfect in love.
nkjv (new king james version):
there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. but he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
msg (the message--though my initial thought was a strong bad like yell of "MSG'd!" followed by "ow my stomach lining!"--yeah, i have too much time on my hands )
there is no room in love for fear. well-formed love banishes fear. since fear is crippling, a fearful life--fear of death, fear of judgement--is one not yet fully formed in love.
i chose to translate τελεία as "complete" rather than "perfect," mainly because earlier in the passage the same word is used and translated "complete" and i like little parallels like that. the word can, however, mean "perfect, complete, mature, adult, initiated," and from the passage as a whole i got a sense more of "complete" than "perfect." maybe it doesn't matter, but to me "perfect" is something i associate with the impossible, and on a deeper level with a danger of falling into self-loathing for that which i am not and cannot be. but to be "made complete in love" says more to me of God making me complete by His love.
’έξω βάλλει i translated as "throws out" because, well, ’έξω (ekso, or exo) means "out, outside" and βάλλει means "[he/she/it] throws, casts." to say that perfect love drives out fear has connotations to me of chasing something away. to say it "throws out" fear has more of a connotation of tossing something aside, or banishing, almost a dismissing. it is not so much that complete love chases fear away, it has no need of fear. and it's not so much of an accusation, "if you fear anything God's love is not made perfect in you!!!! rawr!!!" but more "i am God's child, and whatever my parents were like He is the perfect Father, and a child has no need to fear a perfect Father, or anything the world holds, because as i child i know that my perfect Father will always take care of me." the bible says "complete love casts out fear" in one context, but it also says, "whenever i am afraid, i will put my trust in You." but as for complete love, it knows no shame, in a sense, at least as i read it. i could worry about all my imperfections, or i could just let Him say that He loves me and will fix all my imperfections in His time. though God is all powerful and perfect and infinitely above me and has every right to cast me into hell, i am not afraid of Him. i do not serve Him out of fear of being punished, which could lead me to resent Him. i serve Him (often poorly, at best mediocre) because i love Him, because i know that He loves me. and He loved me (as the passage goes on to say) before i loved Him. in fact, i love Him because He loved me first. that's how i learned what love was. that means i can't make Him stop loving me. and if God loves me, of whom shall i be afraid? what have i to fear? while i may forget these things for a time (if you know me, you know that i worry at times--often about nothing), God loves me.
i'd love to do a study on this whole passage. maybe i will at some point; things like this are so much more interesting to me than things like "give the voice tense mood person number of these 45 contextless verbs." heck, i may even type it up and post it. like you care. =P
x-posted to christiangoth
χάρις ‘υμιν
(grace to you [all])
-g
love is not able to be mixed with fear.
φόβος ’ουκ ’έστιν ’εν τή ’αγάπη ’αλλ’ ‘η τελεία ’αγάπη ’έξω βάλλει τόν φόβον, ‘ότι ‘ο φόβος κόλασιν ’έκει, ‘ο δέ φοβούμενος ’ου τετελείωται ’εν τή ’αγάπη. --ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ Α 4:18
1 john 4:18--
my translation:
fear is not in love, but complete love throws out fear, because fear possesses punishment, and the one who fears is not made complete in love.
niv (new international version):
there is no fear in love. but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. the one who fears is not made perfect in love.
nkjv (new king james version):
there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. but he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
msg (the message--though my initial thought was a strong bad like yell of "MSG'd!" followed by "ow my stomach lining!"--yeah, i have too much time on my hands )
there is no room in love for fear. well-formed love banishes fear. since fear is crippling, a fearful life--fear of death, fear of judgement--is one not yet fully formed in love.
i chose to translate τελεία as "complete" rather than "perfect," mainly because earlier in the passage the same word is used and translated "complete" and i like little parallels like that. the word can, however, mean "perfect, complete, mature, adult, initiated," and from the passage as a whole i got a sense more of "complete" than "perfect." maybe it doesn't matter, but to me "perfect" is something i associate with the impossible, and on a deeper level with a danger of falling into self-loathing for that which i am not and cannot be. but to be "made complete in love" says more to me of God making me complete by His love.
’έξω βάλλει i translated as "throws out" because, well, ’έξω (ekso, or exo) means "out, outside" and βάλλει means "[he/she/it] throws, casts." to say that perfect love drives out fear has connotations to me of chasing something away. to say it "throws out" fear has more of a connotation of tossing something aside, or banishing, almost a dismissing. it is not so much that complete love chases fear away, it has no need of fear. and it's not so much of an accusation, "if you fear anything God's love is not made perfect in you!!!! rawr!!!" but more "i am God's child, and whatever my parents were like He is the perfect Father, and a child has no need to fear a perfect Father, or anything the world holds, because as i child i know that my perfect Father will always take care of me." the bible says "complete love casts out fear" in one context, but it also says, "whenever i am afraid, i will put my trust in You." but as for complete love, it knows no shame, in a sense, at least as i read it. i could worry about all my imperfections, or i could just let Him say that He loves me and will fix all my imperfections in His time. though God is all powerful and perfect and infinitely above me and has every right to cast me into hell, i am not afraid of Him. i do not serve Him out of fear of being punished, which could lead me to resent Him. i serve Him (often poorly, at best mediocre) because i love Him, because i know that He loves me. and He loved me (as the passage goes on to say) before i loved Him. in fact, i love Him because He loved me first. that's how i learned what love was. that means i can't make Him stop loving me. and if God loves me, of whom shall i be afraid? what have i to fear? while i may forget these things for a time (if you know me, you know that i worry at times--often about nothing), God loves me.
i'd love to do a study on this whole passage. maybe i will at some point; things like this are so much more interesting to me than things like "give the voice tense mood person number of these 45 contextless verbs." heck, i may even type it up and post it. like you care. =P
x-posted to christiangoth
χάρις ‘υμιν
(grace to you [all])
-g