Quote:
Originally Posted by Archaea
Not having any significant training, or any training in Greek whatsoever, a smarter man would bow out at this juncture, but nobody's ever accused me of being wise.
My responses are merely observations.
First, Christ and the apostles probably spoke in Aramaic or Hebrew, so the changes are changes which the gospelist desired to emphasize, so it could just be a form of "elegant variation". If that's all it is, then so be it.
Second, Greeks appeared very sensitive to changes in word, grammar and other aspects, so it would surprise me that the writer intended to convey no nuance by the shift.
Perhaps your instructor is correct, but you now have a God speaking to his friends in very grand terms using agapw, shifting at the end to philew when his friends is trembling. Perhaps no sense is intended, but under the circumstances I could see why the speaker and receiver would sense otherwise.
Philew seems more subservient in Peter's usage, but then again, this is coming from the Greek village idiot.
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That was always how I understood it-- that Jesus twice asked him if he loved him with the divine form of love, agape, but Peter insisted that he loved him with philia. Jesus then condescends, responding to the weakness of his servant, by asking him if he loved him with philia. I kind of liked the idea. But it is tough to say that philia is somehow a lesser, inadequate form of love, since in John 5:20, the father loves the son with philia.
Other uses of filew and agapaw:
Lk.6:32 "And if you love (AGAPE) those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love (AGAPE) those who love (AGAPE) them."
Lk. 11:43 "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love (AGAPE) the front seats in the synagogues"
Lk. 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love (AGAPE) the other"
Jn. 5:20 "For the Father loves (FILEO) the Son"
Jn. 16:27 ".. for the Father Himself loves (FILEO) you, because you have loved (FILEO) me.. "
Jn. 20:2 "And so she [Mary] ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved (FILEO).. "
1 Cor. 16:22 "If any one does not love (FILEO) the Lord, let him be accursed."
2 Tim. 4:10 ".. for Demas, having loved (AGAPE) this present world"
Tit. 3:4 "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love (FILEO) for mankind appeared"
Tit. 3:15 "Greet those who love (FILEO) us in the faith"
Rev. 3:19 "Those whom I love (FILEO), I reprove and discipline.. "
And, yeah, they probably spoke Aramaic, but since the Greek is as original as we can get, I don't see any harm in treating it as such. We treat Herodotus and Xenophon as primary sources, after all.