Literal Idiomatic Translation

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My Literal Idiomatic Translation Notes

 

 

By Hal Dekker

 

Last update to the LITN:  2024.05.24

 

Last update to this page:  2024.05.24

 

 

References for Strong's #s 1805 - 3303

 

1805 - bought us out (exēgorazō, verb) - An apparent financial term used by apostle Paul in Gal. 3:13, a buy-out.  In financial terms a buy-out is a transaction through which equity shares of a company (all of those under the curse of the Mosaic law), or a majority share of the stock of a company, is purchased.  The purchaser (Jesus Christ, who paid for us with his own blood, for all those under the curse of the law) thereby "buys-out" the equity shares (all mortalkind) from the company owners (the devil, sin and death) of the target company.  A buy-out will often include the purchase of the target company's outstanding debt (all mortalkind's penalty for sin) also, which is referred to as "assumed debt" by the purchasers (God and his son Christ Jesus).

 

In Gal. 3:13, the ultimate purchaser is God our heavenly Father, and his agent who made the actual purchase on his behalf, his son Christ Jesus. 

 

The purchase price paid by God was the shed blood and death of his son. 

 

The equity shares which were purchased were all mortalkind, all those who repent toward the God and believe upon the name of Jesus, God's son. 

 

The company from which the equity shares were purchased was the old Mosaic Law, the Law of Works (Rom. 3:27) under the old covenant.  Under the ownership of the old Mosaic Law the equity shares were subject to sin and death, who were the shareholders owning that company and it equity.  The new company which purchased those equity shares is the God almighty incorporated, under his new covenant, the Law of Belief (Rom. 3:27), and its shareholders now owning those equity shares are Spirit and Life (John 6:63). 

 

The equity shares then, while belonging to the old company, were subject to sin and death.  The equity shares now, while belonging to the new company, are subject to Spirit and Life.  The equity shares are now owned and deposited in a much safer company!  And the value of those equity shares has increased in value very substantially!

 

The assumed debt purchased by the new company from the old company, is the penalty for sin, which penalty is death.  Under ownership of the new company, the assumed debt is written-off of the books, and is no longer a liability, the assumed debt no longer needs to be paid off, it having been purchased as well by the new company and its owners!

 

The curse on the equity shares while they were owned by the old company was sin and death, greatly diminishing the value of those equity shares.  Under ownership of the new company, those equity shares are no longer subject to a curse, but subject to grace, the grace of God, which grace greatly enhances the value of those equity shares.

 

In Gal. 4:4-5 apostle Paul continues his allegory based upon the financial term exēgorazō.  Those equity shares while under ownership of the old company, the Mosaic Law, the Law of Works (Rom. 3:27), were slaves to the company owners, sin and death.  Those equity shares while under ownership of the new company, the Law of Belief (Rom. 3:27), they are now no longer treated as slaves to its owners, Spirit and Life (John 6:63), but as sons of the new owners!

 

The owners of the old company, sin and death, was a metaphor for the devil, Satan.  The owners of the new company, Spirit and Life, is a metaphor for the God almighty! 

 

The equity shares (all mortalkind) while under ownership of the old company, were slaves to the devil.  The equity shares while under ownership of the new company are sons of God!

 

In Eph. 5:15-17 apostle Paul uses this financial term one again, to teach sons of God and disciples of Christ Jesus exactly how to "walk around", not as unwise ones but as wise ones, "causing yourselves to buy-out the time" of their lives.  Apostle Paul causes us to think about exactly how do we use the time we have in our lives, unwisely or wisely?  What does the passage say about what is unwise use of our time, and what is wise use of our time?  The scriptural knowledge of what God's Word says about how his sons and disciples of Christ Jesus should use their time wisely, is scattered throughout the entire word of God, not only here in Ephesians.  Isn't our doing of the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20), the very thing for which we've been called and then sent to do, exactly the way we should "walk", and exactly the way by which we should buy-out our time?  Wouldn't that be a wise usage of our time? 

 

Our buying-out of our own time raises the value of the equity shares of our time, and of us, to our heavenly Father, since under his new covenant in Jesus' shed blood, he pays wages, rewards (Mat. 5:12, 10:41-42; Luke 6:22-23, 35; John 4:36; 1 Cor. 3:8, 14; Heb. 11:6; 2 John 1:8; Rev. 11:18, 22:12) to us for doing those things we are called and sent to do, those things which are pleasing in his sight (John 8:29; Rom. 12:1-2, 14:18; 2 Cor. 5:9; Eph. 5:10; Col. 1:10, 3:20; 1 Thes. 2:4; Heb. 13:20-21; 1 John 3:22)!

 

Apostle Paul teaches this same thing to the believers in the area of Colossae (Col. 4:5-6).

 

Isn't buying-out his time what Moses did when he left Egypt (Heb. 11:23-31)?

 

 

1813 - to oil out (exaleiphō, verb) - Apparently an idiom and/or colloquialism used to describe a method of stain removal from clothing, or to remove a person's name out of a scroll or book, as though that name were a stain.  There are several references by the new covenant writers, and by Christ Jesus himself, using stained and/or wrinkled clothing as metaphors for unforgiven sin.  See Acts 3:19; Rev. 3:4-5, 18, 7:17, 16:15, 19:11-14, 21:4.

 

The application of oil is mentioned by the ancient writers as useful in "oiling out" what they generally refer to as "weaknesses" also, which are what we know as both common and uncommon illnesses.  The application of various oil was commonly used for healing purposes.  See Mat. 6:16-18; Mark 6:12-13; Luke 7:46; John 11:2, 12:3; James 5:14-15.

 

In Ester 6:1 a reference to this is made based upon the practice of kings keeping royal books of records of those who have said and done notable things, whether good or bad.  Based upon the record in Esther, not only the person's name was recorded in the royal book of records, but the notable things which that person had said or done were recorded as well, which were the reasons for their name appearing in the book of records.  Based upon the accompanying information recorded in the royal books of records, those whose names were recorded therein were rewarded accordingly, receiving from the king either a reward or a punishment for those notable things which they have said or done.  In all five of the idiom's usages there is a figurative allusion to God's royal books of records. 

 

In Rev. 3:5 among the royal books of records is one called the "Book of the Life".  There is a reference as to how these books shall be used, in John's apocalyptic writing, in Rev. 20:11-15.  In Rev. 21:27, the Book of Life belongs to the "little lamb", who has maintained its records.  No doubt his record-keeping is accurate. 

 

In Acts 3:19, the idioms first usage, the allusion is to God keeping a royal book of records within which he has recorded the names of all those who have sinned against him, including the sins which they have done, and in this record, including the sin of murder of his son Jesus Christ.  Based upon related remote contexts, the idiom is used to mean their sin shall not only be excused, but forgotten as well, since the record of it and those who did those sins shall be "oiled out" of the royal books of records; "and of the sins of them, no, absolutely not may I remember them any longer!" (Heb. 8:8-12; Jer. 31:31-34)." 

 

In Acts 3:19, specifically the records of their sins are oiled out, putting the emphasis upon the rewards for their sins being removed.  Although their name would be removed also, the emphasis is put upon the removal of the records of their sins.   Then, since there no longer remains a record of sins, there remains no basis for the imputation of reward/punishment for those sins.

 

In the idiom itself I believe the "oil" is a figurative reference to God's Word, specifically the name of JESUS Christ, which represents all the associated benefits of spiritual, mental, physical healing and prosperity promised by the Father, the "Promise of the Father", which benefits are received by those who believe upon that name.  Belief in God's Word is always required to receive anything from God the heavenly Father (see Heb. 11, and all the many other records which speak of the requirement of belief in one's heart).

 

In Col. 2:14 the reference is to information contained within the royal books of record which shall be "oiled out", which information is the written ordinances of the old covenant law itself.   Every bit of the old covenant law shall be removed out of the royal books of record.  The result of this is that there is no longer any law to break, and therefore there is no basis for the imputation of reward or punishment for not keeping the ordinances of the law (Mat. 5:17-18; John 1:17; John 7:19; Acts 13:39; Rom. 3:20-21; 4:13-16; 5:13; 8:2; 10:4; Gal. 2:16; Gal. 3; 5:14, 18; Eph. 2:15).  This "oiling out" of the Mosaic law is the literal death of sin (Rom. 7:8).  

 

In Rev. 3:5 Jesus Christ says, of anyone who has conquered (Gk. nikaō) death, "and no, absolutely not shall I oil out the name of him out of the book of the life...".   The reference here causes me to think of how we use a typing correction fluid which whites-out the typed or written error.  At the moment we believed upon the name of JESUS, and all that it represents for us, at that moment we received the new birth above in God's paternal Spirit, referred to also as God's seed (Gk. spora) (John 3; 1 Pet. 1:23).  From that moment on believers have God's gift of his paternal Spirit in them, or as it is called also, the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9), which apostle Paul refers to also as "Christ in you" (Col. 1:27).  That is when we have overcome/conquered death, at the moment we believed upon the name of JESUS and received the new birth above in God's paternal Spirit. Because Jesus Christ conquered death, he conquered it for all those in his one body as well (John 5:24; Rom. 5:17-21; Rom. 6:9; Rom. 8:2; 2 Cor. 1:10; 1 John 3:14; Rev. 2:11).  And also, greater is the [Spirit of God] in us than the [spirit of antichrist] which is in the world (1 John 4:4).  And all things are now put under our feet, because we have become parts of Christ's one body, and all things are under his feet (Eph. 1:22).  And we have been made to become more than conquerors through him, God, who has loved us (Rom. 8:37).  This is why at the moment we believed we became part of the ones who have overcome, conquered death!    

 

In Rev. 7:17 and 20:24 I believe these are references to God causing us to realize the greatness of our inheritance in Christ, the riches of our inheritance, which realization is idiomatically referred to as an "anointing" with the "oil" of gladness, as mentioned in Heb. 1:9.  Our tears shall be "oiled out" with an "anointing" with the "oil" of gladness, which "oil" I believe is God's Word.  Heb. 1:9 and Rev. 7:17 and 20:24 speak of the believers receiving a special revelation from God which shall "anoint" them with gladness (Gk.  agalliasis, which literally means to jump for joy).  Whatever God's special revelation is for us at that time, it shall not only "oil out" our tears, but it shall quite literally cause us to jump for joy!  What a wonderful time for which to look forward.

 

 

1820 - perplexed out (exaporeomai, verb) - Another "out" colloquialism.  In 2 Cor. 1:8 apostle Paul and Timothy, and others with them, were completely drained of their own ability to carry on the work of the ministry, to move it forward.  The challenges and the mental pressure against them to spread the evangelism of Jesus Christ was so great that in their own minds they were "maxed out", as we would say according to one of our own similar Western English "out" colloquialisms, to find the inherent strength to overcome their own uncertainty over the next steps to take to move the ministry forward.  They had become so depleted of their own inherent power to do anything that they despaired even of their own lives.  This mental pressure against them from the diabolical one began in Asia.  Apostle Paul boasts and glorifies God who gave them the inner strength to overcome their sufferings, and gave them deliverance from death.

 

 

1832 - being outside [of the law, AE] (exesti, verb) - In many of its occurrences this to be verb is used as an interrogative to question whether something which is done on a sabbath day is done within the Mosaic law, or done outside of the Mosaic law and therefore contrary to the law, over which law breakers Israel's religious leaders held themselves to be the judges, juries, and executioners. 

 

According to the Mosaic law, there were some things which were required by the law to be done on sabbath days, such as the ritual cleansings, etc.  But there were rules and regulations of both the law and mortal-made religious injunctions which condemned certain activities as being contrary to the law.  And there were activities which were considered as being work, which work if done on a sabbath day was considered as breaking the law. 

 

For example: a sabbath's days journey was the distance which was acceptable for a person to walk on a sabbath day without breaking the law.  Walking any further would have been considered as doing work.  

 

"The Eastern text [Acts 1:12] reads, 'separated from the city by seven furlongs.'  In this case, a Sabbath journey means a short distance, because the Jews walked only short distances on the Sabbath Day.  The distance was determined by the authorities so that the Sabbath might not be broken.  Walking is considered a leisurely act, and is not regarded as work when one does not go on an errand on the Sabbath Day.  In the olden days, walking on the Sabbath Day was prohibited beyond the limits of the tabernacle.  During the time of Jesus the length of walk was from the Temple grounds to the valley of Kedron" (George Lamsa, 'New Testament Commentary', A. J. Holman Company, 1945, pg. 10-11).

 

In Luke 6:9, in the record of Jesus healing the man with the withered hand, Jesus inquires of some of the Pharisees which were present, that on a sabbath day which alternative is being outside of the law to do; either 1) to do good, or 2) to do evil; either 1), to make whole a soul, or 2) to destroy a soul?  In this record, and in all other records of the word's 32 usages, the idea of this idiom is to inquire or to state whether something done by an individual (who is many times Jesus himself) is being outside of the law, or within the law, it being agreeable with the law to do, whether done on a sabbath day or any other day. 

 

Over many years the religious leaders of the children of Israel added many of their own mortal-made injunctions, ones they created out of their own theological imaginations, which abundance of them put and kept the people in heavy bondage and slavery to their own religious leadership!  This sounds demonic and devilish doesn't it?  Of course it does.  Jesus told those religious leaders that their spiritual father was the devil (John 8:44)!

A study of the discrete topics in the contexts of where this word, exesti, Strong's # 1832, occurs in the texts is very rewarding.  Those contexts reveal Spiritual insight into the ongoing spiritual battle Jesus and his apostles had with the religious leaders in Israel.

See: Mat. 12:4, 27:6, 22:17, 20:15, 19:3, 14:4, 12:12, 14; Mark 10:2, 6:18, 3:4, 2:26; Luke 20:22, 14:3, 6:9; John 18:31, 5:10; Acts 2:29, 22:25, 21:37, 16:21; 1 Cor. 6:12, 10:23; 2 Cor. 12:4.

 

1834 - to lead out, leading out, etc. (exēgeomai, verb) - Exēgeomai is used six times in holy scripture, and is apparently an idiom somewhat similar to a combination of our Western idioms, to lead off and to lay it out.  Its contextual definition includes the telling of every minute detail of an event which occurred, in the order in which things occurred, of all things which occurred during the event (Acts 21:19).  Jesus Christ led out God (John 1:18), because the Father, the God, was IN Jesus Christ, working IN and THROUGH him as his agent (See John 8:28, 14:10-11, 28; 2 Cor. 5:18-19).  The holy scriptures clearly state that the God, who is the Father, is a separate and distinct being from Jesus Christ, God being a spirit-based being (John 4:24; 1 Cor. 15:40-44), and Jesus Christ in his earthly ministry was being a soul-based being (Luke 24:39; 1 Tim. 2:5) until after his ascension (Acts 2:33).  See also Jesus Christ as being an icon of God (Col. 1:14-15).  He was a reflection off from the glory of God, and a characterization of the understanding of God also (Heb. 1:3).  This is how Jesus Christ led out God.

 

 

1844 - I oath you out (exorkizō, verb) - In Mat. 26:63 the chief sacrificial priest challenges Jesus to make an oath to him to tell him truthfully if he, Jesus, is the Christ, the son of the God.  The chief sacrificial priest, as a testament to his own ineptitude in his knowledge of the holy scriptures (Hos. 4:6), couldn't determine whether Jesus was the promised coming messiah for the children of Israel, based upon what Jesus said and what he did.  The chief sacrificial priest couldn't "hear" the Word Jesus was speaking and teaching, and he couldn't see Jesus fulfilling the ancient prophecies; the lame walk, the blind see, and so on (Mat. 26:54-56).  The chief sacrificial priest was in mass confusion (John 8:44-47; 1 Cor. 14:13; James 3:16) because God wasn't teaching him, or he would have "heard" and seen who Jesus was (John 6:37, 44).  

 

 

1981 - may tent over (episkēnoō, verb) - In 2 Cor. 12:9 apostle Paul boasts of his own weaknesses, which recognition of them is based upon his own ongoing repentance toward God, and his ongoing subordination of himself to God and his son Christ Jesus.  It is one's heart condition toward God, like Paul's heart, which allows one to literally live in the prophesied true "tent" of God, the one he is building with his own hand.  I believe this is reference of apostle Paul to himself as a liturgist of the holy ones, himself as a liturgist of the "tent", the true one, the one which the Lord pegged and absolutely not a mortal (Heb. 8:2)

 

This is a reference to the greatest truth in all of God's Word, a reference to the coming to pass of the one body of Christ, which began to come to pass on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), which one body of Christ is the prophesied true "tent" of God, the "booth" of David which has fallen down.  See Amos 9:11-12; Acts 15:13-18; 2 Sam. 7:5-16.

 

Exod. 15:17 You are coming (bw’), and (‏wĕ‎) you are planting (nṭ’) in (bĕ) [a] mountain (har) [an] inheritance (naḥălāh), [a] place (mākôn) toward (lĕ) [which] to dwell (yšb);

 

YHWH (YHWH) has made (p’l) [a] cleansed place (miqdāš);

 

Lord (‘ādôn), it has been prepared (kwn) [by] your hand (yād‎)!

 

(See Ex. 15:17; Lev. 26:11-12; 2 Sam. 7:5-16, 11-16; Isa. 8:14; Ezek. 11:16; John 2:19-21; 1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:19; Eph. 2:21); (See 1 Cor. 14:4 for each individual householder being a part of the true "tent" as well, a "domed-roof house"!)

 

 

1983 - scoping it over (episkopeō, verb) - An idiom based upon the word skopeō, meaning to watch from a distance.  When something is watched from a distance the broad view or broad scope of it, together with its surrounding environment, can be seen.  In Heb. 12:14-15 the writer exhorts us to get a good broad scope of the meaning of holiness in God's Word.  We are to look it over, look through the subject matter of it in God's Word, scope it over carefully to be sure we know and understand all of the important elements in the subject matter of of God's and our own holiness.   The subject matter of Heb. 12 is our child-training by our heavenly Father who loves us, the God, which goal of that child-training is to make us completely holy as he is holy.  If Jesus suffered the stake to shed his blood for our redemption from the penalty of sin, then can't we suffer a little child-training from our heavenly Father who loves us, who wishes to make us completely holy, so that his fullness may dwell in us also as it did in his son Jesus Christ (Col. 1:19; Eph. 3:19)?  This is the broad scope of the subject of holiness in God's Word, over which the writer of Hebrews says we are to be scoping it over.

 

 

1986 - cause yourselves to be drawn over (epispaomai, verb) - This is a reference to a surgical operation where a circumcised male has his foreskin (prepuce) replaced.  See 1 Macc. 1:15; Josephus, Ant. XII, V. I.  Thayer says:

 

"...there had been Jews who, in order to conceal from heathen persecutors or scoffers the external sign of their nationality, sought artificially to compel nature to reproduce the prepuce, by extending or drawing forward with an iron instrument the remnant of it still left, so as to cover the glans." —Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon

 

 

2013 - to hit upon, has hit upon, he hit upon, they hit upon (epetuchen, verb) - In the record in Hebrews 6:14, the writer tells us that after God gave a very great promise to Abraham, recorded in Gen. 22:17-18, to eulogize him, and to make his seed as full as the stars in the heaven, etc., that Abraham having been patient for the promise to come to pass, he finally "hit upon" it.  Apostle Peter in 2 Pet. 1:4, speaking of the surpassing intrinsic value of God's Word, says that the God "has gifted us with great and highly esteemed (Gk. timia) promises".   Apostle Peter uses this word, timia, in reference to the highly esteemed value of gold (1 Pet. 1:7), of Jesus' shed blood (1 Pet. 1:19), of Jesus Christ as a chosen out stone (1 Pet. 2:4-7) for the building of God's own domed-roof house, which he built with his own hand, and to the highly esteemed value of belief in God's Word in the hearts of believers! 

 

And so I see the writer's use of the idiom, "he hit upon" as an allusion to perhaps a miner, who after long and patient digging finally "hits upon" the place where the highly esteemed gold, silver, precious stones, whatever, has been deposited.  This ancient idiom has been passed down to us as well, in our idiom "he hit it rich"!  We can see that when Abraham finally began to receive God's great and precious promise into his life, with Isaac, then Jacob, and so on, that Abraham truly became richly eulogized, and the seed of his belly was growing very full.  This idiom is used in Rom. 11:7, Heb. 6:14-15, 11:33, and James 4:2 also.

 

 

2026 - a domed-roof house having been built upon, you having been built upon a domed-roof house (epoikodomeō, verb) - See 3618.

 

 

2036 - enunciated (epō, verb) - To enunciate means to announce and express formally and distinctly in a systematic way (Webster's).  Enunciate (epō) has a distinct meaning different from legō, to say, literally to construct a sentence through laying one word after another, or laleō, to speak, meaning simply to employ the organ of utterance.  Enunciation uses specific communication techniques which emphasize HOW something is said. 

 

To enunciate something involves HOW both sentences, and its words, are stated.  Enunciation, according to how it is used in the ancient texts, regarding sentences, means to say something through the use of simple and direct statements, and saying them in a systematic way.  Regarding how individual words are spoken, according to how it is used in the ancient texts, enunciation means to pronounce a word clearly, distinctly, and articulately, so that the meaning of a word can be obviously and definitely expressed.  Through the use of enunciation a listener is entirely cut off from using an excuse that they didn't hear or understand something from a fault on the part of the speaker.  Scriptural enunciation places the responsibility to hear and understand something entirely in the hands of the listener's communications skills.  Enunciation, when used properly as a teaching and communications tool, ensures there can be no possible misunderstanding or confusion over what is said and meant by both the words making up a sentence, and the overall meaning of the sentence as well. 

 

This can be seen through examining the contexts of all 26 usages in God's Word.  In John 6 Jesus used an enunciated style of speaking while teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum.

 

 

2078 - last ones (eschatos, adj.) - See 4413 - first ones.  

 

 

2087 - another kind (heteros, adj., 2087) - Heteros means another of a different kind generically.  A closely associated word in meaning is allos, which means another numerically.  As apostle Paul says in Gal. 1:6-7, he wondered why the believers in Galatia were so quickly transferred to following an "evangelism" of another kind generically (heteros), which could only be a false evangelism since there is only one true evangelism of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Since there is only one true evangelism any other so-called "evangelism" by necessity could only be another generically, because there is no such thing as a second, third or fourth true evangelism.  There's only one true evangelism, which Paul says he preached and taught.  I have made the distinction between heteros and allos explicit in my translation so the reader is signaled to think more deeply into the meaning meant by the biblical writer.  There are no other "evangelisms", including any and all theological theories, which claim to be the true evangelism, or part of the true evangelism, which apostle Paul taught.  If apostle Paul didn't specifically and plainly preach and teach it then it is absolutely not the true evangelism which Paul preached and taught, which he received by revelation from Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:12).

 

 

2124 - well-received, welcoming (eulabeia, common noun) - A dual compound (eu-labeia) meaning to be well-received, i.e., to be welcomed (verb), or welcome (noun).  In Heb. 5:7 the writer speaks of the prayers of need and other suitable things which Jesus Christ said and did, which were well-received by the God his heavenly Father.  The evidence of this is the fact that they were answered.  The things Jesus said and did were always in alignment and harmony with the Father's will (John 4:34, 5:30, 6:38-40).  On account of this the God worked in and through Jesus instrumentally, as his agent.  In our Western English culture we use the identical idiom when we speak of another's reaction to a troubling thing we may have said or done, when we say, "he took it well".  If anything we can think, say, or do is to be taken well by the God our heavenly Father, then it must be according to his stated will in his Word, and based upon our belief of his Word, absolutely not based upon our belief in mortal-made theological theories and philosophies which are mortal-made wisdom, the wisdom of this world (1 Cor. 1:17-3:20; James 3:13-18).

 

In Heb. 12:25-29 the writer implores believers not to turn away from hearing God's Word, which would obviously send a message to our heavenly Father that he is not welcome in their lives.  We are not only to be welcoming, but to be begging of  him to come into our lives (Heb. 12:29)!  I believe this is the most common reason for believers not receiving prayers answered.  Believers limit the amount of permeation of God's Word into their lives through thinking and believing that loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30; Deut. 6:4-6) is constituted through simply sitting in a pew somewhere for a couple of hours once a week, and allowing themselves to be spoon-fed with some watered-down and tainted surface-level generalities of God's Word, which have been twisted into half-truths by mortal-made, liberal theology-driven "Christianity"! 

 

True Christianity means discipleship to the heavenly Father and his son Christ Jesus.  And discipleship means first becoming not a master of mortal-made theological theories, but, a master of the knowledge of God's Word; and then, secondly, practicing that knowledge 24/7 through practical application in one's life, welcoming and begging the heavenly Father into their lives, through prayer.  Discipleship is practiced through total devotion, 24/7, of one's life to the heavenly Father and his son Christ Jesus.  practicing mortal-made, or devil-made theological theories leads you into a spiritual wilderness and gets you nothing from God.  Having trouble with your prayers being answered?  Maybe they are not well-taken by God!  You had better check what it is that you are believing, whether it can actually be found in the ancient texts of God's Word, or whether it's mortal-made theological theory fudged into your Bible by "translators".  If it's not that important to you then just skip it!  But remember this:  without belief in God's Word, you are absolutely not pleasing in his sight (Heb. 11:6), no matter how much belief you have in mortal-made theological theories.

 

The scriptural evidence repeatedly shows that prayers which are welcomed by our heavenly Father are those which are made by those who are well-pleasing (Rom. 12:1, 14:18; 2 Cor. 5:9; Col. 3:20; Heb. 11:6), and well-approved in his sight (Mat. 3:17, 17:5; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; 1 Cor. 10:5; Heb. 10:38; 2 Pet. 1:17).  The God desires his children to be well-pleasing in his sight, and then he welcomes our prayers to him through answering them.  That's how the new covenant works!

 

Since we are in a covenant relationship with our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ's shed blood, we are required to continually, and robustly, welcome him and his Word, with ALL of our heart, soul, mind and strength, into our lives, through searching it out and believing it.  This is the kind of welcoming Jesus Christ gave his heavenly Father, which is a clear example all believers can follow.  And then our prayers shall be well-taken and welcome in the sight of our heavenly Father.

 

 

2127 - eulogizing down (kateulogei, verb, 2095 and 3056) - Again the use of the spatial preposition down suggesting Jesus' eulogizing was toward the end of reaching a goal of completion, down signifying the destination at which to arrive.  In this case the objective was to help the little children as well as the parents arrive into the Kingdom of God.  No doubt Jesus chose words very carefully out of God's Word, to speak to the young mothers to encourage them to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord God (Mark 10:16).  The words Jesus spoke which were no doubt prophecy, either foretelling or simply forth-telling, or both, the passage doesn't say, together with the laying on of the hands, indicates that Jesus was compelling the mothers to sanctify their children to the work of God the heavenly Father.  In Mark 10:13 note that the original text states that [they], presumably the mothers, brought their little children to Jesus hoping that their children would touch Jesus.  The mothers wanted their children to come into physical contact with Jesus to receive something from him, although there is no indication in the immediate context that the children were sick and needed healing.

 

 

2132 - well-minded (eunoeō, verb) - A rare verb in the texts, being used one time.  In Mat. 5:25, when Jesus was on a mountain teaching to the crowds gathering there to hear him speak, Jesus advises them to be one who is well-minded quickly with those who are opposed to the righteousness of them.  I take this to mean that believers should not part company in anger, whether he or the other is angry, with those who are opposed to a believer's belief in God's Word.  This idiom is very similar to apostle Paul's use of eupsycheō, to be well-souled, in Phil. 2:19, which is also a rare verb, being used one time in the texts.  To be well-souled in one's self means to be at peace within one's self.

 

 

2146 - well-faced (euprosōpeō, verb) - To look good on the outside.  This idiom is related to 4380, the verb prosōpolēmpteō, to take toward face value, and 4381, the noun prosōpolēmptēs, one taken toward face value, and 4382, the noun prosōpolēmpsia, a taker of face value.  In Gal. 6:12 apostle Paul writes about the Judean actors who desire to put on an outward appearance, an outward show, showbiz, so they can fool others into believing they are truly pious toward God, and thereby gain other's support of them in their religious positions of authority and influence.  They are the ones who were lying to the Galatian believers to cause them to believe they needed to be circumcised in order to please God, and that they must follow the old Mosaic law. 

 

These are the ones who were trying to lead believers away from believing into the name of Jesus.  Today the devil has expanded his tactics a little.  If he can't stop believers from believing upon the name of Jesus and from receiving a new birth above in God's gift of holy Spirit, then he'll try to lead them away from becoming disciples of Christ Jesus.  Because if he can stop them from becoming disciples of Christ Jesus (John 8:31, 13:35, 15:8), from learning how to manifest all nine manifestations all of the time (1 cor. 12:1-), from learning how to become more than conquerors and being able to quench all of the devil's darts (Mat. 10:25; Acts 1:4-8; Rom. 8:9-11, 37; 1 Cor. 12:6; 2 Cor. 2:14, 13:3-5; Gal. 1:16; Eph. 1:19-20, 4:13, 6:13-18; Phil. 2:13, 4:13; Col. 1:27-29; 1 Thes. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 4:4, 5:4-5), from learning how to become the head and not the tail in life (Deut. 28:13), from learning how to grow up into the fullness of the maturity of Christ (Eph. 4:13), then he can keep them as newborn babes, helpless, and continue to control them.  He absolutely does not want believers growing up Spiritually and becoming a threat to him and all of his little demon spirits. 

 

Modern anemic Christianity is an absolute failure at teaching scriptural pneumatology and demonology.  Thusly it greatly assists the devil in keeping new born babes in Christ as only newborn babes, and thereby spiritually powerless and helpless, and from engaging in the ongoing spiritual battle between the forces of the one true highest God and the devil.  Modern "Christianity" doesn't teach believers how to recognize and throw out demon spirits using the precious name of "Jesus".  They avoid all those records in God's Word.  But yet every Sunday in Sunday school class they go around the circle and everyone gets a moment to speak about the bad things which happened to them over the last weak, and how God kept them strong enough to bear up under the pressure and spiritual attacks.  God's given us his gift of his Spirit so we can start taking care of ourselves!!!  That's it, they don't even try to bear up under it, and they continue to stay totally ignorant of the holy scriptures about how to fight and defeat the demon spirit realm, totally ignorant of pneumatology and demonology; their spiritual leaders leading them away from seeing, reading, understanding, and believing all of those vitally important scripture passages in God's Word!  Modern "Christianity" certainly is well-faced also! 

 

One of the first things Jesus taught his disciples before sending them out to witness the evangelism of Jesus Christ to the world was how to address and cast out demon spirits.  If this is one of the first things Jesus taught his disciples, then how vitally important do you think it may be in causing you to be successful in witnessing the evangelism of Jesus Christ?  Here, read these verses until it sinks in (Mat. 10:25; Acts 1:4-8; Rom. 8:9-11, 37; 1 Cor. 12:6; 2 Cor. 2:14, 13:3-5; Gal. 1:16; Eph. 1:19-20, 4:13, 6:13-18; Phil. 2:13, 4:13; Col. 1:27-29; 1 Thes. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 4:4, 5:4-5)!

 

Here's what you do with God's gift of his Spirit in you, if you're tired of being only a well-faced helpless spiritual baby:

 

"In the name of Jesus Christ I command any and all demon spirits having anything to do in meddling with me, my family, my household, my job and the company I work for, to be bound now in the precious name of Jesus Christ; and to go now to the bottom of the deepest part of the oceans and remain there until the appointed time for your judgments! 

 

Thank you heavenly Father for the power and authority you've given to us your children, through your gift of holy Spirit, so that we can truly be more than conquerors, and quench all of the devil's darts, and be the head and not the tail in each and every situation!  Thank you heavenly Father!  Thank you Christ Jesus for putting through the Father's new covenant in your shed blood, so we could have this power and authority, and for making us your brothers!"

 

 

2165 - well-pleased (euphrainō, verb) - To be (middle or passive voice) in a good frame of mind.  The contexts of its usages suggest a state of mind which is free from doubt, worry, fear, etc. 

 

In Acts 2:25-28 apostle Peter, in his day of Pentecost preaching, is quoting King David from Psalm 16:8-11, who says that through all the things he, David, experienced in his life, "I was foregazing at the Lord in sight of me, through everything..."; David, in his mind, foresaw the Lord, Jesus Christ, as being in his presence, at his right hand.  David practiced the presence of the Lord.  This is renewed mind thinking (Rom. 12:2) and a characteristic and practice of those with a measure of spiritual maturity.  David says he was foregazing (Gk. prooraō) at the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Greek implies more than a simple glance, but a continued gaze or stare. 

 

Obviously the Lord Jesus Christ hadn't yet physically come as the messiah, but David knew and understood the prophesies of his coming; and David must have understood a little about the coming messiah's ministry and finished work, to know about the resurrection.  David in his mind foregazed at Jesus Christ, at his right hand, the hand of blessing and strength, through which David would not be "shaken" through any of the things he would experience in his life; and who would raise him up again out of death and the grave.  David became well-minded because of his knowledge of God's Word.

 

I believe this is how believing disciples of Christ, ones in the one body of Christ, should spiritually walk now, practicing the presence of the God our heavenly Father and the presence of his son Christ Jesus, through the God's indwelling gift of his holy Spirit.  Why should believers have fear of loss, or of being "shaken", or even of death, if Jesus Christ has already conquered it all for us?  However, we are not to be careless with our lives because the Father desires living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1).  We are to walk in the renewed mind as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1-2), well-minded of the Lord Jesus Christ at our right hand and we at his, and his victory over everything, which is our victory over everything, including death! 

 

 

2174 - well-souled (eupsycheō, verb) - A rare verb in the texts, being used one time.  In Phil. 2:19 apostle Paul speaks in his letter to the believers in the Philippi area about his care and concern for them, about his personal sacrifice and liturgical service he gives to them over the sake of the belief of them.  He desires to see them keep on believing in God's Word, and to grow in their belief of God's Word, and in their discipleship to Christ Jesus.  Paul's use of "well-souled" means he desires to be comforted in his mind over how they are doing in their belief and discipleship.  Paul desires to be at peace within himself over the spiritual vitality of the Philippi believers.  This idiom is very similar to Jesus' use of eunoeō, to be well-minded, in Mat. 5:25, which is also a rare verb, being used one time in the texts.  To be well-minded with another means to be at peace with that person.

 

 

2203 - Dis, Zeus, Jupiter (Dis, proper noun) - Dis was the common written and spoken name of the greatest Greek god of all of the gods of the Ephesians, the god of the sky and of thunder.  An inflected form of Dis is used in Acts 14:12, Dia, and in Acts 14:13, Dios, and as part of a compound word in Acts 19:35, diopetous, meaning "thing fallen from Dis." 

 

In Acts 28:11 Dio, a form of Dis, the supposed almighty Greek god Zeus, is compounded together with korasion, meaning little girls, or daughters, which compounded word dioskourois means Little Girls of Dis, or Daughters of Dis, or Little Girls of Zeus, or Daughters of Zeus. Whether Luke means one of the above phrases was written on the ship, or the actual names of Zeus' daughters were written on the ship, Aphrodite, Persephone, Eileithyia, Hebe, etc., is difficult to determine.  Historical texts about Zeus state that Zeus had many daughters, perhaps many more than the number of which would have been practical to label on a ship.

 

For Zeus's family tree, see:

 

http://genealogy.lovetoknow.com/Zeus_Family_Tree

 

For a large list of Greek sea gods and goddesses, see:

 

http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/sea-gods.html

 

What else is difficult to determine is what scriptural evidence is there in Acts 28:11 and its context to indicate twins of some kind, or what their names may have been, or how many twins there may have been, or of what gender those supposed twins may have been. There is no textual evidence for twins at all.  The text simply says dioskourois. 

 

The two names Castor and Pollux, as dioskourois has most often been translated in Bible translations, were supposed gods having a male gender.  Yet virtually every translator of virtually every Bible translation has translated all eight occurrences of korasion, meaning little girls, or any of its inflected forms, as damsel, maid, etc., they recognizing that the word itself, which has been compounded together with Dis, denotes a female person. Castor and Pollux were and are claimed to be patron deities of sailors. But in Acts 28:11, their names are not what Luke says was labeled on the ship.

 

In the UBS4 eclectic Biblical Greek text of Acts Dis is used as a more modern spelling of the old Greek word Zeus.  The Greek spelling Zeus actually doesn't appear in the Elzevir 1624 text, nor in the Stephens 1550 text, and nor in the ancient Biblical manuscript Codex Sinaiticus.  Some translations, the ASV, Darby, KJV, Wesley NT, and some others, use Jupiter as an English rendering of Dis.  The rendering of Dis, or any of its inflected forms, into Zeus or Jupiter in Bible translations is neither a transliteration, nor a translation, but an interpretation, which interpretation should be left up to the readers to determine for themselves, through their own studies. 

 

 

2323 - given therapy (therapeuō, verb) - There are two words used in the new covenant Greek texts writings which both mean to heal, ioamai and therapeuō.  The notable difference between them is that therapeuō puts an emphasis upon the aspect of serving another to help them.  The texts says Jesus healed many.  But when the text uses the word therapeuō the writer is highlighting the aspect that they, Jesus and his apostles and disciples went out and served others; they gave of themselves to serve others. 

 

Another notable aspect about the usage of therapeuō in some contexts is that after an initial healing by Jesus of a believer's paralysis or lameness, the texts says that AFTER they were healed they were additionally given therapy, as in the record in Acts 8:7 and other places, which shows that additional therapy was needed in some cases of healing where muscle atrophy was present, for which therapy is still used to this day.  Some who were lame and healed could get up and walk immediately, as in Acts 3:1-8, while yet others who were lame, and those who had been healed of paralysis, could not walk immediately after the cause was healed, but needed additional therapy, as in Acts 8:7.

 

 

2354 - a dirge (thrēneō, verb) - A kind of song sung in funeral gatherings and funeral marches in lament of the dead (Mat. 11:17; Luke 7:32; 23:27; John 16:20).  The singing of a dirge was often accompanied by those present slowly beating their chests with a fist (Mat. 11:17, 24:30; Luke 8:52, 23:27; Rev. 1:7, 18:9).  Most translations translate this and other associated words much too generally, as either the word lament or mourn, thusly blocking our view into ancient cultural practices presented to us by the ancient Biblical writers.

 

 

 

2596 - down everything (kata, prep., and panta, pron. adj., 3956) - In Acts 17:22, again we see the preposition down (kata) used in a prepositional phrase, to which it brings its idea of spatial relationship between two or more things.  In this usage of down (kata) the relationships between things mentioned, 'everything', is not geographic or objective, but subjective, applied to issues of life and existence.  Oftentimes down is the desired direction in which to go or the destination in which to arrive, as in traveling down to Jerusalem.   Other times down is not the desired direction or destination, as in being judged down, unworthy of salvation and eternal life (Mat. 16:16).  Whether the nature of down, the direction and/or destination is good or bad is always determined by the context in which it is used.

 

The Athenians had a god for everything in life.  No matter what the issue in life, the Athenians had an alter to a god which specialized in that area, to which prayer could be made.  Just imagine yourself walking down (kata) a corridor or row lined with alters to these false gods, towering over you.  You would walk down (kata) the rows past alters to gods for everything (panta) needful in life.  I believe this is the conceptual idea behind the idiom of down everything as used by apostle Paul in Acts 17:22.  The idiom of applying the preposition down (kata) to a subject, to imply going down through all the facets of that subject as though they were given in a row or list, is a very common idiom construction in God's Word.

 

The Athenians had groups and rows, and pantheons of alters to false gods:

 

Aphrodite, a goddess of love, desire and beauty;

Apollo, the god of music;

Ares, the god of war;

Artemis, a goddess of hunting, chastity and childbirth;

Athena, a fierce and brave protector, a goddess of the city, handicrafts, inventions,  agriculture, wisdom, reason and  purity;

Demeter, the goddess of fertility, corn, grain and harvest; Dionysus, god of wine;

Hades, god of the underworld and wealth;

Hephaestus, god of fire and forge, and the patron god of smiths and weavers;

Hera, queen of heaven and protector of maidenhood and marriage;

Hermes, the speedy messenger, god of thieves, commerce, musical invention, sports; Hestia, goddess of the hearth and home;

Persephone, queen of the underworld; Poseidon, god of the sea and seafaring;

Zeus, supreme ruler of all gods, god of sky and rain.

 

Asclepius, god of healing;

Gaea, another earth goddess;

Hyperion, Titan of light;

Metis, a Titaness of wisdom and knowledge;

Mnemosyne, Titan of memory;

Phoebe, Titan of the moon;

Prometheus, Titan of forethought;

Themis, Titan of justice and order;

Uranus, principle god of the sky;

Eris, goddess of discord;

Hebe, goddess of youth;

Nemises, god of vengence;

Pan, god of goatherds and shepherds;

Thanatos, god of death; 

and on and on.

 

 

2605 - report down (katangellō, verb) - Here's another of the very common "down" idioms, but an idiom with the preposition kata (down) prefixed to the base aggelos (to report, declare, etc.), i.e., to report down.  In Romans 1:8 the idea is that the message of the Roman believer's belief in the name of Jesus travels down through all parts of the cosmos, i.e., creation.  Wherever apostle Paul and other apostles travel they mention it.  It is very common in the Greek text for prepositions describing spatial relationships between or among objects, to be used to describe both social and professional relationships between or among people.  The Koiné Greek often uses down (kata) in the sense of geographic locations.  Down can be used in reference to either a definite distant location or the distance up to and including the distant location, which could be in any direction from the present location.  This is very similar to our modern English idioms which employ down geographically; down to Chicago, down around Detroit, down home, down yonder, down town, down South, etc..  Apostle Paul has been given the evangelism to speak.  He brings it with him to Athens.  Therefore he is reporting down to them.  When we speak God's Word, the news is literally coming down from the top!  Down is commonly used also in the sense of finality, in the sense of getting down to the conclusion, or as we would say in English, getting down to the bottom line of it, i.e., getting down to it.

 

 

2621 - to lie down (katakeimai, verb) - This is one of the various words used in the new covenant texts to describe one of the various customary postures taken while eating, two thousand years ago in the Middle East.  This is a reference to the custom of lying on one's side while eating.  See also 345, 347 and 4873.

 

 

2637 - down-talkers (katalalous, pron. adj.) - Refers to people who impugn other's integrity and/or character; people who talk others down, people who abase others, i.e., "tear" others down, speak ill of others (Rom. 1:30).  A demonstration of this can be seen in almost any political debate, where almost any kind of verbal tool, lies, miss-characterizations, insinuation and innuendo are used to talk-down, or as is the English idiom, cut down the opponent.

 

 

2647 - loosen down (kataluō, verb) - In it's first usage in Mat. 5:16 it is used in the sense of to bring down, i.e., annul the requirements of the law.  In Mat. 24:2 it is used in the sense of dismantling and leveling down the house-buildings, the structures of the whole temple complex, until there is not one stone left upon another, which is the sense in which it is used most often.  In Luke 9:12 it is used in the sense of the people in the crowd attending to their personal needs, to relax themselves.  In general, and in most occurrences, it means to bring down, undo, to loosen up something until it falls down.  In English we have related idioms, such as, "it shall be your undoing"; or speaking of an adversary or enemy, "we shall divide and conquer, and bring them down".  The idiom is used in this sense in Acts 5:39.

 

 

2655 - I was [a] burden (katenarkaō, verb) - Homer and Hippocrates use this word in their writings assigning to it a meaning of growing stiff, which results in an inability to move, to be severely restricted in motion, confined.  Apostle Paul appears to use it in this sense as an idiom in 2 Cor. 11:9, meaning he and his companions were caused to come to a halt from severe lack of resources to continue to move the ministry forward.  Narkao with kata prefixed to it gives it a sense of thoroughness and completeness.  In 2 Cor. 11:9 apostle Paul and companions were in a situation of having a severe lack of resources, perhaps pecuniary and otherwise, necessary to continue to move the ministry forward to the believers in the area of Corinth.  But he was not yet totally destitute, stiffened, to the point of having "absolutely not one thing", because what resources he was lacking were supplied by brothers from Macedonia on a rescue mission to him. 

 

The modern idiom, to be stiffed, means to be robbed or cheated out of something. 

 

During the time of Paul completing at least three itineraries throughout Cilicia, Galatia, Asia and beyond to Macedonia, to spread the evangelism of Jesus Christ, it's not too difficult to imagine what kinds of traveling expenses he may have incurred.  Costs for daily food is obvious, as well as clothing and footwear.  It's obvious that apostle Paul almost always traveled with companions, and that they all traveled both over land and by sea.  They all may have carried their own luggage on their own backs, luggage containing food, clothing, and personal items, or they may have rented or purchased an animal and a cart, or something, which seems more likely since they were traveling over long distances, with no cars, trains or planes. 

 

When traveling by sea they must have paid for boat fare.  It seems likely, accounting for human nature, that they were charged additionally for the storage, transportation, and safe delivery of their personal possessions and goods and supplies they must have brought with them.  In addition to food, clothing, personal items, and especially the sacred scrolls of God's Word, Paul may have brought along his equipment and supplies for tent-making (Acts 18:1-3), to financially support himself.  We have evidence throughout the holy scriptures that this is exactly what he did. 

 

Paul and his companions were weekly, if not daily, entering into new villages, towns and cities, which commonly charged termination taxes to travelers and visitors.  In addition to those taxes it's likely they paid toll taxes also for both themselves and their goods and supplies they carried with them, to use the roads belonging to the various provinces they passed through along their way.  And so when Paul says "I was absolutely not [a] burden (ou katenarkēsa) of absolutely not one (outhenos)!", apparently he means to make a reference to all of the traveling costs he and his companions have paid, especially the various fares, fees, and taxes which apparently almost totally cleaned them out, but not quite of everything.  He and his traveling companions were not totally and completely burdened, but almost.  Over-taxing was a very common occurrence, if not the status quo.  But Paul does imply that if it were not for the Macedonian brothers coming to his rescue he would have been stripped (2 Cor. 11:8) of everything.

 

In 2 Cor. 11:9 the Macedonian brothers came to Paul and companions on a rescue mission.  Paul makes it absolutely clear in 2 Cor. 11:7 and elsewhere, as do other new testament writers and characters, especially Jesus Christ himself (Mat. 10:8-10), that the status quo under the new covenant is to absolutely not charge anyone for delivering to them the evangelism of God, and of Jesus Christ.  The Levitical priesthood, along with the works of the old covenant law, has passed away.

 

See 4722 - to cover (stegō, verb) - to cover one's own costs.

 

 

2658 - come down adjacent (katantaō, verb) - An idiom based upon a dual preposition compound of kata, meaning down in various ways, and anti, meaning across from.

 

For the specific meanings of the preposition anti, please first see 473 in the Literal Idiomatic Translation Notes.

 

Kata is used in various passages in the NT as a spatial reference to a geographical location, usually a city, town or village.  It's used also to reference a standard of some kind to which to compare something, such as in down against, down according to, down as, and down on account of.

 

Its essential meaning has come down to our English over about two millenniums to our colloquial phrases down the street, down the road, downtown, down yonder, downstate, etc..  There is a related Hebrew idiom similar to this Greek colloquialism, of one setting his face in a certain direction, toward a certain destination, to go there (Luke 9:51-52; Gen. 31:21; Num. 24:1; Jer. 1:13; Ezek. 4:7, 6:2, 20:46, 21:2; Dan. 10:15, 11:19; Joel 2:20).  Given the context of the writer's use of the word katantaō, its use appears to be a Greek version of this Hebrew idiom, to come down adjacent to, or very near to something; such as coming down out of hills or mountains and seeing a village down in the valley, or coming into port and seeing a village sprawling up the side of a mountain.

 

 

2663 - to pause (katapausin, noun) - Literally it means to pause down.  This is somewhat similar to the English idiom rest up, but according to Dr. Bullinger, katapausin implies a more final rest, as a rest taken at the completion of something, as we can see in the contexts of its usages (Acts 7:49; Heb. 3:11, 18, 4:1, 3, 5, 10, 11).  See 373 - to rest up.

 

 

2666 - to drink down (katapinō, verb) - An idiom used by apostle Peter in 1 Pet. 5:8 warning believers to stay humble, aroused, and sober toward their heavenly Father, because the diabolical one, the devil, walks around as a roaring lion searching for someone to drink down²⁶⁶⁶.  Jesus Christ referred to the devil, the diabolical one, as a mortal-killer

(John 8:44), and apostle Peter warns us that he is still thirsty for mortal's blood.

 

In Mat. 23:24 Jesus Christ uses this idiom to slam baste the Pharisees and scribe's mortal-made teaching and doctrine, which is according to the "law" they invented and practiced, and not according to the Mosaic Law. 

 

• They put heavy loads of political correctness and religiosity on the shoulders of the people (Mat. 23:4);

• and, who like in showbiz, are actors performing outward appearances to dishonestly sculpt people's perceptions of them (Mat. 23:5-7);

• to fool people into thinking they are worthy to be their leaders, and to be called leaders and "Father" (Mat. 23:8-10);

• and who key-closed the Kingdom of the Heavens through withholding the knowledge of the prophecies of the promised coming redeemer so the people wouldn't recognize who was Jesus Christ and subsequently believe upon his name for salvation (Mat. 23:13-14; Luke 11:52);

• and who are ones who search for proselytes so they can turn them into sons of Gehenna (Mat. 23:15);

• and who are ones who teach others to swear an oath on just about anything and everything less important than the God, instead of swearing an oath to the God and on his name (Mat. 23:16-22)

• and who are ones who receive tithes of expensive and sweet-smelling herbs and spices, but who themselves ignore demonstrating and teaching the sweet and gracious things of God's heart toward them, righteous judgment, his mercy, and that they are to believe his Word (Mat. 23:23). 

 

On account of all of this needless and worthless religiosity the Pharisees and writers have invented, and practice, and teach, Jesus Christ states that it got into their hearts and minds from them drinking camel urine (Mat. 23:24), instead of them "eating" and "drinking" the knowledge and the truth of God's Word (Jer. 15:16; John 6:49-63)!  And then on top of this, after their drinking even more camel urine, they wash the outside of the cup to make sure the cup is still clean (Mat. 23:25-26)!  But, Jesus Christ slam bastes them even more in this chapter (Mat. 23:27-)!

 

For more examples of this idiom, see 1 Cor. 15:54; 2 Cor. 2:7, 5:4; Heb. 11:29; Rev. 12:16;

 

 

2673 - idled down (katērgētai, verb) - When something is revolving or spinning and then it becomes idle, it has stopped revolving or spinning.  The speed at which an object revolves or spins is measured in revolutions per minute (RPM).  As the RPM of a spinning object increases, it's RPM is said to go up.  As an object's RPM decreases it is said to go down.  When an object has stopped spinning altogether, it is said to have become idle. Scripturally, the idea of something being idle, means it is unproductive.

 

Something which has been idled down is something which is no longer needed or necessary. Something which has idled down itself has caused itself to become no longer needed or useful

 

The Ground Has Been Idled Down

 

In Luke 13:6-9 the ground was idled down, i.e., the ability of it to grow things was being wasted, because the fig tree planted in it was not producing produce.

 

Our Belief In God's Word Shall Not Be Idled Down By Other's Unbelief

 

In Rom. 3:1-4, those whose hearts have been circumcised of unbelief so that now they believe God's Word (2 Cor. 3:3, 5:5), like Abraham believed God's Word, the unbelief of others cannot idle down, i.e., make unproductive, their belief!  For those who truly believe, the God shall cause himself to become a true one, i.e., he shall cause his great and precious promises under the new covenant to come to pass in every believer's life.

 

We Are To Idle Down Our Physical Bodies from Doing Sin

 

In Rom. 6:1-23 apostle Paul says we are to conclude that our old man bodies of sin have been staked and buried together with Christ Jesus, and we are to conduct ourselves now as though we have already been raised out of the grave into newness of life.  If we have believed God's Word about his son Christ Jesus, which is the evangelism of the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18), and we have received a new birth above in God's paternal gift of his holy Spirit (Mat. 3:11, 16, 10:20; Luke 11:13; John 3, 7:39, 14:17, 15:26, 16:13; Acts 2; Rom. 6, 7:6, 8:1-16; 1 Cor. 2:12-14, 3:16, 6:11, 17,20, 12:13; Gal. 3:3, 5:16; 1 Thes. 5:19),

 

The Old Covenant has Been Idled Down

 

In 2 Cor. 3:14 apostle Paul states that the old covenant, the Mosaic covenant of the works of the law, has become idled down.  Why?  Because the shedding of Jesus' blood and his death have put through the Father's new covenant, a covenant about which apostle Paul refers to as the Law of Belief (Rom. 3:26-27)!  Under the old covenant doing the works of the law allowed God to reciprocate and keep his end of that covenant.  Under the new covenant, what allows God our heavenly Father to do, and keep on doing, his end of the covenant relationship is first our belief in his son Christ Jesus, and then our on-going belief in every word of God (Mat. 4:4; Luke 4:4).

 

Now think of a cart rolling along on a road and its wheels spinning.  The faster the cart goes the faster the wheels spin.  If the cart gradually came to a stop the RPM of its wheels would slow down and spin slower and slower until they stopped spinning altogether and became idle.  In Rom. 4:14 it is a mortal's belief in the Father God and what he has said and promised that keeps his inheritance rolling along the way to you.  If you increase your believing, you increase the RPM of the wheels of the cart, making it roll along faster toward you.  If you decrease your believing you decrease the RPM of the wheels of the cart, making it roll along slower.  If you quit believing altogether, you idle down the RPM of the wheels of the cart and it quits rolling toward you altogether. 

 

If you never started believing, the cart never started rolling toward you.  Before the old covenant of law was made by God with Israel, God made a promise to Abram that his seed would inherit the cosmos, the entire heavens and earth, at some time in the future, because of Abram's belief in God's Word.  During the old covenant period the law was a schoolmaster to Israel, intended to teach Israel how to believe in God's Word as Abram believed.  After the old covenant period, now in the new covenant period, belief in God's Word about his son Jesus Christ is the belief that appropriates the power to inherit the cosmos, along with eternal life, according to God's promise and further revelation of it through apostle Paul.  (In the old covenant writings the "chest" was the Ark of the Covenant.  In the new covenant writings the "chest" is baptism in the gift of holy Spirit from Christ Jesus, The Promise of the Father, the new birth above.)  Belief in God's Word starts the cart rolling toward us carrying the Father's inheritance for us, and keeps the cart rolling toward us.  

 

In Eph. 2:15 apostle Paul tells us that the Law was idled down and the injunctions (commandments) of the law became dogmas (doctrines no longer in effect), as the Judean religious leaders kept on trying to keep the children of Israel obedient to the law.  As the law was idled down, so was idled down the penalty for breaking the law, death.  But they still don't know and understand that, because a cover remains over their corporate heart until this very day.

 

 

2681 - to tent down (kataskēnoō, verb) - An idiom meaning to settle down, both literally and figuratively; physically and/or mentally; to be comfortable and at peace as if at home.  In Acts 2:26 apostle Peter used this word while quoting king David in Psalm 16:8-11.  David was well-minded, very joyful and at peace in his life through the renewed mind process of foregazing at the Lord, the coming messiah Jesus Christ, who he, in his mind's eye, always foresaw at his right hand, the hand of blessing and strength, so that he would not be "shaken" in his life, in the things he went through and experienced.  And his mind was at peace and very joyful also for the reason of his hope that his flesh would be resurrected from death and the grave.  See 4308 - foregazing, and 2132 - well-minded also.

 

 

2705 - he loved down (katephileō, verb) - A compound of the preposition kata, meaning down, prefixed to the verb phileō, meaning to love.  From studies of many contextual usages of verbs prefixed with the preposition kata, one can see that kata is often used to emphasize a more extensive, thorough or complete action of the verb.  In the context of Luke 15:20 the father was so happy to see his son again that he loved him down, meaning extensively, thoroughly, or completely.  The context of the story reveals all of the things (verses 22-23) the father did to indicate the extent of his love for his son who he thought was dead, who has returned home alive.

 

 

2706 - think down upon (kataphroneis, verb) - Virtually identical to our English idiom, to look down upon.  To esteem of little or no value, hold in low regard, if in any regard at all. (Rom. 2:4; 1 Cor. 11:22).

 

 

2712 - idolized down (kateidōlon, adjective) - Here's another idiom using the preposition kata, meaning down, to give its cognate a sense of completeness and thoroughness. 

 

In Acts 17:16, when apostle Paul was in Athens, he observed the whole city was full of idols.  Many of our English idioms retain the use of the preposition down (kata); down to Chicago, down around Detroit, down home, down yonder, down town, get down, let's get down to it, down South, etc..  In "Koiné" English we would say "There were many idols down around Athens".  The English idiom of down around is identical to one of the ways the preposition down (kata) was often used in the Koiné Greek.  The Koiné Greek often uses down (kata) in the sense of geographic locations, as in Acts 17:16.  Down can be used in reference to either a definite distant location or the distance up to and including the distant location, which could be in any direction from the present location.  This is very similar to our modern English idioms which employ down.  English often employs the idiom of down with the direction of South, and up with North.  In Greek usage, down can be in any direction from the present location.  Apostle Paul's usage of down in Acts 17:16 (idolized down) means that the whole city throughout, and all around, was thoroughly saturated, loaded down with idols and idolatry.

 

 

2713 - down opposite in front (katenanti, adverb) - See 473, 3b.

 

 

2720 - to straighten down (kateuthunō, verb) - A very valuable teaching could be built upon only the three occurrences of this word.  It occurs in Luke 1:79, to straighten down our "feet" (podas), in 1 Thes. 3:11, that God the heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus may straighten down the "way" (hodon) of apostle Paul and company to bring God's Word to the Thessalonian believers, and in 2 Thes. 3:5, that the Lord may straighten down the hearts of the Thessalonian believers, into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ.  The context of all three figurative usages suggest making a choice, based upon believing God's Word,  to do that which is "straight" (euthus) in God's sight as opposed to that which is "crooked" (skolios). 

 

1) Feet - an idiom for double-mindedness, or dual-thoughtedness (James 1:8, 4:8).  We have two "feet", the right foot (the side of blessing), and the left foot (the side of cursing).  One "foot" would walk us into blessing and the other "foot" into cursing, each desiring to go their own separate ways.  God's Word has shined down light to us to straighten down our "feet", so they can see to both walk together in the same direction as a single "foot", not into darkness, and especially not into the shadow of death, but into the light. 

 

2) Way - there are many ways in this cosmos, among which believers must choose to walk.  But there is only one way to walk which is pleasing in the sight of God, and that is to make the choice to walk righteously, according to God's Word (Gen. 18:19).  Following and walking according to God's Word straightens down our way before us, making our walk safer and more beneficial, to both God and us. 

 

3) Hearts - When believers believe God's Word and put it into their hearts, it straightens down their hearts into the love of God, and into the endurance of Christ.  The "heart" is a figure of speech put for the mind.  God's Word straightens down the mind, i.e., it strengthens the mind to have whole, sound thoughts, to base decisions upon, and to make decisions out of love, which decisions subsequently lead to smart and wise decision-making, and to having the endurance of Christ (1 Thes. 1:3-4).

 

 

2722 - ones not holding down [anything] (katechō, verb) - An idiom very similar to our Western English idiom when we speak of someone who, "can't hold down a job".  The ancient idea is of holding something down so it can't get away.  Paul uses this idiom in 1 Cor. 7:30 in reference to those who, in a time coming in the future when things shall become very difficult upon the earth, of those who value the buying and selling of goods to make money over the value of the business of God's Word, that they may be as ones not holding down [anything], i.e., busted, bankrupt, broke, in the poor house.  That of everything upon which they can get their hands that they cannot hold it down from getting away from them, leaving them with nothing.  Paul uses this same idiom in a positive sense in 2 Cor. 6:10, about believers, who, as having nothing, are ones holding down all things.  It's used in the sense of being faithful to keep on doing something.  In all 19 usages in the new covenant writings it is used in the sense of holding on to something stubbornly, with determination, not to let it get away. 

 

In Heb. 3:14, the writer, speaking to believing disciples, says that they have become partners with Christ, and that they should hold down the beginning of their understanding of him until its completion, i.e., hold on steadfastly to their position of discipleship under Christ until their discipleship is complete.  They were to hold down their position under him as he being their teacher and they being his learners, his disciples.  But they were to hold down their knowledge and understanding (hupostaseōs) also of him, who Jesus was, the Christ.  They were to fellowship with God the heavenly Father and Jesus Christ daily in order that their hearts would not become hardened to sins, and they may go back to being casual, habitual sinners without giving their sinful ways even a first thought.  The daily fellowship would strengthen their ability to hold down their partnership with Christ, from the beginning of their partnership/discipleship through to the goal of (mechri) the completion of it.  The literal and practical application of this is to meditate upon God's Word daily, through all daily activities and experiences (2 Cor. 10:5).  In 1 Cor. 15:2).  The Corinthian believers were to hold down (Eng., hold on for dear life!) the word which apostle Paul made known to them, through which "you are kept whole (sōzesthe)."

 

 

2730 - to home-down (katoikēo, verb) -

 

 

2745 - to boast (kauchēma, verb) -

 

 

2762 - little horn (keraia, noun) - In Mat. 5:18 Jesus refers to an iota as well as a little horn (keraia), whereas in Luke's writing, Luke 16:17, Jesus mentions no iota.  Matthew quotes Jesus making a statement, whereas Luke quotes Jesus as asking a question, an erotesis.  Robertson offers an interesting explanation, especially with his reference to the very minute difference between the form of the two Hebrew letters yod (י) and vav (ו) shown here in the David font.  A glance at the Hebrew alphabet in various fonts shows that there are several letters which are very close in form with one another. 

 

Robertson:

 

One jot or one tittle (iōta hen ē mia kerea). "Not an iota, not a comma" (Mat. 5:18 - Moffatt), "not the smallest letter, not a particle" (Mat. 5:18 - Weymouth). The iota is the smallest Greek vowel, which Matthew here uses to represent the Hebrew yod (jot), the smallest Hebrew letter. "Tittle" is from the Latin titulus which came to mean the stroke above an abbreviated word, then any small mark. It is not certain here whether kerea means a little horn, the mere point which distinguishes some Hebrew letters from others or the "hook" letter Vav. Sometimes yod and vav were hardly distinguishable. "In Vay. R. 19 the guilt of altering one of them is pronounced so great that if it were done the world would be destroyed" (McNeile). - Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament.

 

I believe Jesus' statements were somewhat metaphorical in their meanings, meaning that God's present imposition of his law/justice/righteousness shall not change in the smallest amount until all of the prophecies of his Word have been fulfilled ("...all things may cause itself to come to pass" (Mat. 5:17-18 - LIT)).  However, this implies that at some time in the future, from the time Jesus made his statement, that God's law and prophecies of his coming redeemer, and of other things, would become fulfilled, and subsequently the present law, the "Law of Works" (Rom. 3:27), would change, actually become obsolete, and at the time of apostle Paul's writings, almost invisible (Heb. 8:1-13).  That change I believe is God's imposition of his new covenant with mortalkind, the "Law of Belief" (Rom. 3:20-28, 20, 6:13-15, 7:6, 8:2-4, 10:4; Gal. 3:5-14; James 1:25) which covenant Jesus put through with his own shed blood.  The writer of Hebrews makes this quite clear (Heb. chapters 8-13). Scripturally we can see that God honored the coming Law of Belief long before the Law of Works became obsolete (Heb. chapter 11).  God's new prophesied covenant literally began on the day of Pentecost (Acts chapter 2), which likewise was officially the end of the old covenant and its associated Law of Works.

 

Thayer:

 

κεραια <G2762> (WH κερεα (see their Appendix, p. 151)), κεραιας, ἡ (κερας), a little horn; extremity, apex, point; used by the Greek grammarians of the accents and diacritical points. In Matthew 5:18 ((where see Wetstein; cf. also Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah, 1:537f)); Luke 16:17 of the little lines, or projections, by which the Hebrew letters in other respects similar differ from each other, as cheth ‏ח‎ and he ‏ה‎, daleth ‏ד‎ and resh ‏ר‎, beth ‏ב‎ and kaph ‏כ‎ (A.V. tittle); the meaning is, 'not even the minutest part of the law shall perish.' ((Aeschylus, Thucydides, others.))* - Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.

 

Vines:

 

The Greek word 'kerea' may also be used. "a little horn" (keras, "a horn"), was used to denote the small stroke distinguishing one Hebrew letter from another. The rabbis attached great importance to these; hence the significance of the Lord's statements in Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17, charging the Pharisees with hypocrisy, because, while professing the most scrupulous reverence to the Law, they violated its spirit. Grammarians used the word to denote the accents in Greek words. - Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words.

 

 

2772 - clippings (kermata, noun) - Zodhiates says, "kérma; gen. kérmatos, neut. noun from keírō G2751, to shear or cut off. A small piece of money, so-called because, in the ancient world, coins were frequently clipped off larger metal pieces to transact business."  (AMG's Complete Word Study Dictionaries - The Complete Word Study Dictionary – New Testament.) 

 

Apparently, worshippers coming into the temple area had certain large denominations of coinage which needed to be broken down into smaller change so they could purchase various things necessary to engage in the worship ceremonies.  For this they went to the money changers, who charged a small fee for their services.  Through the process of making change for customers the money changers would clip off a piece or pieces of a silver coin, supposedly clipping off a piece of a certain weight, which would decrease the weight of the coin, and thusly the value of that silver coin being used to make change. 

 

The implication in the text is that the money changers would clip off too much weight of a coin, and the silver coin they returned to the customer was now a little under weight than it should be.  Thusly through the practice of routinely cutting off too much weight from silver coins and then giving back to their customers too little change from what they were supposed to receive, the dishonest sellers could enhance their profits through "nickel and diming" those who needed their services.  The over or under weighted clippings were used to dishonestly take more than their agreed upon small fee.  If the money changers used scales, then obviously some of the weights were either over or under weighted to make the clippings or the clipped coins, respectively, appear to be of the proper weight and thusly the proper value.  If this was a practice which all of the money changers engaged in, then all of the worshippers had little choice but to deal with them.

 

 

2773 - money-cutters (kermatistēs, noun) - In John 2:13-17 is a record of Jesus Christ purging the temple area of dishonesty and thievery.   Many of both the local Judeans, and the Judeans of the Dispersion who lived outside of Judea who were returning to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast, needed their foreign and large denomination coinage broken down into smaller half shekel amounts to pay the temple tax of a half shekel per person, and to buy sacrifices for the alter.  Apparently many/most/all of the money-cutters were charging an interest/usury fee to convert or "cut" large foreign and local denominations down into smaller value coinage.   The word used in the text suggests that the money-cutters were literally cutting up into smaller pieces large foreign denominated silver and gold coins, and then accepting the weights of one or more smaller pieces (with a little extra weight added for the interest/usury fee) as an equivalent to the annual temple tax of a half shekel, which was given in exchange for those small pieces of large foreign silver and gold coinage.  These smaller pieces of foreign large denominated coins could then be either traded or melted down for any purpose, including producing more coinage. 

 

From the record in Mat. 21:12-13 Jesus opposed the dishonesty and thievery of those who were selling and buying in the temple area, accusing and characterizing them honestly with making the house of prayer into a "cave of robbers".  In Mark 11:15-18 Mark gives us more information, including that Jesus would not allow anyone to carry vessels through the temple area, while accusing them of making it into a cave of robbers.  In John 2:13-17 John gives us additional information, including that Jesus made a whip out of small ropes which he used to throw everyone out the temple area, along with the sheep and the bovine.  And he poured out the clippings/cuttings of the coin-dealers (Gk. kollubistēs), upturning their four-legged stools.  According to the text, the word all (Gk. pantas) in verse 15 applies to the sheep and the bovine which Jesus threw out of the sacred place.  Jesus threw out all of them.  Apparently Jesus didn't use the whip to throw out any people, as is commonly but erroneously believed.

 

 

2774 - head-cost (kephalaion, noun) - A young, strong, multi-skilled slave, especially a highly skilled slave at certain trades, attracted a higher price on the market than other slaves.   The value placed upon a slave''s "head" was the value for which it was believed the slave would sell if put up for sale.  Under Roman law a slave could become a freeman, a libertus, if his master simply decided to free him, or required the slave to pay the cost for what the owner believed the slave could be sold for on the market, whether the slave owner was the Roman state or a private owner.  In Acts 22:28 the tribune told apostle Paul that he acquired/purchased his own freedom, Roman citizenship, from slavery, with "much head-cost".   

 

Kephalaion is used twice in the holy scriptures, Acts 22:28 and Heb. 8:1.  In Acts 22:28 Luke's use of kephalaiou, head-cost, seems obvious, the tribune was previously a slave until he was finally able to purchase his own freedom to become a tribune in a Roman army.  But in Heb. 8:1 the writer's statement seems to be somewhat more figurative, equating Jesus' shed blood and subsequent death as the ultimate head-cost paid for us by our heavenly Father (John 3:16), and obviously by Christ Jesus, who was working as a slave for us to free us from the penalty of our own sin.  Stated another way, Christ Jesus paid the price for the deliverance of us from the penalty for our own slavery to sin, which penalty was our own personal head-cost.  And it was our own head-cost well before any of us had any real value as multi-skilled slaves for our heavenly Father, or for Christ Jesus, or for our fellow man.  Our heavenly Father paid that high head-cost for us when, at the time Christ Jesus died for us, we had no value at all!

 

 

2778 - a census (kēnsos, noun) - The Roman empire, upon conquering a nation, imposed a census upon it through which the conquered people must register themselves and the members of their families, and give an accounting of their wealth and holdings.  The writer of Mark refers to this census (Mark 12:14).  The writer of Luke records the announcement of the imposition of Rome's census and subsequent taxation recording more details of it (Luke 2:1-5).  Using a census the Roman government could determine who were the influential people in a conquered nation, and how much wealth they may extract from the people of the nation without endangering its economy, so as it may keep on producing more tax revenue income for Rome in the future.

 

In Mat. 22:15-22 the Pharisees tried to discover whether Jesus believed in paying his taxes, which implication could lead to the question of whether he teaches his disciples to not pay their taxes. Jesus didn't simply answer "yes" or "no", but reminds them that if the coinage has Caesar's face and inscription on it then it belongs to Caesar, so give it to him.  But give the things which belong to the God to God. This seems to imply a question about how the Pharisees were handling the money in the temple treasury.  Were they stealing it, or actually using it for God's purposes? 

 

The writer of the book of Mark, in Mark 12:14, refers to this census using a noun meaning a census (kēnson). 

 

The writer of the book of Luke, in Luke 2:1, refers to this census using a verb meaning to be registered (apographesthai). 

 

The writer of the book of Hebrews refers to an assembly of firstborn ones, i.e., the one body of Christ, having been registered (apogegrammenōn) in the heavens (Heb. 12:23).

 

The great first century historian Josephus recorded for us a good account of the Romans' imposition of this census against a backdrop of the civil unrest it produced among the Judeans, in his Antiquities of the Jews, book 18, chapter 1, section 1.

 

 

2808 - keyed, key-close, key-closed, keyed-closed (kleiō, verb) - The root of 2807, kleis, a noun meaning a key, such as is used to lock a door.  "To key" a door means to lock it closed with a key.

 

 

2831 - ones surging (kludōnizomai, verb) - In Eph. 4:14 apostle Paul uses several genre of references to describe the characteristics of mortals struggling to find and believe God's Word, and to stay on course with their discipleship and spiritual growth.  Two of those terms are related to the genre of seafaring, ones surging, and ones being brought about to every wind.  These two phrases describe both vertical and horizontal motion respectively, of a ship on the sea.  Surges, or swells as they are often called, are huge waves which travel through the sea.   As a surge travels under the ship the ship is raised up to the top of the surge.  As the surge passes by the ship it is then lowered down into the hollow between the surges, leaving the ones on the ship to view two large walls of water on either side of them.  If one is navigating by physical sight of land, surges like these can make it difficult to steer the ship in the desired heading.  I believe Paul's allusion is to spiritual unrest and confusion from lack of spiritual control in life's situations.  Water is sometimes used in God's Word as a type to death, the grave, demonic influence, evil, and even holy Spirit and life (Psalm 1:3; John 4:10-11, 7:38).  In the context of Eph. 4:14, the connotation is to demonic, spiritual influence, attributed to the reference to the Wanderer, a title of the devil.  Those who steer their ships based upon their belief of the truth in God's Word, ones whose minds are stayed upon God's Word, sail through calm seas in life (Isa. 26:3).

 

 

2840 - make common (koinoō, verb) -  

 

 

2847 - coccus, coccused (kokkinos, adj.) - Thayer explains the word, "... (from κοκκος a kernel, the grain or berry of the ilex coccifera; these berries are the clusters of eggs of a female insect, the kermes ((cf. English “carmine, crimson”)), and when collected and pulverized produce a red which was used in dyeing" —Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon

 

Vine's explains the word:

 

"... is derived from kokkos, used of the "berries" (clusters of the eggs of an insect) collected from the ilex coccifera; the color, however, is obtained from the cochineal insect, which attaches itself to the leaves and twigs of the coccifera oak; another species is raised on the leaves of the cactus ficus. The Arabic name for this insect is qirmiz, whence the word "crimson." It is used (a) of "scarlet" wool, Heb. 9:19; cp., in connection with the cleansing of a leper, Lev. 14:4, 6, "scarlet;" with the offering of the red heifer, Num. 19:6; (b) of the robe put on Christ by the soldiers, Matt. 27:28; (c) of the "beast" seen in symbolic vision in Rev. 17:3, "scarlet-colored;" (d) of the clothing of the "woman" as seen sitting on the "beast," Rev. 17:4; (e) of part of the merchandise of Babylon, Rev. 18:12; (f) figuratively, of the glory of the city itself, Rev. 18:16; the neuter is used in the last three instances." —Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words.

 

Zodhiates says:

 

κόκκινος [See Stg: <G2847>]

kókkinos; fem. kokkínē, neut. kókkinon, adj. from kókkos <G2848>, seed, a grain. Scarlet, of a scarlet color, so named because this color was produced by dyeing with what was called kókkos baphiké, the dyeing grain, the grains which adhere to a small dry twig of a little bush. These grains were full of little worms or maggots whose fluids were remarkable for dyeing scarlet and making the famous color which the ancients adored. Both the insect and the color were called by the Arabs "alkermes," from which our Eng. word "crimson" is derived (Matt. 27:28; Heb. 9:19; Rev. 17:3, 4; 18:12, 16; Sept.: Ex. 25:4; 28:5; Josh. 2:18). -

Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary – New Testament, (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1993), WORDsearch CROSS e-book.

 

 

2852 - they struck with fists (kolaphizō, verb) - In Mat. 26:67 and Mark 14:65, in records of Jesus being beaten by the Roman soldiers in the Praetorium shortly before they led him to be staked, they struck him with their fists, which appears to mean that they literally struck Jesus with their fists.  That, along with the whipping, and the gouging of the crown of thorns into Jesus' head, and what other beating they may have done on him, along with the staking itself, reduced Jesus' physical condition to that prophesied in Isa. 52:14:

 

Isa. 52:14 (YLT) As astonished at thee have been many, (So marred by man his appearance, And his form by sons of men.)

 

The contrast in the holy scriptures is between all of the beautiful works God did working in and through his son Jesus Christ as his agent (*Mat. 9:8; Mark 6:5; Luke 5:17, 7:16; John 3:2, 5:19-20, 8:16, *29, 9:33, *10:38, *14:10-11, *16-20, 28, 16:32b; *Acts 2:22, 10:38; *2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 3:16-19, 4:6; *Col. 1:19-20, 2:9; 1 John 5:20), throwing out demon spirits, healing the lame, giving sight to the blind, healing leprosy and all kinds of diseases and weaknesses, and raising some dead ones, with the utter ugliness of Jesus' outward physical appearance after he died on the stake, after the children of Israel's religious leadership and the Roman soldiers slaughtered Jesus Christ.  On account of Jesus allowing himself to be sacrificed for the penalty of sin upon all mortalkind, and to put through God's new covenant in Jesus' own blood, and to launch the ministry of reconciliation of mortalkind back to God, Jesus earned a name above every name (Phil. 2:9), and the heavenly Father raised him out of dead ones, and he was justly glorified beautifully at the Father's right hand (Acts 2:22-33, 3:13).

 

In 1 Cor. 4:11 apostle Paul references Jesus' beating and staking idiomatically, "and we are struck with a fist" while explaining all the sufferings he and his fellow workers experienced together as they were traveling to preach and teach, and to spread the word of reconciliation of the evangelism of Christ Jesus.  But apostle Paul wasn't complaining, but glorifying God and his son Jesus, as he and all of the apostles of Christ sought to be worthy enough to be dishonored over the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41).  And likewise, all of the disciples and apostles of Christ Jesus should strive to be worthy to suffer, if necessary, in the work of the ministry to preach and teach the evangelism of Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:17-18; 1 Cor. 9:12; 2 Thes. 1:5; 1 Tim. 4:9-10; 2 Tim. 1:8-12; 1 Pet. 3:18, 4:13-19).  Those who suffer with Christ shall be glorified with Christ.

 

In 2 Cor. 12:7 again apostle Paul uses this idiomatic reference to Jesus' sufferings to describe how a messenger of Satan struck apostle Paul's eyes with leanness of sight to try and slow him down, on account of the the hyperbole of the revelations of the great mystery about which Christ Jesus was revealing to him, to preach and teach to all of the cosmos.

 

In the record in 1 Pet. 2:19-24, in verse 20, apostle Peter interrogates his readers to think for a moment as to which ministry they've been called: to a ministry to do sin, and then to be "struck with a fist" for doing that, or to a ministry of doing good things for God, and then to be "struck with a fist" for doing those things?  The example Christ Jesus gave us was to be "struck by a fist" for doing those things which are pleasing in the eyes of our heavenly Father.

 

 

853 - to be glued to (kollaō, verb) - To "stick" or be "stuck" closely together with someone or something.

 

 

2870 - beating of the breast (kopetos, noun) - In Acts 8, after the record of the stoning of apostle Stephen (Acts 7) for beginning to introduce the Judeans to the knowledge of God's prophetic new holy place, God's desired true permanent holy place (Acts 7:42-50), the one he builds with his own hand (Exod. 15:17, 25:22; Isa. 66:1-2; Acts 7:47-50, 17:24; Heb. 8:2), a domed-roof house (2 Sam. 7:11c-16; Amos 9:11-12; Mat. 16:18; Acts 15:13-19; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 6:16-18; 1 Pet. 2:1-9), which is the raised-up tent of David, which is the the one body of Christ, some Judean males, ones well-received by God and the believers, took charge of Stephen's body and made provisions for its disposition.  And according to their cultural custom of mourning over the death of a loved one, Luke writes that those well-received males beat their breasts greatly morning over the loss of Stephen. 

 

The devil, Satan, working in and through his children, the Judean religious leadership (John 8:44), absolutely did not want the knowledge of God's prophesied domed-roof house to become known, which knowledge teaches any believer how to become a part of God's new holy place, whose new holy place is in the minds and bodies of those who are the one body of Christ (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21; Rev. 21:22).  Where the King is and his throne, that's where his Kingdom is (Luke 17:20-21)!

 

With the passing of the devil's murder of apostle Stephen, subsequently apostle Paul is called by the Lord Christ Jesus himself (Acts 9:3-8) to receive and teach this great prophetic knowledge, which knowledge apostle Paul subsequently refers to as a great mystery, the mystery of Godliness (Mark 4:11; Rom. 16:25; 1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 1:9, 3:3-4, 9, 5:32, 6:19; Col. 1:26-27, 2:2, 4:3; 1 Tim. 3:16)!  This is why those well-received males made such a great beating of their breasts over the death and loss of Stephen to the community of believers.  It was a great loss not only to our heavenly Father (Psalm 116:15), but to the living one body of Christ as well.  References to that great mystery which is now revealed in the new covenant writings, can be tracked in those writings through following those writers' use of the Greek word mustērion, Strong's # 3466, throughout the texts, which is used 27 times.

 

In Ralph Gower's book he explains some of the events which occur with the death of a loved one:

 

"Immediately when a person died, there was a time of wailing and lamentation.  The wail was an announcement to the neighborhood that a death had taken place.  The Egyptians had so many dead on the occasion of the first Passover that the wail could be heard through the whole country.  The family then gathered for lamentation - a time for a great show of weeping, almost as if those who were still alive wanted to impress the shade of the dead person that they were really sorry.  Micah said that it sounded like jackels and owls (Micah 1:8), and Jesus was aware of it when he went to raise Jairus's daughter at the Capernaum synagogue (Mark 5:38).  David's expressions of grief for Absalom were typical.  Wealthy families would hire groups of professional mourners who would add to the noise (Jer. 9:17-18; Amos 5:16).  Goat's hair cloth garments (sackcloth) were worn so as to cause discomfort; the breast was beaten (Luke 23:48) and cloths were torn to demonstrate how grief-stricken people were (2 Sam. 3:31)." - Gower, Ralph.  The New Manners and Customs of Bible Times.  Chicago: Moody Press, 1987.

 

In Howard Vos' book he also explains some of the events which occur with the death of a loved one:

 

"Death brought great lamentation, not only in ancient Israel but in New Testament times and in the Semitic world in general.  In fact, in many places in the modern near east death and other calamities bring great public demonstration.  In New Testament times individuals or groups of mourners commonly tore their cloths and/or wore sackcloth and tore at their hair in public demonstration of grief.  Mourners might raise their hands over their heads and wail "Alas, Alas" or "Alas my brother," or some other united cry.

 

Early in Hebrew history it seems that people decided that they were not good enough at mourning on their own.  At least by Amos' day (c. 750 B.C.) professional mourners, "those skilled in lamentation" (Amos 5:16) were hired to wail, play dirges, and the like.  Flutes were especially adaptable to creating mournful sounds.  The practice of using professional mourners was common in Jesus' day and is reflected in the death of Jairus' daughter (Mat. 9:23; Mark 5:38).  In fact, the number of such professional mourners at a funeral indicated the wealth and social position of the family.

 

The use of professional mourners occurs very early among the Canaanites and Egyptians also.  For example, in the Beirut Museum is the famous Ahiram sarcophagus (dating to c. 100 B.C.), on which on which are pictured four Canannite professional mourners." - Vos, Howard F.  Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners & Customs.  Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999.

 

See also:

 

832 - we piped (auleō, verb)

2354 - a dirge (thrēneō, verb)

2875 - you did beat, shall beat themselves, were beating themselves (koptō, verb)

5180 - to beat (tuptō, verb)

 

 

2875 - you did beat, shall beat themselves, were beating themselves (koptō, verb) - A dirge was kind of song sung in funeral gatherings and funeral marches in lament of the dead (Mat. 11:17; Luke 7:32; 23:27; John 16:20).  The singing of a dirge was often accompanied by those present slowly beating their chests to express their deep sorrow (Mat. 11:17, 24:30; Luke 8:52, 23:27; Rev. 1:7, 18:9).  See 832 - we piped, and 2354 - we sang a dirge.  In a funeral procession it was customary to slowly beat the chest as the funeral dirges were sung as an outward display of being cut to the heart with grief at the loss of a loved one. 

 

In Mat. 11:17 Jesus spoke to the crowds and gave them a characterization of themselves as children at play, singing a funeral dirge, and then complaining that some of the other children who are playing with them are not correctly showing grief by beating their chests as they sang.  The children of Israel who were complaining about John the Baptist and Jesus Christ were like those foolish children in the market who were playing, but only imitating solemn spiritual occasions in real life, and not understanding the seriousness of those situations about which Jesus characterized them as only "playing".  The children of Israel didn't understand the seriousness of their situation in bondage to sin and death, while complaining about John the Baptist having a demon, and Jesus Christ being a gluten and a drinker, and a friend of tax collectors and sinners.  The children of Israel were truly the demon-possessed ones, the glutens and drinkers, the sinners, the ones in bondage to sin and death.  They were like immature children who were only playing at being righteous, but not going about becoming righteous correctly through believing God's Word, and through believing in the precious name of his son, Jesus.

 

In Mat. 24:30, in the last days, when the sign of the Son of the Mortal shall shine in the heaven, then all the tribes of the land shall beat themselves in grief that they did not repent toward God before it was too late.  In Luke 8:52, in the death of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, her parents were beating themselves, until God who was working in and through Jesus as his agent, healed her.  In Luke 23:27, when the Roman soldiers were leading Jesus away to be staked, and Simon, a Cyrenian, was coming behind Jesus carrying his stake, there was following Jesus a large crowd of people, and a large crowd of women who were beating themselves and singing a dirge.  In Rev. 1:7, when Christ Jesus comes with the clouds, and each eye shall gaze at him, and the eyes of the one's who pricked him out, all of the tribes of the land shall beat themselves over him! 

 

In the record of the fall of Babylon, in Rev. 18:9-10:
 

Rev. 18:9 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) the (hoi) kings (basileis) of the (tēs) land (gēs) shall weep (klausousin), and (kai) they shall beat themselves²⁸⁷⁵ (kopsontai) over (ep’) [the sake, AE] of her (autēn), the ones (hoi) having fornicated (porneusantes) with (met’) her (autēs), and (kai) ones having desired luxury (strēniasantes), when perhaps (hotan) they may see (blepōsin) the (ton) smoke (kapnos) of the (tēs) burning (purōseōs) of her (autēs);

 

Rev. 18:10 (LIT/UBS4) they having stood (hestēkotes) from (apo) afar (makrothen), through (dia) the (ton) fear (phobon) of the (tou) torment (basanismou) of her (autēs), saying (legontes), ‘Woe (ouia), woe (ouia), the (hē) city (polis), the (hē) great one (megalē), the (hē) city (polis) Babylon (Babulōn), the (hē) strong one (ischura), that (hoti) [in, AE] one (mia) hour (hōra) came (ēlthen) the (hē) judgment (krisis) of you (sou)!’

 

See also:

 

832 - we piped (auleō, verb)

2354 - a dirge (thrēneō, verb)

2870 - beating of the breast (kopetos, noun)

5180 - to beat (tuptō, verb)

 

 

2878 - Corban, corban box (korbanas, noun) - "it is Corban As construed in our Version, it is an example of the rhetorical figure of aposiopesis or "falling silent," breaking off and expressing the obvious conclusion by a gesture (compare #Ex 32.32). Ye say, If a man tell his father or his mother, ‘It is corban’ (the Aramaic word for offering to God), ‘the money which I might have given for thy relief.’ The best manuscripts, however, omit the ensuing "and," thus making the sentence and anacoluthon, an expressive breach of grammatical sequence. Ye say, If a man tell his father or his mother, ‘It is corban —  ye no longer suffer him to do aught for his father or his mother.’ The normal construction would have been "he need no longer do aught"; but the case was even worse than that, inasmuch as the Pharisees expressly prohibited his doing aught as a robbery of God. And so our Lord half-way through the sentence abruptly reconstructs and concludes "ye no longer suffer him." - David Smith, 68

 

To be a bit more direct, the Judean religious leaders at some time in the past had hijacked the traditional social meaning of Corban, which according to the Mosaic law was a pledge between family members to care for one another in any way possible, especially financially, which is to what Jesus refers in Mark 7:11. 

 

Here's Lamsa's definition of the meaning of the Aramaic word Corban:

 

"To pledge to God the income remaining after expenses were met was corban, but often only made as an excuse not to support father or mother.  Jewish religious leaders were satisfied with such evasive statements and the gifts which they received, but Jesus denounced this and pointed out how much more important it was to honor and support parents. Mat. 15:5." - Lamsa, George M. Gospel Light. Rev. ed. Philadelphia: Holman, 1936.

 

The net effect of the religious leader's redefinition of the meaning of Corban was to redirect people's financial abundance into the temple fund, the treasury boxes, so the religious leadership could have access to other people's hard earned money.  Anyone who opposed this redefinition was considered to be "robbing God", while the imposition of this redefinition was actually robbing the people.   We can see in Mat. 27:6 how this sly, subtle redefinition of a social custom, corban, may have been hijacked, which was by simply renaming the treasury box a corban box.  Methods like this of redefining the meanings of words referring to social customs, or of biblical Greek words into having extra-biblical mortal-made religious meanings, for a financial gain of the "church", is today one of the hallmarks of false Christianity.

 

 

2889 - cosmos (kosmos, noun) - It refers to the order, which are the heavens and earth, and the orderly arrangement of them and all therein.  The kosmos is obviously huge, therefore the reader must determine from the immediate, local and/or remote contexts whether the whole or particular parts are referenced.  In its first usage in the new covenant (Mat. 4:8) Matthew tells us that the kosmou contains kingdoms which exhibit glory (doxan).  It is generally believed that the kingdoms of the kosmou which the devil showed to Jesus were terrestrial.  However there is no evidence in the text to exclude the celestial portion of the kosmos in this verse.   Within the kosmos the particular abode of mortalkind with which God is always dealing, is the planet earth.  Therefore world is a popular translation, but in my opinion not broad enough in its equivalency to reflect the true meaning of kosmos in its entirety which may be meant in John 12:31; 16:28; 17:5; 17:24; 18:36,37; Acts 17:24; Rom. 1:20; 4:13; 5:12; 1 Cor. 2:12; 3:22 and in other passages.  Therefore I translate kosmos simply as cosmos, and justifiably leave it to the reader with the Spirit of Truth working in him or her to interpret how much of the cosmos, heavens and/or earth, is meant through the context of the passage.

 

 

2940 - die (kubeia, common noun) - Singular for dice.  Dice are used in gambling.  In gambling people take their chances on the role of the dice.  Paying attention to every wind of teaching of mortal's theological theories is like rolling the dice to allow yourself a chance to become a loser.  Believers don't gamble with their own lives and discipleship, but build their belief upon the sure foundation of the truth of God's Word (Mat. 7:26-27; John 17:17).  True and lasting wealth isn't found or won at the gambling tables of mortal-made theological theories, but found in God's Word, and won through one's belief of it (Deut. 28:1-14; Mal. 3:10).

 

The obvious allusion Paul makes with cube is that those mortals who do not substantiate and verify with God's Word what they hear taught, as did the Bereans on a daily basis (Acts 17:11), are only playing at discipleship and spiritual growth and maturity, they're only playing games, in which case they make themselves losers.  The method of the Wanderer, the devil, is to entice and allure mortals with words which sound good, some words which are true, but which are amalgamated with lies (the "tree" of the knowledge of good and evil).  Those who practice the method of the Wanderer use God's Word deceitfully, through twisting its meanings, through taking passages of it out of their context and suggesting alternate meanings than those given in the scope of the context.  The solution to the elimination of the rolling of the dice with your spiritual growth and maturity, with your life, is given in 2 Tim. 2:15:

 

2 Tim. 2:15 (LIT/UBS4) Make haste (spoudason) to stand yourself alongside (parastēsai seauton) to the (tō) God (theō), approved (dokimon), [a] worker (ergatēn) unashamed (anepaischunton), cutting sharply straight³⁷¹⁸ (orthotomounta) the (ton) Word (logon) of the (tēs) Truth (alētheias).

 

Allow yourself to rely upon God's Spirit within you to teach you (Isa. 54:13; Jer. 31:31-34; John 6:45; Heb. 8:8-12, 10:16-17)!

 

 

2967 - to cut off (kōluō, verb) - A common idiom used 23 times.  It's used by Jesus in Mat. 19:14, Mark 9:39 (KJV, forbid) and elsewhere, apostle John in Mark 9:38 (KJV, we forbade), apostle Peter in Acts 10:47 (KJV, to refuse), 11:17 (KJV, withstand), and usages by various others. This idiom is very similar, if not identical, to our modern idiom meaning to stop something from happening; The child's allowance was cut off, or, the new heretical sect was cut off from the church, or, the volcanic debris cut off the ship from entering into the harbor.

 

 

3001 - cultivated plants (lachana, noun) - This is a reference to ones seeking herbal remedies or special foods to help them with whatever their illnesses may be.

 

 

3013 - peelings (lepides, noun) - In Acts 9:18 there is an ellipsis, evils, which is supplied from the immediate context.  According to the well known Aramaic scholar George Lamsa, I believe Luke presents to us in this verse an Aramaic idiom, meaning that when Saul received the baptism in God's gift of holy Spirit from Christ Jesus when Ananias laid his hands upon Saul, Paul then recognized that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised messiah; and he no longer saw the followers of Jesus Christ as evil.  The text says that what fell straightaway from Paul's eyes were "as peelings" (hōs lepides), but not literal peelings. 

 

Lamsa explains this idiom:

 

"A man who is full of hatred and revenge is often called blind.  Spiritual blindness sometimes causes physical blindness.  Aramaic-speaking people often say, 'his eyes have darkened so that he cannot see,' which means that he is misled by false ideas, hatred and anger."

 

In this idiom I believe "eyes" are a metaphor for the eyes of one's understanding, what one knows and believes in his heart.  Saul, in his heart, was believing lies about Jesus Christ and his followers, which lies were evil (John 8:44).  I believe what "fell" from Saul's "eyes" were the evil lies of false religion, of false God's Word, the mortal-made traditions and dogmas which were blinding Saul's heart from seeing the Truth of God's Word, and from recognizing that Jesus Christ was the promised messiah, the son of the God. 

 

 

3049 - to count (logizomai, verb) - Numerical calculation ; objectively to count or measure something; subjectively to consider the character or quality of something.  Logizomai is often used in reference to counting or measuring something for its equivalence or variance to something else.  We can clearly see this meaning in both the Hebrew and Greek texts. According to apostle Paul, the equivalent of logizomai in the Hebrew texts is chashab.

 

 

Gen. 15:6 And he believed <0539> (8689) in the Lord <03068>; and he counted <02803> (8799) it to him for righteousness <06666>.

 

"believed" - Strong's # 0539, root aman,

"counted" - Strong's # 02803, chashab, root chasab,

"righteousness" - Strong's # 06666, root tsedaqah,

 

 

Rom. 4:3 (LIT/UBS4) because (gar) what (ti) <does> the (he) writing (graphē) say (legei), but (de) "Abraham (Abraam) believed (episteusen) the (to) God (theo), and (kai) it was counted (elogisthe) to him (auto) into (eis) righteousness (dikaiosunen)!"

 

"believed" - Strong's # 4100, pisteuo, root pistis (4102),

"counted" - Strong's # 3049, logizomai, root logos (3056),

"righteousness" - Strong's # 1343, dikaiosune, root dikaios (1342), root dike (1349)

  

 

Various scholars have given us their definitions of logizomai: 

• "primarily signifies 'to reckon,' whether by calculation or imputation" (Vine, W. E., Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament Words, 1980, Thomas Nelson, Inc., pg. 7).

• "strictly of numerical calculation, to count, calculate, compute, then, to take into account, consider." (Dr. Bullinger, E. W., A Critical Lexicon And Concordance To The English And Greek New Testament, 1978, Zondervan, pg. 190).

Looking closely at many of the usages of chashab shows us it's essential meaning.  The first usage of chasab in the old covenant writings, in Gen. 15:6, describes a measurement of some kind which God used to count righteousness back to Abram commensurate with his amount of belief.

 

The context of the first usages of words is often very noteworthy, since within those contexts usually lie the definitions of the meanings of those words; which meanings are very important in understanding a word's subsequent usages.  This first usage of chasab appears to be an objective usage, where Abram's amount of belief is counted, or measured, and then based upon that count or measurement an equal or commensurate amount of righteousness is allotted back to Abram.  This is an important truth concerning the meaning of chasab, which we need to remember. 

 

The next 13 usages of chasab, in Exodus, appear to be subjective usages, where chasab is used in a subjective sense of to think, regard or esteem something like something else, but not objectively measured to determine a numerical equivalent.  The count or measurement is done subjectively, but still preserves the essence of the meaning of chasab. 

 

But in the 19th usage, in Lev. 7:18, and subsequent usages, we see again an objective usage, the literal numerical equivalency aspect of chasab, which is the true, primary essence of its meaning.

 

Using Lev. 7:18 for reference, and throughout Leviticus, counted (chasab) is often used primarily to count or measure something, such as an offering and the conditions under which it is given, to the conditions set by God's Word for receiving it.  Then based upon that measurement, the offering is determined whether to be acceptable, pleasing (ratsah) to God.  Then if so, a blessing numerically equivalent to that pleasing value, is counted (chasab) back to the giver, else the giver was to bear his iniquity (avon), or inequality with God's standards. 

 

Chasab, ratsah and avon all appear together in this same verse, and as such work together also to define each other's meanings, and in whole the concept of fulfilling conditions of God's Word to receive blessings from him, no matter whether the new or old covenant.  

 

Note in this 19th usage of chasab in Lev. 7:18, that it is used in the sense of numerical measurement, and that it is used within the context of the 'Law of the Sacrifice of the Peace Offerings' (verse 11).  Those peace offerings under the Mosaic Law were types (tupos) of the coming blood offering of Jesus Christ, who, in the new covenant in his blood, would make 100% righteous all those who believe upon his name, and bring peace between God and them (Eph. 2:13-17). 

 

Here in Lev. 7:18, if the conditions of the Law of the Sacrifice of the Peace Offering were broken, then the blessing would be withheld, and not be counted (chasab) back to the one making the offering, and the condition of that one trying to live without receiving the blessing is referred to as 'bearing his iniquity (avon)', which literally means, 'bearing his inequality (avon)'.  Inequality with what? God's Word, which is his will.  Avon appears in the old covenant writings 230 times, and is translated in the KJV 220 times as 'iniquity', and 10 times as miscellaneous words.  The essence of the meaning of avon is inequity, or inequality.  

 

In this verse, Lev. 7:18, note that the results of what is counted or measured (chasab) determine three things simultaneously:

 

1) how equal (avon, Strong's # 05771) is the sacrifice and the conditions under which it is given to the conditions set forth by God in his Word for receiving the sacrifice,

 

2) the measure to which the sacrifice is acceptable or pleasurable (ratsah, Strong's # 07521 ) to God,

 

3) and the measure (chasab, Strong's # 02803) of blessing which will be counted or measured back to the giver of the sacrifice.

 

The usage of iniquity or inequality (avon) in this verse clues us in to the fact that the ratio of the blessing which was to be counted (chasab) back to the giver of the sacrifice, was to logically be equal (avon) to the measurement of how well the sacrifice and the conditions under which it was given matched the conditions given in God's Word for receiving it, i.e., how acceptable or pleasing (ratsah) it was to the Father.

 

In this verse here in Leviticus, the avon, or the inequality, is the result of the measurement (chasab) being taken of the conditions under which the sacrifice of peace is given, and finding that the conditions under which it is given do not measure up to, or equal the conditions set by God's Word under which it is supposed to be accepted.  Hence, the actions of the one making the sacrifice of peace were not acceptable, i.e., pleasing (ratsah) to God.  

 

In other examples, such as in Lev. 25:27, years are counted or measured (chasab).  In Lev. 25:31, a certain condition about the sale of a house, it is to be measured (chasab), whether there is a wall around it or around the village.  If no wall, it was to remain redeemable, to be purchased back at anytime by the original seller. This "house" is a type (tupos) in the holy scriptures of mortalkind as a whole, or of individuals, who are dwelling out in fields with no wall of protection around them from the ravenous beasts (demon spirits), about which God reserves the right to redeem them at anytime they choose to believe (an offering well pleasing Heb. 11:6) and call upon the name of his son, Jesus.

 

 

3200 - membranes (membrana, noun) - A reference to animal skins.  Here's a partial quote from Kenneth S. Wuest:

 

"Paul asks Timothy to carry along his books and the parchments. The word "books" is the translation of a Greek word (biblion) meaning a "book," which in turn comes from a Greek word (bublos) that refers to the pith of the papyrus plant which grew in the Nile River. This pith was cut in strips and laid in rows, over which other rows were laid crosswise, and the whole was pressed into a paper-like material called papyrus. The books Paul asked for were papyrus rolls. The parchment manuscripts (membrana) were made from the skins of sheep, goats, or antelopes, or of vellum, which latter was made from the skins of young calves.

 

Even at the approach of death, and in the midst of the discomforts of his dungeon, the aged apostle did not allow his normal strenuous life and his study habits to grow less intense in their nature. What a rebuke this is to those who, charged with the responsibility of expounding the Word of God, are content with a mere surface understanding, not willing to do the exhausting work of research which only will bring out the inexhaustible riches of the Bible. What a reprimand this is to those who have had training in Greek, and who have put aside their Greek New Testament. What an exalted privilege it is to be called of God to minister the Word.” - Wuest's Word Studies - Volume 2: Word Studies in the Greek New Testament.