Whatever is of Good Repute

This post is a continuation of my series examining the Greek words associated with the "Whatever is" statements in Phil 4:8. "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

Today I examine the Greek word for "good repute" which is εὔφημος (eúphēmos).
It means that something or someone has a good reputation, they are well–spoken of, of literally a "good report", praiseworthy, laudable and/or well acclaimed (Zodhiates, 2000).

Like with the Greek word for lovely which is προσφιλής (prosphilḗs), this Greek Word only appears once in the New Testament, right here in Phil. 4:8 by the Apostle Paul. I also found it interesting that Paul took the word for 'good' (eú) and combined it or compounded it with the word for 'rumor' (or better in this case 'fame') which is phḗmē (Zodhiates, 2000). It is not often that you ever hear of a "good rumor" but in this case it is having good PR spread about someone. They have a good report or good fame known about them. these types of people do everything they can with integrity and attempt to do everything correct and their record speaks for it.

Think thoughts that are good. Dwell on things that are of good repute. Focus on the positives and blessings in life. Find people in your life that have a commendable reputation. Feed on their knowledge and model how they live.Try to live with a good reputation. This person is honorable. When you think of this kind of person, you think of only good things, there is nothing bad to take away from the good (Loh & Nida, 1995). This person is not likely going to easily or intentionally offend other people.   If we take nothing else from the overall theme, we have to continue to see that this fits in with all of these characteristics Paul is challenging believers to be, which is upright and blameless. That is a noble challenge. But the calling continues.

                                                           References:

Loh, I., & Nida, E. A. (1995). A handbook on Paul’s letter to the Philippians. UBS Handbook Series (134). New York: United Bible Societies.

Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

Whatever is Lovely

This post is a continuation of my series examining the Greek words associated with the "Whatever is" statements in Phil 4:8. "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

Today I examine the Greek word for lovely which is προσφιλής (prosphilḗs).


The root, phíléō, is the word for 'friendship.' Go another step back to phílos and you have one of the four Greek words for the English word 'love'. The general overview is quite simple, it means "acceptable or pleasing" (Zodhiates, 2000). Interestingly this particular form of phíléō, prosphilḗs, only appears once in the New Testament, right here in Phil. 4:8.


There have been and will be many studies on phíléō and phílos. Digging a little deeper on the words of phíléō and phílos, may be worth the adventure to get a better understanding of what Paul is talking about with prosphilḗs. The idea is "beloved" (Zodhiates, 2000), a "companion" (Vine, 1996), "dear/found friend" (Strong, 2009), a "kind friend (Thomas, 1998)" or "one who practices what is good" (Zodhiates, 2000).


How do we live that out? Think lovely thoughts. Have a mind that is innocent. Dwell on lovely thoughts. Dwell on the Word of God. Dwell on Christian fellowship and friendship. Have a Christian social support, small group of friends, etc. Live out love.  Paul is saying that we need to love people. We need to befriend people. Be winsome, be pleasant, be kind, be loving! We should make an effort to be amiable and lovable (Loh & Nida, 1995).

                                                                      References:

Loh, I., & Nida, E. A. (1995). A handbook on Paul’s letter to the Philippians. UBS Handbook Series (134). New York: United Bible Societies

Strong, J. (2009). Vol. 1: A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (76). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

Thomas, R. L. (1998). New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : Updated edition. Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc.

Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vol. 2: Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (256). Nashville, TN: T. Nelson.

Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

Whatever is Pure

This post is a continuation of my series examining the Greek words associated with the "Whatever is" statements in Phil 4:8. "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

Today I examine the Greek word for pure which is ἁγνός (hagnós).
The general overview is quite simple, most commentaries and doctrinaires offer a straight-forward answer this word means "pure." Digging into this particular context in Philippians, we can find some specifiers that are useful in understanding this Greek word in this verse.

First let us see what does "pure" mean exactly? Purity is "freedom from defilement or impurity." I am certainly not a gemologist, but I understand enough about precious stones to know that purity and rareness of a gemstone determines how expensive it should be. The more pure and natural the stone, the better quality and higher price for that stone. This is not a bad analogy for our lives as Christians. We should also strive to have freedom from defilement and impurity (sin!).  Christ already paid the highest price for this freedom. Let's live it out!

Diving deeper into "living pure," we see that the words "Innocent", "pure" and "blameless" (2 Cor. 7:11; Phil. 4:8; 1 Tim. 5:22) come into play (Zodhiates, 2000). This is not a coincidence, but the theme from all of the previous Greek Word Paul has chose in this passage continues again with hagnós. We are to live righteous, honest, with dignity and now again today holy. All of these words center around this idea of living upright and blameless. It is not an easy calling but one that we are free to choice with the power of the Holy Spirit guiding us and the blood of Jesus Chris saving us and the Father wooing us. 

Think pure thoughts. Dwell on thoughts that are pure. Find a mentor that is pure and can hold you accountable for personal purity and growth. Live pure. Let's strive to be clean, innocent, modest, chaste as close to perfect as possible in this human form (Strong, 2009). The kind of purity "awakens awe" (Kittel, Friedrich & Bromiley, 1985). Ponder that one.

                                                            References:

Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (19). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

Strong, J. (2009). Vol. 1: A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (7). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

Whatever is Right

This post is a continuation of my series examining the Greek words associated with the "Whatever is" statements in Phil 4:8. "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

Today I examine the Greek word for right which is δίκαιος (díkaios).

Díkaios comes from díkē which means "right" or "just". Díkaios specifically means "doing what is right" or "doing what is just." Another way of saying this is being "conformable to righteousness." (Zodhiates, 2000). This word appears 79 times in the New Testament, notably 17 times in Matthew, where it is used to describe both individuals and groups of people who live righteous. The Septuagint translation is צַדִּיק which means blameless, upright and righteous. It describes Noah, Abraham, David, Job and God. It also describes groups of people as well.

There continues a theme from the first two posts, the words "True," "Honorable" both include an idea of upright living, a moral standard of being 'above reproach.' The word for "Right" continues this theme for living upright (Newman, 1993). As Christians we are called to be "innocent, holy, just and righteous" (Strong, 2009). This is not an easy calling. It is a calling to be in accordance with God's standards (Swanson, 1997).


The How-to live δίκαιος out is worth a lot of time and further study. There are a lot of great resources about righteousness and righteous living. To get a full understanding of application of this word, much more study should be done on it. Case studies on the righteous men of the Old and New Testament is great place to start this study. Think about justice. Dwell on justice. Reflect on it. More so, live it out. When someone is in need, help them. When someone does something wrong, seek God's wisdom in finding the proper just action that may need to be taken.

 
                                                                        References:
Newman, B. M., Jr. (1993). A Concise Greek-English dictionary of the New Testament. (46). Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft; United Bible Societies.
Strong, J. (2009). Vol. 1: A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (23). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament)
(electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

Whatever is Honorable

This post is a continuation of my series examining the Greek words associated with the "Whatever is" statements in Phil 4:8.  "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

Today I examine the Greek word for honorable which is σεμνός (semnós). 

σεμνός - with a broad stroke, the definition simply is "dignified" (Zodhiates, 2000). That is "worthy of respect, honor and/or dignity" (Arndt, Danker & Bauer, 2000). Another way of putting it is "honorable" (Louw & Nida, 1996).


This specific Greek word only appears four times in the New Testament, all from the Apostle Paul. The first being the Phil. 4:8 passage and then three more times (all NASB):

1 Tim. 3:8-9 - Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
1 Tim. 3:11 -Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.
Titus 2:2- Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. 

We see that this is used to describe both men and women who serve God. Continuing the theme from the last post about "True," "Honorable" also includes this sort of upright moral standard of being 'above reproach' (Arndt, Danker & Bauer, 2000).

While the Apostle Paul demands a lot of things (no gossiping, patient temperament, faithfulness, sensibility, sound faith, not hypocritical, not addicted to wine, a clear conscience, etc) these are things that can be obtained by all believers. We should strive to attain these things. We, as saints, have a higher citizenship, a heavenly one. These characteristics are majestic and awe–inspiring qualities which  invites and attracts others towards us, towards Christ (Zodhiates, 2000). Amen!

Think honorably. Dwell on thoughts that are noble. Get a mentor who is dignified and can help you focus on dignity in your own thoughts and behaviors. 

If you love Greek Word study, for homework look up the root and related words:

sébomai [reverence, worship], sebázomai [to worship], sébasma [object of worship], Sebastós [His Majesty], eusebḗs [pious], eusébeia [piety], eusebéō [to be pious], asebḗs [impious], asébeia [impiety], asebéō [to get impiously], semnós [worthy of respect], semnótēs [reverence]
(Kittel, Friedrich & Bromiley, 1985).

References:

Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.) (919). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (1010). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.

Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 2: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (221). New York: United Bible Societies.

Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

Whatever is True

Yesterday, I introduced a blog series on Phil. 4:8. We will be examining the Greek word for each of the English nouns after the famous "Whatever is" statements in Phil. 4:8.

The first "whatever is" statement is: "Finally, brethren, whatever is true,..."

The Greek word for the English word "true" is ἀληθής (alēthḗs). This means to be 'without a lie' (Zodhiates, 2000).


The word appears in the New Testament 26 times, 21 of which the word simply means 'true.'

3 Times it occurs as 'truthful.' It also occurs once as 'truly' in (Jn. 4:18) and once as 'real' in Acts 12:9, describing that what the Angles had done was real and not a vision or something fake.



Here are some of the definitions for this Greek word in context of Phil 4:8 via some of the popular and established Bible Dictionaries:


True in conduct, sincere, upright, honest and just (Zodhiates, 2000).

Not concealing, instead truthful (Strong, 2009).

Honest, truthful, having integrity (Mt 22:16) (Swanson, 1997).

Consistently “upright,” (Kittel, 1964).



There are two themes that catch my eye. First, is the idea of merely living honest and truthful. The second is living 'upright.' Living true is not just about living honestly, even many atheists attempt to live honest and truthfully. What is interesting is that to be 'true' according to his passage is also to live true to a moral standard, to live 'upright.' I believe Paul had this in mind when he chose this Greek word but we will be looking more at the other Greek words in this verse as the series continues and I believe that the moral upright standard will continue to be a theme. As with all of Paul's theology, righteousness is so important. Living upright is one of the facets to righteousness.



How do we live this way?

Think truthfully. Dwell on things that are true. Live honestly. I get the strong sense from my studies that we are to live as valid Christians (Beasley-Murray, 2002, p. 129). By this we are to actually be real about every aspect of our lives. We are to be honest and truthful in all things. We are to honor Christ with our words, actions, thoughts and behaviors. In every way we are to be upright and authentic. We are to be true saints, true followers of Christ, true scholars of the Word and true in every step we take. We need Christ to help us as we walk honestly at every step of the way.

Resources:

Beasley-Murray, G. R. (2002). Vol. 36: John. Word Biblical Commentary (129). Dallas: Word,

                   Incorporated.

Vol. 1: Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964- (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G.
                    Friedrich, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (248). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Strong, J. (2009). Vol. 1: A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The
                    Hebrew Bible (9–10). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New
                      Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.).
                     Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. (Php 4:8, NASB)

This verse has had a lot of impact on me in my life. For the next few weeks, I will looking at each of the Greek words Paul uses in this passage:

Finally, brethren, whatever is true (αληθη), whatever is honorable (σεμνα), whatever is right (δικαια), 

whatever is pure (αγνα), whatever is lovely (προσφιλη), whatever is of good repute(ευφημα), if there is any excellence (αρετη) and if anything worthy of praise (επαινος), dwell on these things.

Newberry, T., & Berry, G. R. (2004). The interlinear literal translation of the Greek New Testament (Php 4:8). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

I'll be looking closely at these Greek Words and explaining how we are to be living with this information.

Baseball Hall of Fame Rant

On Wednesday January 9th 2013, The Baseball Writers' Association of America voted absolutely no one into the Hall of Fame for 2013.
It was the first time since 1996  that the writers elected no one in.
Some of the people on the list were not voted on by the voters due to substance abuse, such as steroids. Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Rafeael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire are big names that were mentioned in official reports for steroid-use like the Mitchell Report.

I am upset because I think that there were players who earned the Hall of Fame and who were are not at all associated with substance abuse, yet they also were excluded this year.  Craig Biggio,Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell specially, in my mind, had amazing careers, Hall of Fame worthy, but this year they did not get in.

Maybe in the next few years they will get in. And I am probably making a big deal out of nothings, since many if not all of those mentioned in this post will get in the Hall, just not this year. The honest truth is that we will never really ever know who did and who did not use steroids or any other substances.
And the truth also is that these people, their history, records and their substance abuse is all a part of history. We cannot change it now, but we sure as heck better remember it.
Also, in my own mind, there will always be something new that the MLB will have to find and remove, players will always find the new (undetected advantage) whether it is substances and supplements or anything else, to help them be the best players they can be.

Part of me was just upset to see this elitist group of privileged writer sobs, put their noses in the air and say "NO." It is weird that they are still an electoral power in this modern age....why can't the fans, media and players have any say about who gets into the Hall?

Eagles in the Bible

There are over 8,000 kinds of birds. Approximately 400 varieties live in Israel, and Scripture mentions about 40. Modern scientists classify animals on the basis of what they look like inside and out. However, the biblical writers generally classified animals according to where the animals lived. Thus, in the Bible, bats are listed with birds as creatures of the air (Leviticus 11:19; Deuteronomy 14:18)(Visual Bible Alive).

The American English word "eagle" appears about 30 times (depending on the translation) in most English Bibles. The Hebrew word, "nešer," appears 26 times in the Old Testament. It is described as a large, carnivorous bird of prey known for its long feathers, wings, speed, power in flight, and keen eyesight (2 Sam. 1:23; Ps. 103:5; Isa. 40:31)(Baker & Carpenter, 2003).

It has been described as a “great vulture” in Lev 11:13 and “vulture” in Prov 30:17 and Mic 1:16, RSV “vulture” in the text once only, for the Heb expression “sons of the eagle” (Prov 30:17). Many translators have been satisfied with the term “eagle” because of the finer traits of strength, swiftness, and care of the young are cited, but where the eating of carrion or “baldness” (see Mic 1:16) is involved, a lesser breed of bird seems to be in order. Actually, not only did the Semitic languages tend to lump the large soaring birds into one family but the Encyclopedia Britannica defines “eagle” as inclusive of several day-flying birds of prey comprising, along with hawks, harriers and old world vultures, the family Acciptridae (Fisher, 1999).

This idea of renewal and strength in eagles is especially popularized by Is. 40: 31: Yet those who 1wait for the LORD Will again new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
And Ps. 103:5: [God] satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

I have been really curious lately about Eagles in the Bible. I have always wondered if the Biblical authors actually saw birds similar to eagles that you and I are familiar with. Ultimately it is near impossible to prove one way or the other but many sources that I have been reading recently have made some good points.
1. There is a myth out there that says that supposes that this bird (eagle or not) was a bird that had some extreme renewal habits: -going off and plucking its feathers and not being able to fly for about five months. The image has even been added that the beak and claws are knocked off and then grow back during that time, giving them another 10 or so more years to their life. I have been trying to find proof of that, and am not finding it. Most Eagle authorities state that that would not happen, because the bird would die during that time with no flight feathers or beak or claws (Lee, 2009).
A second source along with the American Bald Eagle Organization also makes the point that Eagles do not undergo the process of rebirth described in the myth/legend commonly used as a biblical metaphor (Christensen, 2012). Although there are some alternatives that still make the Bible true: It is NOT an eagle but a different bird. Or it is an eagle (see below) that goes through a different kind of renewal than the one described in the myth (see: Lee, 2009).
2.A reasonable suggestion that it is not actually an eagle but an Old World Vulture: a Griffon Vulture(The Wonder of Birds).

(Photo from Cortijada Los Gazquez).











3. In any case the eagle is known for catching its young on its wings after pushing them out of the nest....this is a great strategy to teach the young ones how to fly. So this bird, eagle or not could have demonstrated a similar process.

Other interesting eagle/vulture related discussions from the Bible: The Bible mentions the eagle’s strength and invincibility often with reference to powerful nations attacking Israel. The prophet Ezekiel described Nebuchadnezzar as an eagle (Ezekiel 17:3). The eagle builds its nest on inaccessible mountain peaks or at the top of the tallest trees, a fact noted by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 49:16; compare to Job 39:27-28; Obadiah 1:4). Eagles are devoted to their offspring and train them with great care in the art of flying. Some commentators interpret Exodus 19:4 and Deuteronomy 32:11 as evidence of the eagle’s practice of catching its young on its wings. Confronted by its impressive qualities, biblical authors observed the eagle with awe and wonder (Job 39:27-30; Proverbs 30:18-19). Since the vulture, like the eagle, was a symbol of sovereignty and domination in the ancient Near East, some gods were represented as vultures (Visual Bible Alive).
Here is a good site that mentions all of the verses where "Eagle" is used in the Bible: http://www.watchmanbiblestudy.com/biblestudies/Definitions/Eagles.htm


Baker, W., & Carpenter, E. E. (2003). The complete word study dictionary: Old Testament (760). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

Christensen, B. M., (2012). "Rebirth Of The Eagle Hoax." From Hoax-Slayer. Accessed Sept. 8th 2012 from http://www.hoax-slayer.com/rebirth-of-the-eagle-hoax.shtml.

Cortijada Los Gazquez. http://www.losgazquez.com/blog/?p=37

Fisher, M. C. (1999). 1437 נֶשֶׁר. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (606–607). Chicago: Moody Press.

"History of The Griffon Vulture in the Bible." The Wonder of Birds http://www.thewonderofbirds.com/griffon-vulture/nests.htm

Lee. (2009). "Birds of the Bible – Eagle’s Renewal" from Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus assessed on Sept. 8th 2012 from http://leesbird.com/2009/09/25/b-o-b-eagle-renewal/

New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Ps 103:5). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

"Birds." Visual Bible Alive. Accessed on Sept. 8th 2012 from http://www.visualbiblealive.com/resources.php?encyc_id=19&img_id=58130&action=encyclopedia&frame=divEncyc

Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.