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Luke 17:20-21

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  • Luke 17:20-21

    Please: Do not post any cabala in this thread.

    Text: Luke 17:20-21 (NA27):
    20 Ἐπερωτηθεὶς δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν Φαρισαίων πότε ἔρχεται ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς καὶ εἶπεν· οὐκ ἔρχεται ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ μετὰ παρατηρήσεως, 21 οὐδὲ ἐροῦσιν· ἰδοὺ ὧδε ἤ· ἐκεῖ, ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν.

    Transliteration (Accordance):
    20 Eperōtētheis de hypo tōn Pharisaiōn pote erchetai hē basileia tou theou apekrithē autois kai eipen; ouk erchetai hē basileia tou theou meta paratērēseōs, 21 oude erousin; idou hōde ē; ekei, idou gar hē basileia tou theou entos hymōn estin.

    Translation (NKJV):
    20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

    Grammatical Analysis (Zerwick):
    ἐπερωτηθείς : being asked, aorist passive participle of ἐπερωτάω ask (a question).
    πότε : as indirect interrogative when.
    ἀπεκρίθη : aorist of ἀποκρίνομαι answer.
    παρατήρησις : (< παρατηρέω watch closely) close observation, i.e. the Kingdom will not come with watching, or the Kingdom is not susceptible of observation.
    ἐροῦσιν : future of λέγω say ; in the light of verse 23 understand "they will not (know to) say (with truth).
    ἐντός : within, hence ἐντὸς ὑμῶν within you, i.e. in your hearts. In view of the fact Christ was addressing the Pharisees modern exegetes generally prefer to translate "among" but this meaning is elsewhere unknown. Secular and patristic evidence has been adduced (by C. H. Roberts) for an extension of the meaning "within", viz. in your hands (referring to that for which one is responsible), in your power of choice (cf "it lies with you"), i.e. from the human side the Kingdom is yours if you choose it, if you will it.

    I have read many commentaries on the text. The following are the two that I find to be most persuasive.

    From Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Zondervan reprint from the 4th edition of the translation from the second French edition by E. W. Shalders printed by T. and T. Clark in 1887), by Frederick Louis Godet (via Accordance):
    1st. verses 20 and 21. The Spirituality of the Kingdom.—“And when He was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them, and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. 21. Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”—It is known with what impatience the Pharisees waited for the manifestations of the Messianic kingdom. It is natural that they should desire to know the opinion of Jesus on the subject. Besides, they would have been glad to embarrass Him in the matter, or to drag from Him some heresy. Their question rested on a purely external view of this divine kingdom; His advent appeared to their mind as a great and sudden dramatic act. In the gospel point of view, this expectation is certainly not altogether false; but humanity must be prepared for the new external and divine state of things by a spiritual work wrought in the depths of the heart; and it is this internal advent which Jesus thinks good to put first in relief before such interlocutors. The side of the truth which He thinks proper to set forth is, as usual, that which is mistaken by the parties addressing Him. To the Pharisee Nicodemus, who came to Him with a question analogous to that which His confrères are now putting, Jesus replies exactly in the same way. The expression: μετὰ παρατηρήσεως, in such a way as to be observed, relates to the observation of objects falling under the senses. The present ἔρχεται, cometh, is that of the idea. Now, since the kingdom is not established in a visible manner, it might happen that it should be present without men suspecting it (11:20). And this is exactly the case (11:20: has surprised you).

    Lo here, lo there,—these words express the impression of those who think they see it coming; Jesus puts in opposition to them His own behold. This last relates to the surprise which should be felt by His hearers on learning that the kingdom is already present. The words ἐντὸς ὑμῶν are explained by almost all modern interpreters in the sense of, in the midst of you. Philologically this meaning is possible; it may be harmonized with the γάρ. But the verb ἐστιν [is] would in this case necessarily require to be put before the regimen; for this verb is would have the emphasis, “it is really present.” The idea among you would be secondary. If the regimen ἐντὸς ὑμῶν has the emphasis (and its place proves that it has), it can only be because these words contain the reason introduced by for. They should therefore serve to prove that the kingdom of God may have come without its coming being remarked; and this is what follows from its internal, spiritual nature. The meaning of this regimen is therefore, within you. Besides, the preposition ἐντός, within, always includes a contrast to the idea without. If, therefore, we give to it here the meaning of among, we must still suppose an understood contrast, that between the Jews as people within, and the Gentiles as people without. There is nothing in the context giving rise to such an antithesis. In giving to ἐντός the meaning within, we are led back to the idea expressed in the answer of Jesus to Nicodemus: “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” which confirms our explanation.

    From Word Pictures in the New Testament (Harper & Brothers, 1930), by Archibald Thomas Robertson:
    20. With observation (meta paratēseōs). Late Greek word for paratēreō, to watch closely. Only here in the N.T. Medical writers use it of watching symptoms of disease. It is used also of close astronomical observations. But close watching of external phenomena will not reveal the signs of the kingdom of God.

    21. Within you (entos humōn). This is the obvious, and, I think, the necessary meaning of entos. The examples cited of the use of entos in Xenophon and Plato where entos means "among" do not bear that out when investigated. Field (Ot. Norv.) "contends that there is no clear instance of entos in the sense of among" (Bruce), and rightly so. What Jesus says to the Pharisees is that they, as others, are to look for the kingdom of God within themselves, not in outward displays and supernatural manifestations. It is not a localized display "Here" or "There." It is in this sense that in Luke 11:20 Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God as "come upon you" (ephthasen eph' humās), speaking to Pharisees. The only other instance of entos in the New Testament (Matt. 23:26) necessarily means "within" ("the inside of the cup"). There is, beside, the use of entos meaning "within" in the Oxyrhynchus Papyrus saying of Jesus of the Third Century (Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 426) which is interesting: "The kingdom of heaven is within you" (entos humōn) as here in Luke 17:21).

    To be continued...
    Last edited by John Reece; 09-06-2015, 01:17 PM.

  • #2
    Matthew 23:26

    In the post above the point was made that in the only other occurrence of ἐντός (entos) in the New Testament the meaning is "within".

    Here is the text of Matthew 23:26:
    Greek: Φαρισαῖε τυφλέ, καθάρισον πρῶτον τὸ ἐντὸς τοῦ ποτηρίου, ἵνα γένηται καὶ τὸ ἐκτὸς αὐτοῦ καθαρόν.
    (Pharisaie typhle, katharison prōton to entos tou potēriou, hina genētai kai to ektos autou katharon.)
    NRSV: You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.

    Let's complete a survey of all the occurrences of ἐντὸς (entos) in the entire Bible by including all the occurrences in the Greek Old Testament (LXX); the English translations are that of A New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS: Oxford, 2007).
    1Mac. 4:48 καὶ ᾠκοδόμησαν τὰ ἅγια καὶ τὰ ἐντὸς τοῦ οἴκου καὶ τὰς αὐλὰς ἡγίασαν
    (kai ō̧kodomēsan ta hagia kai ta entos tou oikou kai tas aulas hēgiasan)
    NETS: And they built the holy places and the inner areas of the house and sanctified the courts.

    Psa. 38[39]:4 ἐθερμάνθη ἡ καρδία μου ἐντός μου καὶ ἐν τῇ μελέτῃ μου ἐκκαυθήσεται πῦρ ἐλάλησα ἐν γλώσσῃ μου
    (ethermanthē hē kardia mou entos mou kai en tȩ̄ meletȩ̄ mou ekkauthēsetai pyr elalēsa en glōssȩ̄ mou)
    NETS: my heart became hot within me. And in my musings a fire will burn, I spoke with my tongue.

    Psa. 102[3]:1 τῷ Δαυιδ εὐλόγει ἡ ψυχή μου τὸν κύριον καί πάντα τὰ ἐντός μου τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ
    (tō̧ Dauid eulogei hē psychē mou ton kyrion kai panta ta entos mou to onoma to hagion autou)
    NETS: Pertaining to David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me his holy name.

    Psa. 108[9]:22 ῥῦσαί με ὅτι πτωχὸς καὶ πένης ἐγώ εἰμι καὶ ἡ καρδία μου τετάρακται ἐντός μου
    (rhysai me hoti ptōchos kai penēs egō eimi kai hē kardia mou tetaraktai entos mou)
    NETS: Rescue me, because poor and needy I am, and my heart is troubled within me.

    Song 3:10 στύλους αὐτοῦ ἐποίησεν ἀργύριον καὶ ἀνάκλιτον αὐτοῦ χρύσεον ἐπίβασις αὐτοῦ πορφυρᾶ ἐντὸς αὐτοῦ λιθόστρωτον ἀγάπην ἀπὸ θυγατέρων Ιερουσαλημ
    (stylous autou epoiēsen argyrion kai anakliton autou chryseon epibasis autou porphyra entos autou lithostrōton agapēn apo thygaterōn Ierousalēm)
    NETS: He made its posts silver, its back gold, its step purple, its interior was inlaid with stone, love from Jerusalem's daughters.

    Sir. 19:26 ἔστιν πονηρευόμενος συγκεκυφὼς μελανίᾳ καὶ τὰ ἐντὸς αὐτοῦ πλήρη δόλου
    (estin ponēreuomenos sygkekyphōs melania̧ kai ta entos autou plērē dolou)
    NETS: There is one who acts wickedly, bent down with blackness, and what is inside him is full of treachery.

    Is. 16:11 διὰ τοῦτο ἡ κοιλία μου ἐπὶ Μωαβ ὡς κιθάρα ἠχήσει καὶ τὰ ἐντός μου ὡσεὶ τεῖχος ὃ ἐνεκαίνισας
    (dia touto hē koilia mou epi Mōab hōs kithara ēchēsei kai ta entos mou hōsei teichos ho enekainisas)
    NETS: Therefore my belly will resound like a lyre upon Moab, and my inward parts will be like a wall that you have made new.

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