The Phrase "ap' arti" in Mt. 26:64

[John Reece]

Consider the following facts re the translation of the Greek phrase ap arti in Matthew 26:

Matthew 26:59-66
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus, however false, on which they might have him executed. But they could not find any, though several lying witnesses come forward. Eventually two came forward and made a statement, 'This man said, "I have power to destroy the Temple of God and in three days build it up."' The high priest then rose and said to him, 'Have you no answer to that? What is this evidence these men are bringing against you?' But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, 'I put you on oath by the living God to tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.' Jesus answered him, 'It is you who say it. But, I tell you that from this time onward (ap' arti) you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.' Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, 'He has blasphemed. What need of witnesses have we now? There! You have just heard the blasphemy. What is your opinion?' They answered, 'He deserves to die.' (NJB)

The high priest understood exactly what Jesus was saying by way of allusion to the prophetic scriptures in Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13: He (Jesus) is the One referred to in the prophecy of the Messiah being seated at the right hand of God (Psalm 110:1). He is the Son of man ... coming on the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13).

That assertion greatly offended the high priest.

The force of the phrase rendered from this time onward (ap' arti) is a bit too much for some modern translators to accept, so they have altered the meaning (by blurring to sense of ap' arti) to fit certain preconceptions.

Jesus indicated that he was the fulfillment of Daniel 7:13-14. Modern translators are not offended (as were the rulers of the Jews circa AD 30) by Jesus' assertion that Daniel 7:13-14 is fulfilled in him. But some have not been able to translate the clear force of Jesus' specification of the time of fulfillment of Daniel 7:13-14 - and the nature of the fulfillment which the time specification declared by Jesus necessarily indicates.

Therefore there is a blurred rendering of ap' arti in the NASB and in the NIV of Matthew 26:64 (the NJB quote above is accurate).

The prepositional phrase ap’ arti occurs six times in the New Testament. Below is a list of how the NASB and the NIV translate the phrase ap' arti in each of the six verses.

· Matthew 23:39 - -- NASB: from now on --------- NIV: again
· Matthew 26:29 ---- NASB: from now on --------- NIV: from now on
· Matthew 26:64 ---- NASB: hereafter ----------- NIV: in the future
· John 13:19 -------- NASB: from now on --------- NIV: from now on
· John 14:7 --------- NASB: from now on --------- NIV: from now on
· Revelation 14:13 -- NASB: from now on --------- NIV: from now on

Luke 22:69 is Luke's account of the same statement made by Jesus on the same occasion as the one reported in Matthew 26:64. The only significant difference in the Greek text between the two parallel accounts is that Luke 22:69 does not include the allusion to Daniel 7:13 which is in Matthew 26:64.

What is remarkable about a comparison of the two verses is the arbitrary difference in the predicted time of fulfillment between Luke 22:69 and Matthew 26:64, not in the meaning of Greek text but in the rendering of the Greek text in the NASB and in the NIV.

Because the same statement on the same occasion is presented in these two scripture verses, one would expect the same sense to be rendered in both verses.

Notice how both the NASB and the NIV render a reference to time in Matthew 26:64 (hereafter NASB; in the future - NIV) which is quite different from the reference to time which they render in Luke 22:69 -

But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God (NASB).

But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God (NIV).

Why the difference in the rendering of Matthew 26:64 and Luke 22:69 (which refer to the same saying of Jesus, except for the omission of the allusion to Daniel 7:13 in Luke 22:69)? Reason: Rendering in a clear way the true sense of ap' arti in Matthew 26:64 (as the NJB does in the quote in the heading above) would represent Jesus as saying that Daniel 7:13 would be fulfilled in the immediate future. That the translators could not accept as being true, because that contradicts the premillennial presupposition, which is that Daniel 7:13 refers to a yet future (as of the dawning of the 21st century AD) return of Christ to earth to "set up the consummated kingdom" after (yet in our future) "receiving the kingdom at the consummation, when his reign or kingdom becomes direct, immediate, uncontested and universal." The words in quotes are those of D.A. Carson in The Expositor's Bible Commentary (1984), volume 8, page 506. Carson's comments are representative of the premillennial mindset which he shares with the translators of the NASB and the NIV, but they are not representative of the sense of ap' arti in Matthew 26:64.

How can the sense of ap' arti in Matthew 26:64 be ascertained?

One way is to consider the force of the synonymous phrase in the parallel passage of Luke 22:69 - "But from now on (apo tou nun) the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."

According to C.C. Torrey, Professor of Semitic Languages at Yale University, in Documents of the Primitive Church (1941), pages 84-85, "The ap' arti of Matt. renders the same word that in Luke is rendered by apo tou nun, namely the Aramaic word meaning "'straightway', 'very soon', 'in the immediate future'." The sense of the Aramaic word as defined by Torrey and rendered by both ap' arti and apo tou nun is exactly the sense meant by Jesus.

In Matthew 26:64 ap' arti = apo (i.e., the word rendered from in the phrase from now on in Luke 22:69 et. al.) with the o elided before an initial vowel in the following word (arti ), and arti is a synonym for nun = now

Abbott-Smith's Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament gives this definition for arti: "adv. of coincidence, denoting strictly present time, as contrasted with past or future, just, just now, this moment."

To understand the sense of ap' arti in Matthew 26:64, look at the above list of NASB renderings in the 5 verses other than Matthew 26:64 in which ap' arti occurs, and the NASB rendering of the synonymous apo tou nun in Luke 22:69.

In every verse you see the rendering from now on. To render the phrase ap’ arti in any less clear way in Matthew 26:64 is to purposely blur and obscure the import of the text, in the interest of faithfulness to a presupposition rather than to the explicit sense of the scripture.

Here are two comments happily devoid of any obfuscation of the sense of ap’ arti in Matthew 26:64:

(1) "Coming on the clouds of heaven (together with the phrase 'the Son of man') is a clear allusion to Daniel 7:13, already similarly alluded to in 24:3...... We have seen that its natural application in terms of its Old Testament source is the vindication and enthronement of the Son of Man in heaven, not to a descent to earth. It is therefore in this verse a parallel expression to 'seated at the right hand of Power'; the two phrases refer to the same exalted state, not to two successive situations or events. In this verse the appropriateness of this interpretation is underlined by the fact that this is to be true 'from now on' (hereafter is a quite misleading rendering of the more specific phrase ap’ arti, which, as in 23:39 and 26:29, denotes a new period beginning ) from now. Indeed it is something which Jesus' inquisitors themselves will see (an echo of Zc. 12:10, as in 24:30?), for it will quickly become apparent in the events of even the next few weeks (not to mention the subsequent growth of the church) that the 'blasphemer' they thought they had disposed of is in fact now in the position of supreme authority." - R. T. France, Matthew (TNTC), page 381.

(2) "from now on (ap' arti) ... The Greek is quite emphatic. Those listening to Jesus are asked to see in the person surrounded by enemies The-Man-in-glory, the cloud rider of Dan. 7:13ff. (cf. also Ps. cx 1). In a very real sense this is the climax of all that Matthew's tradition has so carefully preserved for us in the sayings about the Man. Though Jesus does not say, "You will see me," the identification is plain enough to his hearers." - William F. Albright, The Anchor Bible: Matthew, page 333.

[Athanasius]

John,

When do you see these words as being fulfilled? Immediately following the ascension? At Pentecost? In the growth of the church? At 70 AD? In the future? Either way, there is a gap between the time that the words were spoken and the complete fulfillment of them. I can accept these words as marking the beginning of a new period, but even so, there is an intervening time between the inauguration of that period and the fulfillment of the events which are to occur in it.

[John Reece]

Athanasius,

When do you see these words as being fulfilled?

Within the time frame of the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension - an inseparably related complex which was the fulfillment of Daniel 7:13-14.

[Athanasius]

Thanks for letting me know. It is good to know that you are consistent! If you believe that "hereafter" is an incorrect translation, and take "from this time onward" seriously, I suppose you must include within that complex the immediate events leading up to the crucifixion.

How do you harmonize this view with Acts 1:11, which indicates that He will come in the clouds of Heaven, another reference to Daniel 7:13?

Acts 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Daniel 7:13-14 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

[John Reece]

Athanasius

How do you harmonize this view with Acts 1:11, which indicates that He will come in the clouds of Heaven, another reference to Daniel 7:13?

I do not harmonize Jesus' words in Matthew 26:64 with the words of the angel in Acts 1:11.

They are not the same, and they are in different contexts.

I wrote an exegesis of Acts 1:9-11 a few years ago, which is posted on my web page (http://www.john.reece.us). I have not thought about the text since I wrote the article.

[John Reece]

My, my, how my memory fails me! I'll have to double check myself more carefully before posting responses...

I transformed "two men" into one "angel" in the last post above.

My excuse is old age and the effects of having quit reading the Bible a number of years ago. I read it so much in earlier years I became burned out.

But I feel I'm among friends who will not expect me to be perfect.

[The Curtmudgeon]

03-04-2003 @ 07:47 PM
John Reece:
I wrote an exegesis of Acts 1:9-11 a few years ago, which is posted on my web page (http://www.john.reece.us). I have not thought about the text since I wrote the article.

John, please check and correct that link if you will: I get 'page not found' when I click on it. Thanx.

The (I'd really like to read it) Curtmudgeon

[John Reece]

Curtmudgeon,

John, please check and correct that link if you will: I get 'page not found' when I click on it. Thanx.

Thanks for catching that, Curtmudgeon.

I had inadvertantly inserted a dot between my first and last name. Here is the corrected link:

http://www.johnreece.us

Please let me know of any errors you may find, or anything that requires a more clear explanation.

Blessings,

John

[John Reece]

John, please check and correct that link if you will: I get 'page not found' when I click on it. Thanx.

The (I'd really like to read it) Curtmudgeon

I completely eliminated my web page a while back ― it no longer exists; that is the current and permanent reason the page cannot be found.