Blessed Are the Meek

[John Reece]

This is a non-debate thread.

Please do not post any cabala in this thread.

Irenic discussion is welcome in this thread.

As background for this thread, consider Psalm 37 (NRSV):

[Cow Poke]

I just wanted to say I appreciate your diligence, John. Even though I don't interact much, I do enjoy reading your posts.

[John Reece]

I just wanted to say I appreciate your diligence, John. Even though I don't interact much, I do enjoy reading your posts.

I was thinking about you, Cow Poke (along with others), when I put up the OP ― 'looking foreword to your participation in this thread, which is why I edited the OP to add "irenic discussion is welcome in this thread".

"The Meek" is the first topic I began with when I developed my own website before TWeb was originated more than a decade ago.

I have forgotten the name of my old, now defunct, website; however, Dee Dee discovered it on the internet and liked what she read there enough to invite me to come to TWeb within a month after she and a gang of friends started the old TWeb site.

TWeb was started in Jan 2003, and Dee Dee found my website in Feb 2003.

I eventually took my website down to devote myself to posting in the Biblical Languages forum here.

I did not have the technological expertise to do multiple pages or to run an interactive site ― it was all a massive one page conglomeration that had no mechanism for anyone else to participate, so I was happy to drop it in favor of a site where I could leave all the techno-savvy work to others who know how to do such.

[Truthseeker]

What are some of the questions that you hope this thread will explore?

[John Reece]

What are some of the questions that you hope this thread will explore?

Who are the meek?

How will the meek inherit the earth?

[Cow Poke]

John.... I had a friend who was a really big powerful man - he was a Lt. Commander in the Navy, and we in the process of going into the Navy Chaplaincy. He had a big booming voice, but was an absolute perfect gentleman. He liked to describe "meek" as "power under control. He emphasized it was not "the weak" or the "timid", but, as I said, "power under control".

How does that strike you? Is that allowed in the language?

[Christianbookworm]

I agree. It would be like if someone didn't fight back not because they were a wimp, but the provocateur wasn't worth it.

[Cow Poke]

The illustration I've heard - odd though it might be - comes from a demonstration on both the strength and agility of a Clydesdale horse. I think there's a video on youtube somewhere of this huge Clydesdale putting it's hoof down on an egg, rolling the egg, but not breaking it. "power under control". I've often wondered if that can actually be supported by the language.

[Zymologist]

Wasn't Moses described as the meekest man alive in his day?

[John Reece]

John.... I had a friend who was a really big powerful man - he was a Lt. Commander in the Navy, and we in the process of going into the Navy Chaplaincy. He had a big booming voice, but was an absolute perfect gentleman. He liked to describe "meek" as "power under control. He emphasized it was not "the weak" or the "timid", but, as I said, "power under control".

How does that strike you? Is that allowed in the language?

Excellent way of expressing what is quite definitely allowed in the language.

The illustration I've heard - odd though it might be - comes from a demonstration on both the strength and agility of a Clydesdale horse. I think there's a video on youtube somewhere of this huge Clydesdale putting it's hoof down on an egg, rolling the egg, but not breaking it. "power under control". I've often wondered if that can actually be supported by the language.

Yes, it can be supported not only in the language, but also in the context of the biblical narratives.

I will have more to say after a much needed night's rest ― if a real scholar does not beat me to it twixt now and then.

[Cow Poke]

I will have more to say after a much needed night's rest.

Thanks. Sleep well, my friend.

[John Reece]

Wasn't Moses described as the meekest man alive in his day?

Yes; that's a key factor in my exegesis.

[Paprika]

Yes; that's a key factor in my exegesis.

Given how extensively James quotes from the Sermon on the Mount, I think this should also be relevant:

has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

[John Reece]

Given how extensively James quotes from the Sermon on the Mount, I think this should also be relevant:

Interesting point. Thanks.

[John Reece]

The Meek

The Greek word rendered "meek" in the relevant texts (LXX and NT) in this thread is πραϋς (praus), which in the LXX is used for עָנָו (ʿānāw) in Numbers 12:3 and Psalm 37:11.

Here is the entry for עָנָו (ʿānāw) in William A. Holladay's A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of The Old Testament (E. J. Brill and Eerdmans, 1971):

עָנָו (ʿānāw): ... (one who understands himself to be) low, humble, gentle (before God): Numbers 12:3, often in Psalms.

More later...