[Corpus-Paul] I cor 16:22

Jim West jwest at highland.net
Wed May 2 12:19:52 EDT 2007


In connection with some work I'm doing on Galatians, I happened upon 
this note in Luther's commentary on that great book:

“If anyone has no love for the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, 
μαράνα θά, ” which Burgensis says is the worst kind of curse among the 
Hebrews, whereas our scholars understand μαράνα θά as “the Lord is 
coming,” though mistakenly, in my opinion."

I had not, that I recall, heard anyone anywhere else suggest that 
maranatha is a curse!  It does make a bit of sense in its connection to 
anathema (and it always seemed a bit odd to me that the two aramaic 
words were side by side as curse / blessing).

Anyone have any thoughts?  Luther was awfully smart- but he could be 
wrong.  On the other hand, he could be right.  And if he is...  well 
that's something worth discussing.


-- 
Jim West, ThD

http://drjewest.googlepages.com/  -- Biblical Studies Resources
http://drjimwest.wordpress.com  -- Weblog


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