Nida: familiar forms of address

Monday, November 27, 2017
Meditation:
    “But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.”
    —Isaiah 41:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For the ancient philosopher and priest of esoteric cults, steeped in the tradition of Classical Greek, the grammatical forms in the Lord’s Prayer would seem almost rude. One does not find the optative forms of polite petition so characteristic of elaborate requests made to earthly and heavenly potentates. Rather than employing such august forms, the Christians made their requests to God in what seem to be blunt imperatives. This does not mean that Christians lacked respect for their heavenly father, but it does mean that they were consistent with a new understanding of Him. In the tens of thousands of papyri fragments which have been rescued from the rubbish heaps of the ancient Greek world, one finds the imperative forms used constantly between members of a family. When the Christians addressed God as “Father,” it was perfectly natural therefore for them to talk to Him as intimately as they would to their own father. Unfortunately, the history of our own English language has almost reversed this process. Originally, men used “thou” and “thee” in prayer because it was the appropriate familiar form of address; but now these words have become relegated to prayer alone.
    ... Eugene A. Nida (1914-2011), God’s Word in Man’s Language, New York: Harper, 1952, p. 68 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 41:8-9; Matt. 6:7,9-13; Luke 11:2-10; Gal. 4:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have opened the door to friendship with God. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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