Commentary for (Acts XIV, 6-18 ; John VII, 14-30)

Oleksandr Zhabenko 🇬🇧
Christ Is Risen!
🌞

Since in the works published at the following links:
https://churchandsociety.org.ua/pdf/projects/zbirnyk.pdf
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/17082024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/27112024.html
it is written that the use of prepositions is important for the correct understanding of important and actual issues, in particular the issue of power, I am writing commentaries on the use of these prepositions. As a piece of advice on how to read the text, you can read the verse in translation and/or in the original (if you have the opportunity), and then the commentary on prepositions here. Next, you need to understand which part of the verse the commentary refers to, and consider what it affirms — or less often, denies — that is essential to understanding. This thoughtful reading helps to deepen understanding and protects against the mistakes mentioned above.

Liturgy:
(Acts XIV, 6-18 )
Acts XIV, 6 — εἰς τὰς πόλεις τῆς Λυκαονίας Λύστραν καὶ Δέρβην καὶ τὴν περίχωρον - eis tas poleis tes Lykaonias Lystran kai Derben kai ten perikhoron - 'to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and the neighbouring ones. Where to.

Acts XIV, 8 — “ἐν Λύστροις - en Lystrois - in Lystra. Here it is in the plural. The city is used either in the singular or in the plural. Where. 'χωλὸς ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς αὐτοῦ' - kholos ek koilias metros autou - ‘lame from the womb of his mother’. The preposition ek indicates here that it refers to origin and birth (here), i.e. a congenital defect.

Acts XIV, 14 — εἰς τὸν ὄχλον - eis ton okhlon - into the crowd. Where to.

Acts XIV, 15 — ‘ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν ματαίων ἐπιστρέφειν ἐπὶ θεὸν ζῶντα’ - ‘apo touton ton mataion epistrephein epi theon zonta’ - ‘from these vanities to return back to the Living God’. The preposition apo indicates that one should abandon idolatry altogether, completely. The preposition epi indicates that it is a matter of turning one's eyes to God, i.e. to stop looking at idols and gods and start looking at the true God and the Living One. 'πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς' - ‘panta ta en autois’ - ‘all that are in them’. This refers to creatures.

Acts XIV, 16 — ἐν ταῖς παρῳχημέναις γενεαῖς - en tais parokhemenais geneais - in the past generations. That is, in the times of past generations. It is not about stopping God's care now, but about emphasising its duration, significance and faithfulness of God (the Hellenistic Gentiles of that time did not have a deep understanding of progress, and mostly considered only the past to be ‘golden’).

For more on the reading, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/10052023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/29052024.html

(John VII, 14-30)
John VII, 14 — εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν - eis to hieron - into the (Jerusalem) temple. Where to.

John VII, 17 — πότερον ἐκ θεοῦ ἐστὶν ἢ ἐγὼ ἀπ ἐμαυτοῦ λαλῶ' - poteron ek theou estin he ego ap hemautou lalo - whether the teaching is from God or whether I speak from Myself. The preposition ‘ek’ indicates here the origin of the teaching, i.e. whether Christ really teaches according to God's will. The preposition apo in its form before the following vowel indicates that the point is that the words can be (here they are not) generally separate from the source, can be considered independently, separately, with much more objectivation. See also the detailed analysis of the meaning of ‘from Myself’ in the Gospel of John in relation to the Hypostases of the Trinity (in particular, John V, 19, John XVI, 13, and John XVIII, 34):
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/30042025.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/18042025.html
Here I will quote the first link in full (the necessary part).
The preposition 'apo' in its form before the following vowel indicates here that the actions are those which can be perceived and cognised apart from the Son of God Himself, i.e. they are actions towards creation and not within the Trinity: It means that the Son in the Trinity, in the relationship within the Holy Trinity, can act, clearly and distinctly manifesting His Hypostasis, that He is the Son, not the Father or the Holy Spirit, and He Himself ‘sees’ what and how the Father creates (do), this vision is His own, ‘His own for Himself’, whereas here it refers only to actions concerning creation. In other words, only creation is referred to here — and with regard to the relationship of the Hypostases within the Trinity, one can see ‘the Son from Himself’ (but then it is better to use the ancient Greek koine ek heautou, since it is impossible then and here to somehow ‘objectivate’ the actions of the Hypostasis from the Hypostasis Himself directly, so apo is inappropriate here). Since none of the Hypostases of God does anything outside the Trinity without prior concordance within the Trinity, this is a way of seeing the richness of God's relationships - within the Trinity, the Hypostases both counsel and can act in broader contexts, while in creation, ‘out there,’ their actions are more closely linked to each other. Consider, for example, the creation of the human being. In the Trinity, God speaks to the other Hypostases about the creation of the human being (the Hypostasis that speaks obviously acts differently here, more ‘from Himself’, because the Others are listening), but the action of creation itself is described by a verb in the singular.

John VII, 18 — ὁ ἀφ ἑαυτοῦ λαλῶν' - ho aph heautou lalon - who speaks from themselves. See just above and the references cited for John XVI, 13, XVIII, 34. 'ἐν αὐτῷ' - en auto - in Him. Here the meaning is that Christ speaks of Himself.

John VII, 19 — οὐδεὶς ἐξ ὑμῶν - oudeis ex hymon - none of you. The preposition ‘ek’ in its form before the following ‘hy’ indicates that it refers to the representatives of the listeners (for living witnesses of the events) or readers (for the Gospel).

John VII, 22, 23 — ἐκ τοῦ Μωϋσέως - ek tou Moyseos - from Moses. The preposition ek indicates the source of origin here, i.e. it was not Moses who introduced circumcision. 'ἐκ τῶν πατέρων' - ek ton pateron - from the fathers. Similarly to the above, the origin is from the point of view of the people, Jesus' listeners, who did it because the fathers, in particular Abraham, had done it first and commanded it. 'ἐν σαββάτῳ' - en sabbato - on the Sabbath. When.

John VII, 25 — ‘τινες ἐκ τῶν Ἱεροσολυμειτῶν’ - ‘tines ek ton Hierosolymeiton’ - ‘some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem’. The preposition ‘ek’ indicates that the reference here is to representatives of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

John VII, 28 — ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ - en te hiero - in the (Jerusalem) temple. Where. 'ἀπ' ἐμαυτοῦ' - ‘ap emautou’ - ‘from Myself’. See the explanation of the verse 17 above.

For more on the reading, please refer to the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/10052023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/29052024.html

Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!