The Epistle appointed for the Third Sunday after Trinity is from 1 Peter 3. It was read in our church just tonight, since the Nativity of St. John the Baptist last Sunday displaced the propers for Trinity III.
Here are some of its words: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world" (KJV).
Now I admit to being partial to the King James Version, but when it comes to this particular passage, if you're using the KJV it is essential that you understand the grammar. "Whom" is object, not subject. It is a reference to "the devil," not to "whom he may devour." That is, in this particular passage, "whom" does not refer back to "whom"; its prior referent is not "whom" but "he," the devil. One would think this an easy thing for a pastor to understand; for even if he has difficulty with the grammatical construction here, he may consult the Greek. The case of the pronoun is dative, which in the case of the verb "antistemi (resist)" is the object. It says, simply, Resist him.
Yet I do remember a time many years ago when I heard an entire sermon on this verse wrongly parsed, in which the preacher based his whole point on the notion that the devil seeks especially to devour those who resist him firm in the faith. The preacher made his case from these words: he said that on the basis of this reading, the people the devil really seeks to devour are those who resist him, above anyone else he seeks to devour. Well, that may or may not be true, but sorry, you can't say that on the basis of this reading. That isn't what it says. It's "whom," not "who."
Let the preacher beware: consider the case, always. And you don't even need the Greek to do that.
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3 comments:
Busted.
OK. I didn't preach a sermon on it. But that is what I thought this passage meant.
In a similar vein, I only recently realized that "Lo, I am with you always" is not a promise of the spiritual indwelling of Christ in all believers. I had quoted it that way in many sermons. Rather, it is a promise of Christ's authority in the apostolic Ministry. That is not to say that there isn't a promise of Christ abiding in His people, it is just not what Mt 28:20 is talking about.
Our ignorance is ever growing.
Petersen
LOL
I was thinking about this post as I read the text in question at Mass tonight. We use the SBH Altar Book for weekday masses. The lection are all RSV. It is perfectly clear there. So afterwards I got to looking. It is perfectly clear in every modern translation, NIV, RSV, ESV, NKJ, etc. All of which simply translate: "Resist him."
So this is simply another case of where KJV requires effort and knowledge and is lost on most our people.
Running for cover.
Petersen
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