Thought For The Day
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
The word means “opponent”, not “mortal enemy”. Francis, as usual, puts his Scriptural illiteracy on full display for all to see.
I think G. Poulin is correct.
Matthew 5:44 in the original Koine Greek:
ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν καὶ προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν διωκόντων ὑμᾶς,
ἐχθρός means:
hated, odious, hateful
hostile, hating, and opposing another
BTW, the Latin Vulgate is similar. It does not use the word “hostis” meaning “enemy,” but the word inimicus meaning “unfriendly, unloved”(though often it’s translated as enemy). The root of “inimicus” is “in” (meaning “not”) and “amicus” (meaning “friend”) which derives from the verb “amo” (meaning “I love”). “Inimicus” does not meaning enemy in the sense of “hostis.” So I think the Latin Vulgate also agrees with G. Poulin.
Ego autem dico vobis: Diligite inimicos vestros, benefacite his, qui oderunt vos: et orate pro persequentibus et calumniantibus vos.
I have no special expertise in ancient Biblical languages, being a nuclear engineer by vocation. But as leader of the Catholic Church, I would expect the Pope to be an expert. JP II and B XVI were experts. The current occupier of the See of St. Peter demonstrably is not.
Amen, LQC. Look to someone like EWTN’s Father Mitch Pacwa for an idea of how a Jesuit true to the order’s charism ought to be equipped for Scripture study. Fr. Pacwa is proficient in a number of languages, including classical Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and a couple of others. The first three of those were at one time considered necessary for all priests, so they could read Sacred Scripture in the original languages, as all translation is, by definition, also interpretation. Most seminaries no longer bother even with Latin, much less Greek and Hebrew.
The previous two Popes were also literate in multiple languages, obviously including Latin as well as Italian and English, in addition to their native languages.
FWIW, Francis speaks Italian and Spanish, which are so similar that most native speakers of either tongue can understand and make conversation with speakers of the other.
If PF were a garden, he would be full of round up and synthetic fertilizers. And complain that the worms have left…