Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Luke: Chapter 2]
2:8 {Abiding in the field} (\agraulountes\). From \agros\, field
and \aul•\, court. The shepherds were making the field their
court. Plutarch and Strabo use the word. {Keeping watch}
(\phulassontes phulakas\). Cognate accusative. They were
bivouacking by night and it was plainly mild weather. In these
very pastures David had fought the lion and the bear to protect
the sheep (1Sa 17:34f.). The plural here probably means that
they watched by turns. The flock may have been meant for the
temple sacrifices. There is no way to tell.
2:9 {Stood by them} (\epest• autois\). Ingressive aorist active
indicative. Stepped by their side. The same word in Ac 12:7 of
the angel there. Paul uses it in the sense of standing by in Ac
22:20. It is a common old Greek word, \ephist•mi\. {Were sore
afraid} (\ephob•th•san phobon megan\). First aorist passive
indicative with cognate accusative (the passive sense gone), they
feared a great fear.
2:10 {I bring you good tidings of great joy} (\euaggelizomai
h–min charan megal•n\). Wycliff, "I evangelize to you a great
joy." The active verb \euaggeliz•\ occurs only in late Greek
writers, LXX, a few papyri examples, and the N.T. The middle
(deponent) appears from Aristophanes on. Luke and Paul employ
both substantive \euaggelion\ and verb \euaggeliz•\ very
frequently. It is to Paul's influence that we owe their frequency
and popularity in the language of Christendom (George Milligan,
_The Epistles to the Thessalonians_, p. 143). The other Gospels
do not have the verb save Mt 11:5 and that in a quotation (Isa
61:1).
2:11 \Is born\ (\etechth•\). First aorist passive indicative from
\tikt•\. Was born. {Saviour} (\s•t•r\). This great word is common
in Luke and Paul and seldom elsewhere in the N.T. (Bruce). The
people under Rome's rule came to call the emperor "Saviour" and
Christians took the word and used it of Christ. See inscriptions
(Deissmann, _Light from the Ancient East_, p. 344). {Christ the
Lord} (\Christos Kurios\). This combination occurs nowhere else
in the N.T. and it is not clear what it really means. Luke is
very fond of \Kurios\ ({Lord}) where the other Gospels have
Jesus. It may mean "Christ the Lord," "Anointed Lord," "Messiah,
Lord," "The Messiah, the Lord," "An Anointed One, a Lord," or
"Lord Messiah." It occurs once in the LXX (La 4:20) and is in
Ps. of Sol. 17:36. Ragg suggests that our phrase "the Lord Jesus
http://www.ccel.org/r/robertson_at/wordpictures/htm/LU2.RWP.html (3 of 13) [28/08/2004 09:04:54 a.m.]