The Ohio Independent Baptist

DR. ~oRG-E LAWLOR _ THE WORD OF COMMAND - ht ' ' '"' tic I at1l charge-~ T.. i~n1 ~h) C(" r"ie\.i ,n t -1111. {) 1111. I g1\e t t"" '"'l1ar ~ in th~ ,1ght ol G d . ,: tll,l (h 'l' k. .. 'P thi, c 111n1an<ln1ent.. · ~ the '"'n1n1 .. lnd111ent to flee \\,,f. ng tht11~ ll < /l(>H right thing . to /1.~~11 h.:- ... g, J fight l,f f,ith. and to fix h , r1l ... I t ti p n t er n al I 1 f e ( v .' l I - l ~) . 'lnd th'"1t he n1u t d . with dec1 - i n. ~ffect1, en . and finality. The \\ rd" .. gt\ e (thee) charge" in ' · 13 are th rendering f th Greek verb p,ira.:..?tllc>. ·'give an order. . co~a~~ dire t. in · tn1ct.'. The '"ord 1 a igruf1- cant one. and it great interest a~d 1n1portance lie in it u age and in the back.ITT" und in which the verb and it n~un form (paragge lia) are f und. Used In Various Ways Fir t and foremo t. the word have the en e of 1nilirar)' co,nrnand. The , erb · u ed of an army commander i uing an order. and that word of command being pas ed along, o,n do\\ n the line. by all the ubordinate commander to the variou units. enophon ( nabasis I 8: 3) _de- cribe how King Cyrus armed him– elf for battle and i ued orders for h1 troop to do the ame. Xenophon also tell how Cyru , at a ceremonial parade. gave an order (paragg~l!a) to hi fir t captain to take position at the head of the line and to transmit the order to the econd captain, and o on down the line (Xen. Cyro– paedia. 2. 4:2). econdl y. the words are used in a Legal sense. Certain men were warn- · ed that if they "di obey this injunc– tio11 (paraggelia) they must suffer the penal tie .·, Both verb and noun are used of ummoning a man to cour,t or of citing a per on to appear before a magistrate to account for hi actions. In the papyri, a letter show how an official i direoted to serve a ummons on a man so that 10 JANUARY, 1970 in\trt1cti n to "gi ,·e 11<>tice (parag– ~elia) to appe,1r where court is to 1 he held. " nolher ffic ia l received tn truction to Hgive notice ( parag– .steilc1i) to Her who i arrange·d for n1urder, t appear in three day t im e." A n1an ta te that he "ordered ( pareiggeila111en) Th mbo to depart out of the hou e. A brother directs hi i ter to a certain treet aying: "For the pre ent dear sister, I bid you ( paraggello) go to the treet of the theater." In the third place, both word are u ed to denote instruction. The papyri record a note from a main to an– other, in which the wrjter r.- ays, ' 'I Jiave instrz,cted you (pareigkelka) everal times. ' Diodorus Siculus uses both words as teaching, advice, while Philo and Jo ephu have them ito expre what omeo,ne was instructed to do. Ari totle u se the noun (parag– gelia ) to designate a system or rule, and Longinus ays there are rules and principles for any art or technique. Fourth the words also appear in a,z ethical sense, to express the prin– ciples of proper conduct and rules of moral behaviour which are con– veyed to a class of disciples by their leader. Demosthenes uses the noun in such a sense of moral influence, and Plutarch uses Jboth words to set forth the same thought of ethical teaching. Clement of Rome writes concerning God: "He who has or– dered ( paragge llein) us not to lie, how much more will He not lie Him– self' ' ( I Clem. 7: 2) . Aristotle says there is no set of rules that can be used in dealing with individual judg– ments on individual people (Nico– machean Ethic , 1104a, 7 ) . Finally the verb (paraggellein) is the word u sed to designate a doctor prescribing for a case. 11 indicates his diagnosis, and the rules 1lha,t must be followed by the patient, rthe in– structions which are e sentlial for one to ol)c , if rcct1r, ·ralic n :ind rest 1\ .. 11, 11 l 1 i ti II h n It 11 , re I< ~., ~ ', 1 j y I. 1\ griinsl ll1is IJackg, t in tl , th t i c c> ( t h , , , v( rct s i n t h · . "I . i s 111 t inter ·sting an<.1 i1111> >nl, nt . 'The ncJun f<l'lll llCClll'S fi\ 1 • ti111· s, a • i11 C. 5: 8. <>f th· ~ an1hc<.Jri11's co ,,1111n11d t l> flc t cr a ncl J h 11 not to leach any.. 111c)rc ,n Lhc na 111c of Jcstt~ h rist. In Ac. I6: 2 , it lcscri b s the n1agi ~tr,ttc ' ,,re/er lo the Ph 1 l I ppi ,tn Jat lcr to keep J 1 at1l ,111 l . da~ 'Secure jn the prison. I T1n1. 1: 5, J 8 have the word t1sed of ccrtaj n i 11 \·tr1t<' li<JJl,Y giv n by Pau l to l 1m thy. As Used in New Testament The verb i more frequently u ed, occurri ng over 30 time in the N.T. In pa ages such as Matt. 10:5; 15:35; Mark 8:6; Luke 8:29; 9: I it is u·.,ed of variou co1n1rzands of Ohri t to Hi disciple , i.e. Matt. 10 :5, ' 'The e twelve J e us ent forth and co1111nanded tlhem (paraggeilas) ". In the Synoptic Go pel , the verb is never u eel of anyone except Christ, and ir=- the characteristic word for the Lord' commands and instruction to His people. In Ac. 4: 18; 5 : 18 · 40, the verb i u sed in its usual secular sense of a com,nand by a high military or civil authority to a subordinate, i.e. the Sanhedrin's commands to John and Peter to stop preaching Christ. In Ac. 16: 23, it describes the com– n1and of the Philippian authorities to throw Paul and Silas into prison; and in Ac. 23: 22, 30, it is used of l t he Roman officer instructions to the young man who gave him infor– mation about the plot to kill Paul. Paraggello is the word for Christian f in truction. It is Paul's word in I Cor. 11 : 17 when he instructs the people of God regarding the Lord' Supper. It i used in J Thess. 4: 11 of the ' apo tle' instructions to the Thes- aloniruns to be quiet and attend to 11heir own affair , aind in II Thess. 3 :4, 6, 10, 12, in a whole list of in tructions to the saints. The verb is very p~ominent in the Pastoral Bpi - tles, where God's true servants are_ oiven pecific instructions for con– duct and service. For example, in I Tim. 1 : 3, Timothy is instructed as to how h e must ' 'charge' ' (parag– geileis) certain errorists, and in I Tim. 4: 11, the ervant of the Lord i in truoted that he must ''command (paraggelle) and teach ,these things. ' ' Now, let us note brieifly from the tandpoint of New Testament usage, the five aspects of meao·ing character– istic of 'these words. ( 1) Th ey are words of militar)' (Continued on Page 14) THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST