Getting the Whole Picture, Part 6: The Shift

Part of the journey of this series has been searching for pieces of a genuine linguistic and historical puzzle regarding a rare word that has been stubbornly debated with no clear resolution for over 1800 years. This series includes an invitation to pray, ponder and process together. 

Let’s take a step back briefly for big picture overview of this series and authentein’s shift of meaning. This series presents information regarding the context of Paul’s letter to Timothy ministering in Ephesus, bringing pieces that received little if any attention when the role of women in the church was being debated and decided in the 1990s in the CRC. PART 1 was the intro, PART 2 was the cultural context of Ephesus, PART 3 started going verse by verse through 1 Timothy 2:8-15 keeping the pagan cultural context in mind for what Paul and Timothy are dealing with a list of various concerns. 

For those who have been following along so far, this is the third post specifically building a case to show the shift of the meaning of the rare verb authentein that Paul uses in 1 Timothy 2:12 from the root word authente used to refer to someone that used an autonomous negative, forceful action, often murder before Paul to a positive or neutral authority that has become the “clear” and “plain” translation of authentein in the last 500 years in the context of 1 Timothy 2:12.

Part 4 and Part 5 present pre-Paul and post-Paul uses of the authente word family. This part of the case/context regarding Paul’s use of authentein is being built on various pieces of the context of other uses before and after Paul to help understand what Paul meant when he intentionally and inspirationally used authentein instead of exousiazo/exousia. It also helps us understand why there has been so much confusion surrounding it since then: Who wrote it (author, genre), when written (pre or post Paul), who or what is being referred to (people, objects, divine beings including God, Jesus, Holy Spirit), and where it was written matters: Athens, Alexandria, Rome, Israel, Netherlands, Germany, England

Greek lexicons are an amazing source to help understand a Greek word used in Scripture. But one of the limitations can be with words rarely used, such as authentein. In this case, the lexicons almost exclusively focus on the verb usage of authentein. That’s fine, that’s their job, that’s what lexicons do and it is very helpful! But especially in the case with words like authentein, with which scholars have less than 10 uses of the verb before 200 AD to work with, our job is to dig deeper, using our resources responsibly to further explore the shared semantic family of rare words, and that includes authentein, a very rare verb used only this one time (a hapax legomenon) in the NT.

Expanding the study to include the noun authentes and other cognates as part of the word family Paul brought to our attention through his first letter to Timothy, is up to us as part of our stewardship of studying Scripture. The rarity requires a broader context to avoid an incomplete or anachronistic picture. For me personally, this has been a fascinating and insightful journey deeper into God’s Holy Word that is eternal! It’s a treasure hunt!

This expansion allows us to include Diodorus’ (60-30 BC) and Josephus’ (75-80AD) using the noun within decades of Paul that is not noted in most lexicons. 

This allows us to look at how the ancient early translations from Greek translated authentein in 1 Timothy 2:12 within centuries after Paul. 

This allows us to include the pagan context and uses into consideration and compare those to Paul’s context. 

This allows us to do a careful chronology intentionally distinguishing pre-Paul and post-Paul that is needed since the timing of the shift overlaps Paul’s ministry to some extent. 

This allows us to determine the context, whether Divine, human or object is referred to when used, especially post Paul that became part of the confusion. 

These are all pieces to help to get a more accurate and complete picture of the meaning of authentein at the time of Paul, as well as to help understand how this word became complicated and confusing since then. Examining these additional aspects helps trace how this family of words evolved instead of significantly limiting to mostly post-Paul uses of the rare verb in other Greek literature.

Heres’ a brief summary for now for what is possibly one of the most dramatic transformations of a word morphing over the ages:

Very interesting timing! The 200 years on either side of Paul is the critical time frame of the semantic shift. There are a few hints of the shift starting before Paul, but predominantly seems to shift post Paul, especially after 150 AD. The predominant pattern emerging pre-Paul indicates primarily a strong negative harmful/violent, coercive meaning, when we include the noun authentes that gives additional depth of the historical understanding. 

This negative understanding continues, but also lessens, for several centuries after Paul, as different meanings are becoming part of the general understanding as well. Clement uses both positive and negative meanings, while all of the ancient translations into Latin, Coptic, Syriac, etc. give a negative sense of “domineer” (see list of post Paul authenteo/authentes in PART 5 comments Getting the Whole Picture, Part 5:The Post-Paul Use of Authente | CRC Network )

By 400-500AD, thanks mostly to Chrysostom, the usage of the authente family is primarily powerfully positive when used referring to God as the Absolute, Sovereign and Supreme Source and Authority over all. Chrysostom and other Patristic writers sometimes paired authentes and exousia (general authority) together when referring to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit. Authentes had an additional layer of meaning that was not the same as general exousia. Context matters! 

They say context is king and I originally thought that the pagan context was the main key to understanding authentein, and it is a significant part of helping us get a more complete picture, especially the cultural context connection of pagan idolatry and witchcraft with Wisdom of Solomon 12:3-7. But what also blew me away analyzing the pre- and post-Paul uses, was another key contextual pattern that emerged. 

Bottom line for now: Authentein most likely had fairly strong negative meaning in Paul’s time, not positive or neutral, that shift happened for the most part after Paul.

Stay tuned for Part 7, THE SHIFT CONTINUES with a more detailed history and context supporting each meaning and why it seems Paul used it in a negative way.