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Culture War Roundup for the week of August 21, 2023

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'Meek' is actually translated as something like "those who know how to use weapons, but keep them sheathed." At least according to Jordan Peterson.

Due to semantic drift the word "prautes" that appears in the original Greek is better understood as something like "taimed" or "restrained" than "meek" as those words are used in modern times. IE when a 1st century Greek asks "is your dog meek?" what they mean is "does your dog bite?" You can still see some remnants of the earlier meaning of the word in how the term "meeked" still appears in animal husbandry to indicate a horse or ox has been harness/saddle trained.

A more culturally accurate translation of the beatitude might be "blessed are those who show restraint" or blessed is the dog who doesn't bite.

I like Greek translations for better understanding the bible, but isn't Jesus quoting Psalms here? I assumed the Hebrew word would be more what we're searching for, and the context there seems to be talking about the poor and oppressed (not a bible expert at all here though).

Those who don’t defect opportunistically (in game theory language). Non-criminals, non-cheaters, non-thieves. People who follow the rules even when no one’s watching.

“Meek” really got shafted by pairing up with “mild”.

indeed

EDIT: Actually reversed my opinion when reading further.

The Beatitudes seem to be actually referring to the objectively downtrodden or humble. The whole point is that a reversal of fortune is coming for the actually-lowly and devout. This is especially clear in Luke (Matthew seems to spiritualize it as "poor in spirit").

I only have one relevant Biblical commentary on hand - Luz Ulrich's Matthew 1-7, screenshots here, p194- and he does note that the concept - which is also translated as also "gentle" or "humble" - is applied to Jesus in Matthew 11:29 and he does seem to read it as meaning something more complex than "powerlessness". Which makes sense...for Jesus. His membership in this class is of a particular nature. He models a certain behavior and elevates the class by his conduct ("if you did it for the least of my brethren...") but he's not hemmed in by an absence of choice.

In that case...I'm going with a tentative yes? This is reminding me why I bottomed out on my Biblical scholarship hobby; without putting time into learning Greek certain rabbit holes become even deeper.

That's an interesting take. Much more appealing to me, honestly.