The Whole Enchilada

 

1 Corinthians 14:13-25 (CJB)

Idiots and Idioms

²⁴ But if you all prophesy, and some unbeliever or uninstructed person enters, he is convicted of sin by all, he is brought under judgment by all, ²⁵ and the secrets of his heart are laid bare; so he falls on his face and worships God, saying, “God is really here among you!”

The Greek says something much closer to this:

“But if all are prophesying, and some untrusting or uninstructed person comes in, they are exposed by all, examined by all, and the secrets of their heart are known, so they will fall on their face and do reverence to God, carrying the word back that “God is really present with you!”

Idiotes – ‘a plain person’ — ‘one in private life, devoid of special learning or gifts.’ Paul is discussing ‘speaking in tongues (‘glossa’) and pointing out that if no-one can understand what the congregation is saying then they will not be convinced of anything. He is recommending prophesying instead because he thinks it will have an ‘edifying’ effect on newcomers to the church. I took note that the root of the words ‘idiot’ and ‘idiom’ is the same. “Idio” refers to something peculiar to itself: singular, particular, private— as in ‘idiosyncratic’. Paul describes speaking in tongues by saying, “My breath prays, but my mind is barren.” I couldn’t help thinking that speaking in tongues could easily be characterized as ‘idiomatic,’ having reference only to the person speaking, and meaningless to someone else.

Matthew 10:24-33 (CJB)

Teachers and Masters

²⁴ A talmid is not greater than his rabbi, a slave is not greater than his master. ²⁵ It is enough for a talmid that he become like his rabbi, and a slave like his master.

The Greek actually says this:

“A disciple (mathetes) is not above their teacher, nor above their master (kyrios). It is enough for a disciple that they become like their teacher, and like their master.”

(The Greek word for ‘slave’ (doulos) does not appear anywhere in the text. I checked the whole chapter to see if it might be implied by previous use. Nope.)

So, what’s the take-away here?

The text from Corinthians seems to me to be about self-involvement. It’s okay to be self-involved in private, but when we are together in a group of people, connection is the thing; mutual understanding and learning is the thing. Paul quotes Isaiah 28:

¹¹ So with stammering lips, in a foreign accent,
[Adonai] will speak to this people.
¹² He once told this people, “It’s time to rest,
the exhausted can rest, now you can relax” —
but they wouldn’t listen.

Paul’s point seems to be that even God isn’t understood when God stammers and speaks in a strange and peculiar accent. So, if we want people to really listen and understand, then we have to speak in familiar terms, recognizable by everyone.

In the text from Matthew, I was struck by the omission in the Greek of the word for slave. I could not find a single translation that didn’t insert that missing word. I think that’s a big mistake. By leaving out the word for slave (doulos) the author deftly implies that this particular teacher is also the disciples’ Master; their Lord. It’s not just an analogy, it’s not just a correlation, it’s an equivalence. We can’t have one without the other; we can’t be casual students that just come to some of the lectures. Speaking idiomatically (!) ‘we get the whole enchilada’!

 

This particular Teacher, this Redeemer of Idiots,

showing us how to serve up the whole enchilada—

in the presence of God, idioms and all.

And maybe, just maybe, if all goes well,

we’ll be exposed, examined,

and the secrets of our hearts laid bare.