Anybody have any idea what exactly Jesus was referring to when he was quoted as saying this?
What does βιάζεται refer to? Who were the βιασταί who ἥρπαζον the kingdom of heaven?
jaihare wrote:Anybody have any idea what exactly Jesus was referring to when he was quoted as saying this? What does βιάζεται refer to? Who were the βιασταί who ἥρπαζον the kingdom of heaven?
Furthermore, why did the prophets and the law (that is, the two prophetic portions of the Jewish Bible) prophesy until John? Does this imply that after John their prophecy ceased according to Jesus?
It appears as if there are variant translations of Luke 16:16 as well.
The international Standard Version offers this understanding
[/i]"The Law and the Prophets remain until John. Since then, the good news about the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone entering it is under attack.
Going back to the text in Matthew we see a couple possibilities.
The verb βιαζεται and the Noun βιαστα as a form could be understood two ways. The text can be understood as a middle or as a passive form.If it is Middle then we would most likely understand it as entering forcefully which seems to be you position. On the other hand we also see the passive which would suggest that they would suffer violence as they entered in.
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