M
MojeIme1981
Guest
I’m wondering whether Jesus has commanded us to stay celibate if we already know that we can do it…
The Bible text of interest:
9 I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery."
10 [His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 He answered, “Not all can accept [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted.
12 Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
(Matthew 19:9 19:10 19:11 19:12 from www.usccb.org)
I’m wondering about the word translated here as “accept”, in all 3 instances in cited text the original Greek word translated here as “accept” is “χωρέω, chóreó (link)” which is so far as I could see only in this place translated as “accept”, or in some English translations as “receive”. In my Croatian translation this word is in fact translated in manner as “understand” (i.e. “Whoever can understands this ought to understand it”
I’m wondering what did Jesus actually say here. Which of these extreme interpretations of the word “accept” is more true:
1) “accept” should be interpreted simply as “understand”, then these verses look like this:
*“I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”
[His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can understand [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can understand this ought to understand it.”
*
or 2) “accept” should in fact be interpreted as “achieve this”:
*“I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”
[His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can achieve this [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can achieve this this ought to achieve this it.”
*
or 3) or even more explicitly put: “accept” can be interpreted as “can stay celibate”:
*“I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”
[His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can can stay celibate [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can can stay celibate this ought to stay celibate it.”
The problem with the interpretations “2” and “3” is that whoever lives a faithful celibate single life, then he is in fact commanded to stay that way and not to marry in the future,
Why did the writer use this Greek word “χωρέω, chóreó” which is hard to interpret here in this context. He could have made this more clear by simply choosing another word?
Please help!
The Bible text of interest:
9 I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery."
10 [His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 He answered, “Not all can accept [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted.
12 Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
(Matthew 19:9 19:10 19:11 19:12 from www.usccb.org)
I’m wondering about the word translated here as “accept”, in all 3 instances in cited text the original Greek word translated here as “accept” is “χωρέω, chóreó (link)” which is so far as I could see only in this place translated as “accept”, or in some English translations as “receive”. In my Croatian translation this word is in fact translated in manner as “understand” (i.e. “Whoever can understands this ought to understand it”
I’m wondering what did Jesus actually say here. Which of these extreme interpretations of the word “accept” is more true:
1) “accept” should be interpreted simply as “understand”, then these verses look like this:
*“I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”
[His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can understand [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can understand this ought to understand it.”
*
or 2) “accept” should in fact be interpreted as “achieve this”:
*“I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”
[His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can achieve this [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can achieve this this ought to achieve this it.”
*
or 3) or even more explicitly put: “accept” can be interpreted as “can stay celibate”:
*“I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”
[His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can can stay celibate [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can can stay celibate this ought to stay celibate it.”
- Is this what Jesus actually said??
The problem with the interpretations “2” and “3” is that whoever lives a faithful celibate single life, then he is in fact commanded to stay that way and not to marry in the future,
Why did the writer use this Greek word “χωρέω, chóreó” which is hard to interpret here in this context. He could have made this more clear by simply choosing another word?
Please help!