Sarx, Soma and the Eucharist

[Hrvoje]

I was reading the gospel of John the other night…

…And wanted to check which exact Greek word in John 6 Jesus used for “body” or “flesh” - I figured it would be soma, which is used in:

Mt 26, 26 - While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

Mk 14, 22 - While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.”

Lk 22, 19 - Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”

1 Cor 10, 16 - The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

Like I said, all of these verses have “soma” as “body”.
But in John 6, all of the accounts of Jesus saying “body” or “flesh” are “sarx”, not the usual “soma”.
As I understand it, Paul often wrote in his epistles that “sarx” (not “soma”) is the sinful flesh of man etc., so I was a bit intrigued when I found the wording John used.

Maybe he wanted to emphasize the literate meaning by using “flesh - sarx” rather then “body - soma”, much like using the
“maw, chew - trogon” for “eat”.

Your thoughts?

You can check this out at the Greek Bible website.

 

[johnco]

hi,

“My flesh is real food.”
“My blood is real drink.”

how is flesh translated here?

God bless,

johnco

 

[Hrvoje]

John 6, 55 - For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

In greek - here (the forum doesn’t support the font, so I’ll just link it - choose John 6, 55 and go)

“flesh” = “sarx”

P.S.
I meant literal meaning, not “literate”

 

[Hrvoje]

I was reading the gospel of John the other night…

…And wanted to check which exact Greek word in John 6 Jesus used for “body” or “flesh” - I figured it would be soma, which is used in:

Mt 26, 26 - While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

Mk 14, 22 - While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.”

Lk 22, 19 - Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”

1 Cor 10, 16 - The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

Like I said, all of these verses have “soma” as “body”.
But in John 6, all of the accounts of Jesus saying “body” or “flesh” are “sarx”, not the usual “soma”.
As I understand it, Paul often wrote in his epistles that “sarx” (not “soma”) is the sinful flesh of man etc., so I was a bit intrigued when I found the wording John used.

Maybe he wanted to emphasize the literal meaning by using “flesh - sarx” rather then “body - soma”, much like using the
“maw, chew - trogon” for “eat”.

Your thoughts?

You can check this out at the Greek Bible website.

 

[porthos11]

sarx is simply translated as flesh, and can be used to refer to real, literal, flesh, i.e. meat, or the sinful nature of man contrasted with the spiritual. The multiple meanings are much the same as in English.

It is context that will tell us what the meaning of sarx is in each passage under scrutiny. In the case of John 6, sarx clearly refers to Jesus’ “meat”, since he has no sinful nature. The same sense is used in John 1:14: and the Word became sarx.

 

[Hrvoje]

sarx is simply translated as flesh, and can be used to refer to real, literal, flesh, i.e. meat, or the sinful nature of man contrasted with the spiritual. The multiple meanings are much the same as in English.

It is context that will tell us what the meaning of sarx is in each passage under scrutiny. In the case of John 6, sarx clearly refers to Jesus’ “meat”, since he has no sinful nature. The same sense is used in John 1:14: and the Word became sarx.

Agree. It’s actually another strong argument against the “figurative John 6” interpretation by many protestants, in my humble opinion - given that sarx just cannot be translated as something divided from the real, physical flesh.

God bless.

 

[Nita]

Agree. It’s actually another strong argument against the “figurative John 6” interpretation by many protestants, in my humble opinion - given that sarx just cannot be translated as something divided from the real, physical flesh.

God bless.

 

[prodromos]

The figurative meaning of “eating someone’s flesh” in the Hebrew culture is extremely negative.Psalm 27:1-3
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
Thus, if one insists upon a figurative meaning of Christ’s words in John 6, then you will have a situation where Christ wishes us to destroy Him.

John

 

[Hrvoje]

The figurative meaning of “eating someone’s flesh” in the Hebrew culture is extremely negative.Psalm 27:1-3
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
Thus, if one insists upon a figurative meaning of Christ’s words in John 6, then you will have a situation where Christ wishes us to destroy Him.

John

Exactly.