The meek shall inherit the earth

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stupidisasstupiddoes

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I’ve always disliked this kind of verse because it appears to give licence to cowardice. I was recently encouraged by Jordan Peterson sharing a video where he says that the common understanding of meek is incorrect. Meek is not about being a passenger in life but about having power / capability that you don’t use. Peterson claims that the correct way to understand meek is the restraint of capability rather the absence of capability. The more you think about it, there’s a massive difference. However, having made an amateur attempt to check the original Greek, i can’t see the basis for this (i.e. most translations just come out with ‘gentle’ and similar words). Can anyone shed any light on whether this is an accurate view or any better ways to understand ‘meek’?
 
Being meek is having control of your appetites and passions. That they are there, in your control, used for your holiness and God’s glory. It is the ability to make a choice to act rather than passions flaring up and causing you to react. The Earth is then yours rather than you being rocked by every wave that comes along.
 
The typical translations don’t really emphasis this though do they?
 
Sadly, the beatitutes are not well understood at all. And the Catechism says they are at the heart of Jesus’ preaching and reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts. We must go deeper.

My prayer for a long time had been - Lord help me to be poor in spirit, mournful and meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, pure of heart, and a peacemaker.
 
Coincidence! My dad was friendly with three brothers called Meek. One of them was my godfather.
 
“stupidisasstupiddoes4h
I’ve always disliked this kind of verse because it appears to give licence to cowardice. I was recently encouraged by Jordan Peterson sharing a video where he says that the common understanding of meek is incorrect. Meek is not about being a passenger in life but about having power / capability that you don’t use. Peterson claims that the correct way to understand meek is the restraint of capability rather the absence of capability. The more you think about it, there’s a massive difference. However, having made an amateur attempt to check the original Greek, i can’t see the basis for this (i.e. most translations just come out with ‘gentle’ and similar words). Can anyone shed any light on whether this is an accurate view or any better ways to understand ‘meek’?”

I would strongly suggest you get Pope Benedict XVI’s Book Jesus of Nazareth where he has an extensive commentary on The Beatitudes. He explains very well what “meek” means.
 
Sorry that my answer is very insufficient but I don’t think meek means cowardly because Jesus was meek but he was far from cowardly as how many people could knowingly and courageously submit to a “plan” where they would not only be whipping but also receive the barbaric act of having nails “hammered” through them?

Remembering that Jesus was a man in the Middle East many years ago and a carpenter (craftman).
When you think of most men from the Middle East region they aren’t particularly feminine or weak/cowardly and neither are carpenters for that manner.
 
So, the root of the Greek for meek is the Greek word for temperance.

Implying to me that Dr. Peterson makes a good point.

Just as temperance implies restraint of things one might do were one a worse and weaker person, so must meek, having the same root.

This is also why gentle is a good enough translation to many. Someone is gentle when he or she refrains from harm they have capacity to do. You hear “gentle giant” more than “gentle infant” but the implication of a gentle infant is that the infant could cause all manner of misery and destruction but is of gentle temperament and does not. So it even implies refraining from excercising one’s capacities here.
 
I wasn’t trying to say that meek does mean cowardly, more that i come from a (protestant) background where the men often used this kind of verse to justify having avoided serving in world war two, for example. I like what people are saying because it’s more nuanced. There are time when violence isn’t appropriate (Jesus tells Peter to put his sword away when he is taken) but also times when it is.
 
Definition of meek
1 : enduring injury with patience and without resentment , That’s what meek means how many of us can do this ,as Jesus did .It is to Conquer and not as Jordan Peterson said he gave his personal opinion which is wrong
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Psalm 37:11 But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

James 1:21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

Revelation 2:7 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:26 To everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations;
 
Wow, temperance is a much better translation than gentle at least in terms of how your average man on the street uses the word. Is it just me or does ancient Greek not really translate to english very easily? As someone learning chinese, I’ve realised there are vast differences between languages that do (german) and don’t (chinese) convert to english easily.
 
Firstly he didn’t give his personal opinion, he quoted another translation. I am not interested in the definition of meek, i am interested in the base word that meek has been translated from. Your views are quite out of line with the consensus of this thread.
 
stupidisasstupiddoes said:
However, having made an amateur attempt to check the original Greek, i can’t see the basis for this (i.e. most translations just come out with ‘gentle’ and similar words).
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This is one place where you might start. In the Hebrew translation of the NT now in use in the Catholic Church in Israel, the Greek word πραυς (praus) in Matt 5:5 is translated as ענו (anav). This word occurs 20 times in the OT, for instance in connection with Moses in Numbers 12:3, where some Bibles translate it as “meek” and others as “humble”:

http://biblehub.com/numbers/12-3.htm

Here is the full list of the 20 occurrences:

http://biblehub.com/hebrew/6035.htm
 
Thanks, that’s interesting, is it fair to say the Greek meaning of ‘praus’ is like ‘temperance’? There’s an enormous difference between saying ‘those who have power but restrain it’ and ‘those who have no power’ so i’m trying to really understand the intent.
 
I’m sorry, I don’t know enough Greek to answer that question. It looks to me as though Jesus was quoting from Psalm 37:11, in which case that would be the place to go to, or one of the places to go to, to see what the word anav conveyed to the people of Galilee at the time.

http://biblehub.com/psalms/37-11.htm
 
stupidisasstupiddoes said:
I’ve always disliked this kind of verse because it appears to give licence to cowardice. I was recently encouraged by Jordan Peterson sharing a video where he says that the common understanding of meek is incorrect. Meek is not about being a passenger in life but about having power / capability that you don’t use. Peterson claims that the correct way to understand meek is the restraint of capability rather the absence of capability. The more you think about it, there’s a massive difference. However, having made an amateur attempt to check the original Greek, i can’t see the basis for this (i.e. most translations just come out with ‘gentle’ and similar words). Can anyone shed any light on whether this is an accurate view or any better ways to understand ‘meek’?
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The meek (they that wait upon the Lord) inherit the land in the Psalm 36:
6 And he will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy judgment as the noon-day. 7 Be subject to the Lord, and pray to him.

Envy not the man who prospereth in his way; the man who doth unjust things.

8 Cease from anger, and leave rage; have no emulation to do evil.

9 For evil doers shall be cut off: but they that wait upon the Lord, shall inherit the land.

10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be: and thou shalt seek his place, and shalt not find it.

11 But the meek shall inherit the land, and shall delight in abundance of peace.
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stupidisasstupiddoes said:
more that i come from a (protestant) background where the men often used this kind of verse to justify having avoided serving in world war two, for example.
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As long as they served in some non-combatant position then it’s still respectable as we need the non-combatants in wartime too. However, as people are saying the interpretation of “meek” isn’t that simple, and this is showing very nicely a pitfall of when people try to interpret the Bible on their own.
 
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