Verb usage in John 6

[birdsofdawn]

Hello,

In this article on Catholic Answers, the following is claimed:
“He continues: “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me” (John 6:57). The Greek word used for “eats” (trogon) is very blunt and has the sense of “chewing” or “gnawing.” This is not the language of metaphor.”

I am wondering whether anybody knows where this idea, that “trogo” means “eat” in a more physical, even crude way (thereby demonstrating how very literal Our Lord was being), comes from. My sense is that it must be from Greek usage contemporary to the NT, because it only occurs 6 times, as opposed to the more common word for eat, “esthio”, which occurs 158 times, with no discernible difference of meaning.

Thanks!

 

[porthos11]

Hello,

In this article on Catholic Answers, the following is claimed:
“He continues: “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me” (John 6:57). The Greek word used for “eats” (trogon) is very blunt and has the sense of “chewing” or “gnawing.” This is not the language of metaphor.”

I am wondering whether anybody knows where this idea, that “trogo” means “eat” in a more physical, even crude way (thereby demonstrating how very literal Our Lord was being), comes from. My sense is that it must be from Greek usage contemporary to the NT, because it only occurs 6 times, as opposed to the more common word for eat, “esthio”, which occurs 158 times, with no discernible difference of meaning.

Thanks!

The distinction existed in Koine Greek, although it seems to have disappeared by the time of Modern Greek. That trogo (5176) means a more literal gnawing or chewing is attested to in all reputable lexicons, including the de facto standard BAGD and the Thayer/Smith lexicon, both of which are largely Protestant.