Luke 23:16
Footnote:
| 86 | To Discipline as a Child When a common classical Greek word appears to be used in an exclusive, even bizarre manner by the NT writers, the practice of scholars is to assign it a "special NT usage." The verb παιδεύω, from which παιδεύσας derives (aorist active participle), is classically and overwhelmingly attested in the semantic field of education, cultivation, and training, not punishment. Rooted in παῖς (child), it designates the process of intellectual and moral formation, often in contrast to mere physical sustenance (τρέφειν). In authors from Sophocles to Plato and Xenophon, παιδεύειν refers to educating the youth (e.g., Pl. Rep. 430a), training in virtue (εἰς ἀρετήν, Pl. Gorg. 519e), and general cultural formation (οἱ πεπαιδευμένοι as “the educated,” Pl. Rep. 606e). Even metaphorical usages preserve the core idea of refinement: e.g., ὕβρις πεπαιδευμένη (Arist. Rh. 1389b11) as “chastened insolence,” not “punished,” but modulated into grace. However, LSJ’s inclusion of a late and anomalous gloss under III.2—“chastise, punish”—signals the semantic deviation confined to Hellenistic and post-Hellenistic texts, notably the Septuagint (e.g., Hos. 7.12) and here in Luke 23.16. The very structure of the lexicon betrays this shift: rather than revising the primary definition, the editors cordon off this sense in a discreet subcategory, masking what is in fact a radical semantic innovation under the guise of a marginal extension (a.k.a "extended/tropical" definitions). Thus, a word once reserved for instruction and cultural elevation is presented, without sufficient philological justification, as also meaning scourge or punish—but only in contexts shaped by theological or translational agendas. What? This maneuver—whether conscious or not—amounts to lexical laundering: the repurposing of a culturally prestigious word for a concept it never bore in classical usage, while giving the impression of continuity. The result is that readers of the NT may receive a severe and punitive reading of παιδεύειν, unaware that such a usage is a stark departure from Greek linguistic norms, not an extension of them. The classical παιδεία "education"—so central to the Greek ideal of human flourishing—is thus quietly subordinated to a wholly foreign interpretive framework. Why choose such a word in the first place? In effect, readers are led to believe they are reading this: μαστιγόω (verb) Strong's #3146
Other interesting words to note: κολάζω (verb) Strong's #2849
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