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kai Exemplar Texts: Romans 1:7

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This post is in a series of exemplar texts in which our Koine keyword “kai” plays a deeper role than is commonly grasped. Here we will consider a most-important verse (yes they’re all important, but some more so) that establishes the theme of the entire Epistle to the Romans and thereby of the central doctrines of the NT.

Our consideration here is Romans 1:7. As we will do throughout this website, our focus is on the specific KAIStudies point, such as here the use of Koine connective kai, and not a full exposition of the underlying texts. (And with Rom 1:7, entire books could be written without exhausting the depth and significance of the text).

Rom 1:7 Text

Below is the ESV translation of Rom 1:7

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 1:7 (ESV)

There are three occurrence of “and” in the ESV: the first is addition by the translators without a mss source, the other two are default translations of kai. We can determine this connection, or mis-connection, between an English translation and the mss by use of the various KAI Tools discussed in various posts.

Here we will use Logos Software based on the ESV text for Rom 1:7, as given in the pdf directly below:

Rom-1-7-ESV-Interlinear

The base English text shown above is the ESV. The Koine underlying text is a reverse interlinear, meaning the Koine word order has been reassembled so that each Koine word is positioned, out of its original order, to match the corresponding English translation (ESV). This makes it simple to find the Koine word being translated but at the loss of the word order emphasis that is present in the mss. This particular reverse interlinear includes the mss word order numbering by the small number subscript to the first line below the English text.

Some Fixes / Clarifications to Rom 1:17

As shown above, I have crossed through four words in the ESV that do not appear in the mss: the first and, the phrase “to be,” and the definite article “the” before the closing words “Lord Jesus Christ.” The ESV is certainly not “wrong” to have it translated as it has. Its motivation is to provide a smooth reading English ‘voice’ to the Scriptures. But, our purpose here is not smoothness but exactitude as best as we are able to construct it.

We note that there are other English translations which more, or less, strive for greater, or even greatest, literality. Shown below are the NASB95, KJV, and the amazingly reliable Young’s Literal Translation (YLT).

to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (NASB95)
To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (KJV)
to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints; Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ! (YLT)

Romans 1:17 in NASB95, KJV, and Young’s Literal Translation, Respectively

All three translations did not insert the first “and” present in the ESV, and which I have struck out in the above pdf of Rom 1:17. The YLT does not use any part of “to be” or an equivalent exactly as the mss reads and as I have crossed out; the NASB95 uses “as” and the KJV “to be.” Again these additions are not wrong. However it is cleaner, and more direct, to reflect the translation exactly as the mss, namely: the Epistle is direct to those in Rome “called saints” (and of course, to us as well); the text is not (explicitly) saying we are called “as” saints–implying that we are called only because we possess the preexisting condition of “being” saints–nor is it suggesting a potentiality of future condition as the added phrase “to be” might convey.

One final ‘fix’ I made in Rom 1:17 was suggesting the word “of” as in “of God” instead of the ESV’s “by God.” This is a point Koine scholars would understand deeply because of the richness of the Koine genitive case (typically used of possession, but it’s a richer subject than we are addressing here). All three of the additional translations given just above translate the genitive case of “God” as shown–“of God”–as I have done in the pdf.

Our main point in this post is the Koine connective kai.

Is “And” the Best Translation for the First “kai” in Rom 1:7?

The first of two occurrences of “kai” connects “Grace to you” (the phrase used by John MacArthur’s ministry) with “peace from God.” All four of the above translations uses the simple translation “and.” As discussed elsewhere, such is the default translation employed many thousands of times in the NT for kai, so it is not wrong.

But could kai be conveying something more?

kai as ‘Plus’

As discussed, the word “and” can be used in multiple ways. The default idea of “and” is “plus:” one “and” two is three. No one would wonder does such phrase–one and two is three–also mean that “two and one is three.” One of the earliest math principles learned in the earliest grades of elementary school is that addition is commutative, meaning: the order in which addition is expressed does not affect the calculation. And, so, “and” as used to express such addition has no significance as to order, priority, or meaning. There are many such language examples: ham and eggs, cream and sugar, peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper. No coffee barista would ask a customer: do you want the cream added after the sugar, or the sugar after the cream? (One could do an experiment on this by ordering the coffee in insistence on sequence, say sugar first, then cream, and see what happens).

Further, in every day oral discourse, speakers (especially excited ones who do not want to lose the ‘floor’) will interject “and” at every phrase as a signal that they are not done speaking, or as a peacekeeper as they are thinking of what next they want to say. When public speakers do this, it is most annoying because are logically thinking there is a connection that is being made when there is none. In writing such use is a classic illustration of the dreaded run-on sentence.

Is the Apostle Telling the Loved by God that We Get Two Things: Grace “and” Peace?

The Epistle begins with identifying our condition, “loved by God called saints.” Because there is no connecting word in the mss, it is reasonable to conclude that the full impact of the phrase is that it is highlight a single unity of our being. This is a very powerful idea, that is stripped away by the ESV’s insertion of “and” where there is no kai in the mss (something both the KJV and NASB95 have done, but not the YLT).

Now, if we have the coherent unit of being as the antecedent phrase of “grace to you and peace” are we being told that the result is two things, say in the one hand there’s a ‘thing’ called “grace” and in the other hand a ‘thing’ called “peace,” each something like separate stickers that are affixed to us, something like a tattoo on one forehand and the other? If “kai” is “and” and only in the “plus” (additive) sense, then that is the best reading of the underlying meaning: we’re each receiving two separate gifts from God.

And, of course, as the Roman Epistle, and the entire NT tells us, that we indeed do possess distinguishable gifts of grace and peace, each word laden with deep, rich meaning. The issue here, however, in Rom 1:7, is the text conveying something more than two things by the use of kai?

Can kai Convey the Idea that Grace Yields, Leads to, Peace?

As discussed elsewhere, “and” can be freighted with a deeper meaning than commutative plus. It can be “next” as a sequence in space or time. It can mean next in the sense of result: John ran and tripped and broke his arm; such use of “and” is more than “plus,” and even more than “next” in a sequence.

In similar fashion, or even more so, kai in Koine can and does convey deeper connections than a mere plus. Again as discussed elsewhere, kai generally does not carry the more rigid concept of cause and effect; there are other Koine constructions that do that explicitly. Rather it can express, as I believe it does here in Rom 1:7, that the one, the antecedent “grace,” directs us to recognizing the subsequent “peace” derives from it.

In this way we would understand that “peace” is not delivered out of nowhere as its own ‘thing,’ but, rather, flows from a bigger, coherent whole ‘thing,’ namely “Grace.” This is supported by the coherent unity of the antecedent phrase “loved of God called saints” and the central theme of the Epistle, establishing the Grace Principle and contrasting it in myriad ways to “Law” and “Works.”

So, how would we then better translate such “kai,” presumptively claim such insight? Again as discussed elsewhere, the English word “unto” often ‘works’ though it is archaic in our day. But consider this: “…loved of God called Saints: Grace to you unto peace from God…” Such form lays the foundation of what is a central point of the NT, namely: that God’s gift of unmerited Grace has as its consequence something the OT Law never could provide a always-condition of peace with God, the essence of the one sacrifice (Heb 10:4) for all time providing the Atonement moving us from guilt to not-guilt to propitiation (active permanent righteousness in God’s sight, because of our “being” “in Christ”).

I would favor as an even better translation than “unto” by the use of a rightward facing arrow, as: “…love of God called Saints: Grace to you → peace from God…” I find such form persuasive as kai commonly functions as a form of punctuation (there is no actual function in the Koine as we have in English) and , sometimes, as a scene break establishing a kind of short pause.

Is “and” the Best Translation for the Second kai in Rom 1:7?

Returning to the pdf that began this post, let us now consider the other occurrence of kai in Rom 1:7: ” …God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” as the ESV and other translations express “and: for “kai.” (Note: there is no definite article “the” preceding “Lord Jesus Christ” in the mss, exactly as there is none preceding “God,’ thus establishing a clearer parallel of “Being,’ consistent with the Doctrine of the Trinity).

Again let us ask the same question. Is this text telling us that there are two distinguishable Persons who are the Givers of Grace and Peace? The use of “and” with the default sense of “plus” suggests exactly this situation. And, because the NT develops the full exposition of the Trinity, that there is One God, and yet there is in some humanly incomprehensible way the Being of Three Persons–as we know Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is foundational to Christianity, and any proper understanding of the NT. Heresies began early in church history, and continue to this day, denying such Trinity of Being in One God. So, it would not be ‘wrong’ to understand that through the Person of God the Father and (plus) the Person of Jesus Christ we have received “Grace → Peace.”

However, as we will see in numerous subsequent examples in later posts, the Koine mss uses kai to connect closely joined words, such as “God kai Father” wherein the better understanding is that God is unto Father, as His intrinsic Being and Relation to us, not as two separate ‘hats’ he wears such a some man named “Fred” who is a “manager” and (plus) a “father.”

So, I argue in the same way that a deeper understanding is available to us if we grasp that all the blessing of Grace unto Peace, the Atonement, Everlasting Life–the big subjects of the Epistle to the Romans, and us–derive from God the Father having sent His Son who Was/Is/Ever Will Be “Lord” (King) “Jesus” (his fully human Being, which name comes from the Hebrew “Joshua” meaning God with us) “Christ” (the Koine translation of the Hebrew word deriving from “Messiah,” Anointed Deliverer from God). Thus in the seventh verse of the first chapter of the Epistle we have this overwhelmingly important foundation, that all the great truths to be expanded derive from the One God acting in and upon His Creation on behalf of His Elect in a way humanly incomprehensible, namely entering His Creation to save the lost.

KAIS Tools: Kindle Interlinear Geek New Testament (KJV)

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This is an overview of another Koine Accessible Insights (KAI) tool: the Interlinear Greek New Testament, the King James Version (KJV, aka AV) available in the Kindle app format for the Apple iOS, and perhaps other systems. For convenience, I will refer to it here as the KIKJV (Kindle Interlinear KJV).

Source of KIKJV App

The source of KIKJV app is identified only by: publishingToronto@gmail.com. The publisher is apparently located in Toronto CAN. The app publishing date is December 2016.

Format of KIKJV App

The app is extremely simple: it has the KJV version as shown below using the same text from Ephesians 5:1-2 discussed in other posts.

Screenshot of Ephesians 5 of Kindle Interlinear KJV

As evident, the underlying Koine text is the mss format, not a reverse interlinear (a reverse interlinear re-expresses the original mss to follow the English translation to be which it is affixed). So this gives the original mss word order, allowing a better understanding of potential emphases present in the Koine, such as here with the opening word being the verb of being: “to be.”

Koine Source Text

The edition of the Koine text is not identified. I would presume that the Koine used is the so called “Received Text.” However, it is not specified which such text it is. See a summary of the various such versions below:

The Greek Received Text was the basis for all of the Protestant and Baptist Bibles until the late 19th century, and there are several slightly varying editions. Erasmus published five editions (1516, 1519, 1522, 1527, 1535). Robert Stephanus published four (1546, 1549, 1550, 1551). Theodore Beza published at least four independent editions (1556, 1582, 1688-89, 1598). The Elziver family printed two editions (1624, 1633). 

In 1881 Frederick Scrivener, under contract to the Cambridge University Press, published the Greek text underlying the King James Bible. This edition of the Received Text has been republished many times, most recently by the Trinitarian Bible Society and by the Dean Burgon Society. It conforms to the KJV. 

Which Edition of the Received Text Should We Use?
Updated February 11, 2016 (first published February 10, 1996; enlarged May 11, 2006)
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061
866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
[Note: I am not endorsing the source-organization of the above citation; I believe David Cloud has given an accurate, or reasonably accurate for our purposes, summary of the multiple editions of the Koine text commonly referred to as “The Received Text” aka “Textus Receipts” that distinguishes it from another widely used apparatus known as “The Critical Text” which underlies many modern translations. The differences between the various editions of “The Received Text” and between any of which and, together, with “The Critical Text” is a subject of intense opinions. Our purposes here on this site is the tools and use of whatever Koine text the reader believes to be most accurate. In the vast, vast, majority of passages, the differences are small and inconsequential, though fierce, sometimes revilingly fierce, opinions are voiced to the contrary.]

Gloss Source Text

In parentheses adjoining each Koine word is a gloss English word (or phrase). The source of the each respective gloss appears to be the KJV, though which vintage of KJV is not identified. Again, as discussed in the citation above, there have been multiple versions of the Authorized Version (AV), aka KJV.

Underlying Strong’s Numbers and Word Helps

Each word given in blue font, and underlined, is a hot link to an underlying text within the app that gives the Strong’s number, and a very brief description of the Koine word form and a slightly expanded definition. An example for the Koine word translated “imitators” is given below:

Screenshot of hotline for “imitators” in Ephesians 5:1. [What appears on each such page depends on the chosen default font size. So in the above, there is one line at the top that is the trailing text of the previous Koine word, and the Koine word for the hot linked “imitators” is then “g3401” which is Strong’s G3401.]

The above gives almost no information about the respective Koine word. For G3401, it can be discerned that it is the verb form–from the reference to “middle voice” (“voice” is only relevant to verbs) and the shown KJV translation “follow” which is a recognizable verb.

The Koine word directly below, G3402, is from the same root, and is an adjective, but both observations are on the reader to discern.

As shown, the Strong’s information identifies the number of NT occurrences, but it does not give their citations. These can be easily found, as discussed elsewhere, by doing a web search for “Strongs G3401” or even just…strongs g3401…or even…g3401.

Finding kai

As one of our purposes, KAIStudies, is finding the Koine word “kai,” this KIKJV app is very simple and useful. Looking at the first screenshot pasted above, one can readily find all the occurrences of “kai:” including the four in Eph 5:2 (as discussed in a separate post).

Note that no hot link to the Strong’s number for kai is provided, nor any supporting information. As shown in the adjoining parenthesis for Eph 5:2, kai is translation both by “and” and “also,” again as discussed elsewhere.

Throughout KAIStudies, I contend that at each “kai” occurrence one is well served to pause and consider how “kai” as the important ‘hinge’ connector can deepen the understanding of the text, just as the KJV translators did by using “also” where it did and “and” in the ‘default’ examples. A starting point for thinking, as proposed on this website, it to consider kai to be potentially an ‘arrow’ from what precedes to to what follows. However, kai as an arrow does not customarily convey the strong idea of cause/effect, but a more subtle “this unto that,” where “unto” might be the best default translation.

So, for example, kai as the first word of Eph 5:2 does more than just ‘add” the command verb “walk” with “in love” as a mere appendage to the text of Eph 5:1. Rather, there is something much deeper being conveyed, namely: that as “children” who are “beloved” (Eph 5:1) it follows in more than just some random next thought to “walk in love” (Eph 5:2). kai here is not being used to convey cause/effect, but to express the idea that from the significance of our being beloved children these should be an expectation that we “walk” and do so in a certain manner of being (“in love”). Accordingly, an effective ‘translation’ would be a right-ward facing arrow (were we bold enough to use symbols for meaning), or confined to an English word, “unto” is better than the generic “and” as shown above and in almost all English translations.

KAIS Tools: Scripture Direct (SD)

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This is the first in a series of posts on accessible KAIS Tools available as “apps,” software, or URLs on the Internet. All of such posts are brief overviews, not exhaustive reviews. The goal here is to introduce the distinctive value of each example tool and an example usage, in accordance with the overall goal of this website–Koine Accessible Insights. All apps and software cited here are from within the Macintosh OS, iOS “ecosystem.”

Scripture Direct (SD)

Scripture Direct is a free, iPhone and iPad downloadable app. It is also available for the Mac OD by submitting one’s EM and activating Scripture Direct’s “license key” and downloading the software. However, by default on the Mac it cannot be installed because the software is from an “unidentified developer,” and presumably not assured to be safe.

Architecture of Scripture Direct (SD)

Scripture Direct (hereafter SD) is a phrase by phrase interlinear of the Koine in Koine (Greek) script in the Koine mss word order, with an English translation directly below. It is believed that the Koine is NA27. The English translation is one done by SD, so it is not one of the ‘standard’ English translations.

The architecture is particularly helpful because it presents an overview of all the sections (pericopes) of the respective Bible book, which is of course an interpretation, and within each section the phrasing, again another interpretation. And the headings of the sections are likewise SD’s own interpretative summary. All of this seems well-done, but as discussed elsewhere all divisions, including verses and chapters, and section headings (pericope titles) are always an interpretation as none such are part of the mss.

Shown below is how SD presents Ephesians (as far as the screen grab pictures it):

SD Ephesians as Sectioned & Phrased

SD Ephesians 5:1-2

Drilling down on two particular verses, Eph 5:1-2, SD provides the below:

SD Ephesians 5:1-2

As shown above, SD presents the Koine mss in a series of phrases with each phrase given an English word translation directly below. Such phrasing is not “versified” but the respective verse from which the phrases are segmented is always shown. This is an extremely useful feature as it enables grasping the Koine in accessible units (phrases).

It is extremely helpful to know the Koine Greek alphabet and be able to pronounce the mss words even if one does not know the meaning of any particular word, or any word at all. However it is in not essential to have such knowledge as shown below.

SD Ephesians 5:1 Drill Down to Koine Word Form and Translation of “Imitators”

By single clicking on a Koine word, SD underlines such word and the English word translated from it. By double-clicking SD also opens a screen of expanded information showing (1) the word “morphology” and (2) a lexicon definition. Shown below is the result of double-clicking on the important word “imitators” in Eph 5:1.

SD Ephesians 5:1 “imitators”

The highlighted Koine word is shown to be translated by “imitators” and upon the second click SD gives the word form in the mss–namely that the word is a noun, in the nominative case, in the plural masculine form. The Koine in Greek alphabet, is shown within the dark blue banner above with the root word of “imitators” with its genitive case ending (transliterating it here “ou”) and “m” for masculine; such word summary is a standard lexical entry.

Shown in the light blue banner is the category, “imitator,” to which this word belongs (obvious in this example) according to the particular lexicon used by SD, namely “Louw Nida” (LN). The LN lexicon as discussed elsewhere has a very particular, and very useful, form known as “semantic domains.” So, here, SD gives the “LN Number,” namely 41.45. LN and semantic domains is discussed elsewhere on this site.

Clicking yet a third time, this on “imitator” in the light blue banner does to the LN lexicon as shown below:

Louw Nida (LN) Lexicon entry for “imitator”

As above, LN provides an English translation (“meaning), and brief explanation, and other Bible Koine examples. This particular example is very simple because the word it simple to translated, but the understanding and living out is a epically deep idea.

Although not specific to SD, it is worth observing the following. One can think of two categories of Koine word complexity: complex and simple. And one can think of two categories of putting Scripture into life-practice / meaning, again complex and simple. This gives us four combinations.

Simple KoineComplex Koine
Simple SignificanceSK:SSCK:SS
Complex SignificanceSK:CSCK:CS
Categorizing Interpretative Contexts Based upon Relative Complexity

Our example here with the word “imitator” is SK:CS, meaning the Koine word itself is simple to grasp: we all known what it means to be an “imitator.” But the significance (S) of application is complex, “CS.” What does it really mean, to be an “imitator of God” in one’s Christian life? Eph 5:1-2 helpfully expands on this issue, as discussed in detail in another post, and in a real sense the entire ‘practical’ chapters of Ephesians, namely Ch 4-6, does even further, and the entirety of the Ephesian Epistle still further, and the NT yet further beyond that. The Bible is an endless web of dimensionally connectedness and illumination.

SD Drill Down Eph 5:1 on a Complex Word: “Be”

The below SD screen shot gives the drill down for the verb in Eph 5:1, “be:”

SD Eph 5:1 Verb “be”

Double clicking on the first Koine word in Eph 5:1, shows it to be translated by the word “be.” Clicking again then gives the LN lexicon semantic categories to which such word could fit. The multiplicity of such categories contrasts with the above drill down on “imitators” showing that “be” though just a small two-letter word is one of potential great complexity.

Shown directly below the dark blue banner is the word morphology: it is a verb, in the imperative “mood” (command form), in the present “tense” (or “aspect”), 2nd person plural (meaning ‘you-all’) and the middle voice (discussed elsewhere, basically meaning active voice reflexing back onto oneself). As discussed elsewhere, Koine verbs have a much richer morphology than nouns as they disclose many different dimensions of actions or being.

Shown below the morphology line are all the LN categories into which “be” could ‘fit’ depending upon the context (all in the judgment of Dr.s Louw and Nida, creator of this semantic domain lexicon). Highlight in the light blue banner is LN 13.3 which is the believed appropriate category.

SD Eph 5:1 “be”

And by clicking on the recommended LN category, the lexicon gives the meaning, translation, and examples shown above.

Verbs of being, such as “be,” are very common in Koine and English, intuitively understood, but complex is range of meaning as well as application significance.

SD and Identifying “kai” in Contexts

As discussed elsewhere, the extremely common, and well-worth knowing, Koine word “kai” is obscured in English translations. For this KAIS website, we assume that the reader is not a fluent Koine reader or scholar. So one challenge then is identifying where “kai” occurs and then considering how the various English translations handle (or ignore) such key word, and what deeper insight might be appropriate for its use regardless of the word used to translate it.

SD can be very helpful in such task of finding “kai” wherever it occurs. The below is again from SD for Eph 5:1-2 as it is phrased in SD:

SD Eph 5:1-2, finding “kai”

Because “kai” is always in a simple form (that is, it is never inflected by various endings and prefixes), and its Koine letters mirror their English equivalents (k-a-i), identifying all the kai’s in a phrase, or verse, using SD is straightforward. Shown above, there are four kai’s in Eph 5:1-2: in the phrases 5:2a, 5:2b, 5:2c, and finally in 5:2d. As discussed in a separate post drilling down on these two verses, such kai’s carry a deeper meaning (in my view) than suggested by the simple, straightforward, and not wrong, translation of “and”in uses 1, 3, and 4 above, and by its more refined interpretation by Dr. Louw (who did the English translation in SD) with “also” for kai in its the second occurrence.

So, if for no other use, SD can be used to find the Koine kai in any text of interest, requiring no other extraction of the SD lexical or morphological features.

Drilling down on LN’s lexicon on the first use of kai in Eph 5:2, we have the below:

LN Lexicon on the particular use of kai in Eph 5:2a

As discussed everywhere on this site, kai can have a much richer range of application and understanding than the brief summary given here in the LN lexicon for this particular use. As shown in the LN categories, it distinguishes give kinds of usages for kai, the simplest being the default “and.” All such distinctions are interpretations based upon the context as the morphology of kai gives no such conveyance. We will expand on such LN categories for kai in other discussions on this website.

Tax Collectors kai Sinners

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Consider this passage from Mark Ch 2, beginning in vs 15:

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Mark 2:13-17 (ESV) [highlights mine]

Some Essential Background

As throughout this site our purpose is to focus on KAI Study tools, approaches, and methods rather than studying in depth any of our exemplary passages. However, here as elsewhere, we need to settle common ground on certain contextual essentials to proceed on our main purpose.

In this early chapter in Mark’s gospel narrative we see Jesus assembling His most inner circles of those we know as ‘capital A’ Apostles, the Twelve. These men became His disciples, which means primarily students, learners. They were “followers” as well, but that was because Jesus was a teacher who moved about, journeyed, a form of teaching known as peripatetic instruction (“Peripatetic” comes from the ancient Greek word that became widespread in use by Aristotle and the teachers who derived from that form; our closest example would be a team of students who would follow a senior scholar on an archeological dig or a field biology study).

Galileans

As a teacher is known in part by His students, the people Jesus chose for this special relationship would be closely scrutinized. The Pharisees and their religious systems of that day (TRI) would have scorned the lot of them because they were Galileans–except for Judas the betrayer who was a Judean, the home territory of TRI. (Galileans were broadly considered as inferior in sophistication and intellect, perhaps similar how the Ivy League college communities view the rural southern states, or actually anybody but themselves). The Roman TPI who scorned all Jews, and the TRI of the Jews, would have especially seen the Galileans as backward; TRI centered in Judea had the magnificent Temple and Temple Mount, and the Governor Herod, later Pilate, maintained a palace there.

Tax Collectors

All the territory and people of Israel were in essential matters a slave state of Rome. The Jewish people were taxed heavily with much of such revenues used by the Roman Empire to support the expenses of its magnificent capital city of Rome, and the armies and governors who maintained the Empire.

Beyond the dislike of paying such taxes there was the means of by which collections were made. The Romans created tax collection offices and appointed positions from which an established quota of payments would be required. The individuals so appointed were Jews themselves, but who had, in the view of the people, sold themselves (‘whored’ themselves) to serve Rome by taking monies from their kinsman. Further such individuals had certain power over the people which they used to over collect what Rome required gaining economic benefit beyond what was just.

So, the Romans tolerated the tax collectors, and no doubt suspicious of them as to whether they were ‘holding back’ what would otherwise be due the Empire, and the Jews absolutely hated the tax collectors who were seen quislings (traitors) to their own people and the worst kind of opportunists. Likely TRI viewed lepers more favorably: though they were seen as judged by God because of their affection in disease they were not turncoats against the Jewish people of the Temple, living as they did in isolation in recognition of their condemnation.

Some translations use the term “publican” for “tax collector” as in the ESV. They mean the same thing. Additional information on the Koine terms are given at the end of this post.

Jesus Chooses a Tax Collector Named Levi

In our above passage from Mark 2 we see Jesus choosing as his disciple / Apostle a particular tax collector by name of Levi.

This would have been a dramatic, and deeply distressing, selection. A tax collector! Even worse, the man’s name was “Levi,” a very significant name of Jewish heritage, as one of the 12 Tribes descending from Patriarch Jacob, the grandson of Abraham himself, and then set apart by Yahweh-God during the period of Moses to be dedicated tribe for all the religious activities including the family line of the priests and the High Priest.

As a final note we observe here that the joining of Levi was not by Levi’s choice, or by some ‘conversion’ / repentance recorded for us. Rather, Jesus by the power of presence, chose Levi and further demanded of Levi a major forsaking of his special powers and income as a tax collector.

Reclined at Table

We see the brief but important phrases “reclined at table” and “reclining with Jesus” in Mark 2:15 above. Further it appears that the venue was Levi’s own home, that which was supported by those tax revenues and collection process hated by the Jewish people, especially TRI of the Pharisees. This would have struck many as Jesus dining with the Devil’s people. (Later they will conclude that He was either the Devil personified or the Devils Vicar / Prophet sent to deceive the people).

The references to “reclining” and “table” are to an important cultural event of an evening’s intimate dining. It would have been something akin to a special “dinner party” as someone might arrange today by planning, special invitation and by preparation. In certain of such events, especially in the house of wealthy people with large dining spaces there would be areas surrounding the central dining place where visitors could gather to observe the interactions and hear the discussion. This seems awkward to our Western construct. But in the context of that time it would be very approximately like what occurs in formal invitational public meeting where on the stage there is a dais for the important guests and who will then speak so that the audience can hear.

So the setting is much more dramatic than just Jesus connecting in some general way with Levi the Tax Collector: Levi is chosen to be one of 12, they will have a dinner conveying a special relationship, and in the very house paid for (in some way) by the hated tax collections.

And it gets worse: Levi apparently and understandably invited a certain number of his fellow tax collectors, perhaps all of them from that region. Tax Collectors no doubt banded together for comfort and support as they were hated outcasts by everyone around them. So after Levi’s encounter with Jesus, some time later Levi hosted this dinner ‘party’ and included these guests, notorious in the eyes of the people, and Jesus fellowshipped with them all.

It’s challenging for us to feel fully how repellant this would have been at the time and place.

“Tax Collectors and Sinners”

Three times in these brief five verses, Mark 2:13-17 we have the phrase “tax collectors and sinners.” Now we are ready to deep dive on our word “kai” which is here translated in the ESV by the simple default word “and.” Here, “and” does not convey the power of this text or passage.

Mark’s narration and capture of the words of the Pharisees using “kai” to connect “tax collectors” to “sinners” is something much more notable than “and” in the sense of “plus,” as discussed elsewhere on this site. When we say “cream and sugar,” “peanut butter and jelly,” “ham and eggs” we are only doing addition: we want both ‘sides’ of the word “and.”

In our Mark 2 passage, such an understanding of “kai” / “and” misses the entire point.

What the text is communicating, if we will pause to listen for it, is that “tax collectors” are in their most basic identity of being “sinners!” Yes they have positions in the economic system of life, and titles that go with it, but that’s not reality of who they are. They are from bottom to top, inside to outside, in part and whole, fully, completely, stained permanently as “sinners.” They are not “repentant” (although that would never move them in the eyes of TRI, or the people, into any positive category of being).

How, Then, to Translate “kai” Instead of by “And?”

In my perfect world, the translators would have best served us readers by leaving “kai” where and as it is in the mss, so we can see it for ourselves, and go through the progression of possible import of the word in the context. Translators already do exactly that with the Koine word “baptize” in all of its forms. Why do they leave “baptize” untranslated? Fear? Impossibility of finding any reasonable English word or word combination?

The power of “kai” here is to drive our eyes and thinking to subsequent word “sinners” as to emphasize the fundamental reality of who these men really were. So one possible translation would be “even;” but that still does not ‘get it.’ A more expansive translation, interpretation really, would be “thoroughly / completely” sinners.

And, So…?

The context of this entire site is how can non-Seminarians, non-Ecclesiaticals, get closer to the mss as written by reasonable accessible means. It doesn’t get easier than “kai” as discussed elsewhere. The word occurs some 9,000 times in the NT alone, always uninflected, always unaccented, always spelled by three Greek letters each which looks almost like our Latinized alphabet counterpart, and pronounced (if that matters) exactly as it looks in a single syllable.

Knowing where “kai” occurs gives all of us a very simple opportunity and impulse to ask what God’s Holy Spirit intends us to grasp in any given text. Here in Mark 2 we see even more clearly, emphatically, that Jesus came, as He says in vs 17 (Mark 2:17)–He came to save “sinners”–and demonstrates it by choosing Levi and dining with other tax collectors as well all who were not “the righteous” Pharisees and their followers (who were of course not truly “righteous” but perceived themselves as such, and hence not in need of any moral / spiritual Teacher or Savior).

And, so it is today.

End Notes

Strong’s G5057. τελώνης telṓnēs; gen. telṓnou, masc. noun from télos (5056), tax, and ōnéomai (5608), to buy. A reaper of the taxes or customs, tax–collector, one who pays to the government a certain sum for the privilege of collecting the taxes and customs of a district.

The public revenues of the Greeks and Romans were usually farmed out. Among the latter, the purchasers were chiefly of the equestrian order and were distinguished as being of a higher class because they rode horses, or they were at least persons of wealth and rank like Zacchaeus who is called the chief tax collector (architelṓnēs [754] in Luke 19:2). These farmers also had subcontractors or employed agents who collected the taxes and customs at the gates of cities, in seaports, on public ways and bridges. These, too, were called telṓnai (pl.), publicans, or eklégontes (n.f.), (from ek [1537], out of, and légō [3004], in its original sense meaning to collect), those who collected out of the people. Such publicans in countries subject to the Roman Empire were the objects of hatred and detestation so that none but persons of worthless character were likely to be found in this employment. They were called hárpages (n.f.), extortioners, from harpagḗ (724), extortion. Chrysostom calls them kapḗlous (n.f.), hucksters, from kapēleúō (2585), to retail, adulterate, take advantage of, corrupt, and pornoboskoús (n.f.), shepherds of fornication. They were also called kólakes (n.f.), flatterers, from kolakeía (2850), flattery.

In the NT, they were toll–gatherers, collectors of customs or public dues and were the objects of bitter hatred and scorn by the Jews. They often associated with the most depraved classes of society (Matt. 5:46, 47; 9:9–11; 10:3, Mathew being a publican; Luke 3:12; 5:27, 29; 7:29; 18:10, 11, 13) such as publicans and sinners (Matt. 9:10, 11; 11:19; Mark 2:15, 16; Luke 5:30; 7:34; 15:1), Gentile and publican (Matt. 18:17), publicans and harlots (Matt. 21:31, 32).

Deriv.: architelṓnēs (754), a principal tax–collector; telṓnion (5058), a custom house, collector’s office.

Strong’s G5058. τελώνιον telṓnion; gen. telōníou, neut. noun from telṓnēs (5057), a tax–collector. A toll–house, custom house, collector’s office (Matt. 9:9; Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27), a place where the publican sat. In the Class. Gr. used in the pl., tá telṓnia, indicating the places where the publicans sat.

 Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers.