Thoughts on KatabolE

 

2 Maccabees 2: 29 καθάπερ γὰρ τῆς καινῆς οἰκίας ἀρχιτέκτονι τῆς ὅλης καταβολῆς  φροντιστέον τῷ δὲ ἐγκαίειν καὶ ζωγραφεῖν ἐπιχειροῦντι τὰ ἐπιτήδεια πρὸς διακόσμησιν ἐξεταστέον οὕτως δοκῶ καὶ ἐπὶ ἡμῶν

 

For as the master builder of a new house must be concerned with the whole construction, while the one who undertakes its painting and decoration has to consider only what is suitable for its adornment, such in my judgment is the case with us. Katabole  .

 

2 Maccabees 2:13 ἐξηγοῦντο δὲ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀναγραφαῖς καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὑπομνηματισμοῖς τοῖς κατὰ τὸν νεεμιαν τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡς καταβαλλόμενος βιβλιοθήκην ἐπισυνήγαγεν τὰ περὶ τῶν βασιλέων βιβλία καὶ προφητῶν καὶ τὰ τοῦ δαυιδ καὶ ἐπιστολὰς βασιλέων περὶ ἀναθεμάτων

 

The same things are reported in the records and in the memoirs of Nehemiah, and also that he founded a library and collected the books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings. kataballomai.

 

Josephus Antiquities 

 

12, 9.[64] Ὑποστησάμενοι τοίνυν ποιήσασθαι τὴν τράπεζαν δύο μὲν καὶ ἡμίσους πηχῶν τὸ μῆκος, ἑνὸς δὲ τὸ εὖρος, τὸ δ' ὕψος ἑνὸς καὶ ἡμίσους, κατεσκεύαζον ἐκ χρυσοῦ τὴν ὅλην τοῦ ἔργου καταβολὴν ποιούμενοι. τὴν μὲν οὖν στεφάνην παλαιστιαίαν εἰργάσαντο, τὰ δὲ κυμάτια στρεπτὰ τὴν ἀναγλυφὴν ἔχοντα σχοινοειδῆ τῇ τορείᾳ θαυμαστῶς ἐκ τῶν τριῶν μερῶν μεμιμημένην. 

 

64 When planning out the table, they made it two and a half cubits long, one cubit wide, and one and a half cubits high, and they made the entire structure out of gold. They fashioned a crown a hand-width thick around it, wreathed with with wavelike shapes and engraved in braided forms so that it looked quite striking from all three directions. katabole .

 

15, 3, [391] Ἀνελὼν δὲ τοὺς ἀρχαίους θεμελίους καὶ καταβαλόμενος ἑτέρους ἐπ' αὐτῶν ναὸν ἤγειρεν μήκει μὲν ἑκατὸν ὄντα πηχῶν, τὸ δ' ὕψος εἴκοσι περιττοῖς, οὓς τῷ χρόνῳ συνιζησάντων τῶν θεμελίων ὑπέβη. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν κατὰ τοὺς Νέρωνος καιροὺς ἐπεγείρειν ἐγνώκειμεν.

 

391 He removed the old foundations and laid others and on them built the temple, a hundred feet long and twenty additional feet high, which subsided as the foundations settled, and this was the part we resolved to build again in the days of Nero. Middle voice form of verb. .

 

Clement to  the Corinthians (about 95 A.D.)

 

57.

Therefore, you who laid the foundation of this sedition, submit yourselves to the presbyters, and receive correction so as to repent, bending the knees of your hearts.

 

Ὑμεῖς οὖν  τὴν καταβολὴν τῆς στάσεως ποιήσαντες ὑποτάγητε τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις καὶ παιδεύθητε εἰς μετάνοιαν, κάμψαντες τὰ γόνατα τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν . .katabole .

 

Epistle of Barnabas (2nd century A.D.)

 

And further, my brethren: if the Lord endured to suffer for our soul, he being Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, "Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness," understand how it was that he endured to suffer at the hand of men. The prophets, having obtained grace from him, prophesied concerning him. And he (since it behooved him to appear in flesh), that he might abolish death, and reveal the resurrection from the dead, endured (what and as he did), in order that he might fulfill the promise made to the fathers, and by *preparing a new people for himself, might show, while he dwelt on earth, that He, when he has raised mankind, will also judge them. (apo kataboles kosmou)

 

ὅ. ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο, ἀδελφοί μου' εἰ ὁ κύριος ὑπέμεινεν παθεῖν περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν, ὧν παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου κύριος ᾧ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου'

 

In these examples, both the noun and the middle voice form of the verb convey the thoughts of "establishing", "construction", "structure", "beginning" or words to that effect. These examples are from writings from the 1st century B.C. to the 2nd century A.D. The NT usage of the word agrees with this meaning.

 

In Matthew 13:35 Psalm 78:2 is quoted; in the LXX it is ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς  "from beginning" is the phrase that is rendered ἀπὸ καταβολῆς. in the NT the Hebrew text reads מִנִּי־קֶדֶם׃. "of old".  In none of these is the sense of ruin, disintegration, disruption, or overthrow indicated, but something more along the lines of "beginning", "founding" or something long established.

 

Katabole can be concordantly translated with words that are synonyms for construct, establish, construction, or founding in these passages as well as the NT without any contradiction or confusion. That cannot be true if one constantly were to render katabole in all passages by ruin, disruption, or disintegration.

 

Rick Farwell

Alexander Thomson Obituary

 Reprinted from Concordant.org (Re: Concordant Publishing Concern)

Alexander Thomson (1889-1966)

We have received a letter from Sister Helen Thomson, dated April 15, 1966, which reads in part as follows:

“I have to thank you for your most kind letter and the magazine enclosure. I am sorry to convey to you the news that Alexander died yesterday at 10:30 a.m. He had a long weary illness, and it is a comfort that he is now at rest. He was kept under sedation the last week, and he passed away in his sleep, quietly and peacefully. When he awakes, he will be where he longed to be, with his Lord, and with the saints among whom and for whom he laboured so ungrudgingly. All differences with your dear father will be forgotten when he meets him in the beloved presence of Him Whom they both served so well.”

The following biography of Bro. Thomson's career has been supplied by his long-time friend and co-editor of The Differentiator:

Alexander Thomson was born on the 19th of December 1889, at the village of Corstorphine, now a part of Greater Edinburgh, the Capital of Scotland. In his twenty-first year his life and outlook were transformed completely by God's grace through the mission of a visiting evangelist.

He began to pursue the systematic study of the Scriptures; and he was unusually able in painstaking research into the amassing of accurate detail, with the endless checking, comparison and cross-references involved. This special talent was in due course applied to the 1930 edition of the Concordant Version, in harmony with its expressed aim “to go to the very limits of fidelity in translating the word of God into English.” He found an urgent need for the revision forecast on page 54 of the Introduction; but some others could not bring themselves to receive such a notion.

About this there is nothing novel. When the truth came through Jesus Christ, there were few who would not believe some of it; but most refused to believe all. The Apostle Peter ran into trouble similarly, and so did the Apostle Paul. The Reformation failed to come to full fruition because the majority refused to go the whole way. And now those who lacked the equipment to see in the 1930 CV more than half-a-dozen faults which have any degree of seriousness (which faults they never troubled to specify publicly) turned on A. T. and rent him, because he perceived the faults and had the honesty and courage to say what they were. The objectors had some of the truth; and there is no doubt that they honestly thought they were defending the truth against an enemy. All schisms start that way!

Yet A. T. was completely vindicated by the inclusion of many of his corrections in the 1944 revision of the CV; but his enemies were never able to admit that they had been blind, and the schism which developed in Britain seems to be unbridgeable. (I have no first-hand knowledge of what happened elsewhere). A.T.'s offense was his perpetual willingness to investigate fresh ideas. For him truth came first; and considerations such as popularity, prestige and following the easy way were never in the running at all.

To him belongs the credit of realizing that even a perfect translation is in practice worthless unless properly used. Perhaps some of his critics realized this. Indeed, a very large proportion of the errors which have been refuted in The Differentiator from time to time could have been perceived to be errors even if the CV had never existed. This startling fact shows how wise A.T. was in maintaining a balanced attitude instead of concentrating on the problems of translation and allowing exposition to be neglected. To this we owe his masterpiece: the splendid series of articles “Who is our God?” He made other very important contributions to our understanding of Scripture. On that account alone, the men who ostracized him have only themselves to thank for what they have missed. -- R. B. WITHERS

Bro. Thompson's untiring and unselfish labors were invaluable in the compilation of the Concordant Version, and they have left an undying impression on the accuracy and value of that work.

A strange fact, of which I had not previously been aware, is the fact that his birthday fell on the same day as that of my father, A. E. Knoch--December 19th. And the two men were singularly alike in their unflinching stand for the truth as they saw it, and in their untiring effort to ferret it out from the Word of God. Both were unselfishly devoted to their task. And yet, they did not always agree. But the Lord used them both in the compilation of the Concordant Version, and both will undoubtedly receive reward in no small measure for their unstinting labors, in that day.

Good night, dear brother, until we meet in the morning!

E. O. Knoch