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