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The context of Mark 2 is about reclining down to eat and about fasting. Jesus is the midst of it is translated as talking about evil, righteousness, illness and medical physicians.

So, if there is not a Hebrew or Aramaic word equivalent for κατακεῖσθαι having both meanings, then it follows that Jesus and them must’ve been speaking Greek.

Mark 2:15 sets up a word parody which explains why the conversation goes from eating and fasting to illness and medicine.

https://biblehub.com/interlinear/mark/2-15.htm

Mark 2:15 - And it came to pass in His reclining [κατακεῖσθαι katakeisthai] in his house, that many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they were following Him.

κατάκειμαι as defined in the NT has the two meanings. Sitting down to eat, and sitting down because of illness.

Now then we have known before it to be revealed that the great Jesus had cast out many demons. The demons had entered the animal. They had ate the animals and been inflicted with the palsy. They fast to cure the palsy. They sit down to dedicate the demon to the earth and bury it so that the demon never again shall enter the animal and them who had been inflicted with the palsy.

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    This is an interesting question. For clarity, could you explain the Greek word play you're referencing? Commented Aug 5 at 21:04
  • biblehub.com/greek/2621.htm Commented Aug 5 at 21:56
  • κατάκειμαι as defined in the NT has the two meanings. Sitting down to eat, and sitting down because of illness. Commented Aug 5 at 21:58
  • The context of the story in verses 15-18 use both meanings of κατάκειμαι as part of the story. Commented Aug 5 at 22:00
  • If there is not a Hebrew or Aramaic word equivalent to κατάκειμαι, how is possible that Jesus speaks of κατάκειμαι is the sense of referring to laying down because of illness, unless they are speaking Greek Commented Aug 5 at 22:03

4 Answers 4

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According to studylight, the Hebrew equivalent would be:

Strong #: 7901 ‑ שָׁכַב (shaw‑kab');

Strong's Definition Source: a primitive root; Meaning: to lie down (for rest, sexual connection, decease or any other purpose) Usage: × at all, cast down, (lover-)lay (self) (down), (make to) lie (down, down to sleep, still with), lodge, ravish, take rest, sleep, stay.

It also lists: Strong #: 1961 ‑ הָיָה (haw‑yaw');

Although, I'm unsure of how best you could test your hypothesis considering the evolution of Hebrew. According to logos:

the earliest extant Hebrew version of a complete New Testament book is the fourteenth-century version of Matthew included in a polemical work by the Jewish scholar Shem Tov.

As for the Aramaic. The Aramaic word used for “reclining” in this verse from the Peshitta (the Syriac version of the Bible) appears to be:

ܘܗܘܐ ܕܟܕ [ܣܡܝܟ] ܒܒܝܬܗ ܣܓܝܐܐ ܡܟܣܐ ܘܚܛܝܐ [ܣܡܝܟܝܢ] ܗܘܘ ܥܡ ܝܫܘܥ ܘܥܡ ܬܠܡܝܕܘܗܝ ܐܝܬܝܗܘܢ ܗܘܘ ܓܝܪ ܣܓܝܐܐ ܘܐܬܘ ܒܬܪܗ

15 And it happened that while He was reclining in baytheh {his house}, many Makse {Tax Collectors} and Kahtaye {Sinners} were reclining with Eshu {Yeshua}, and with His Disciples. For, there were many, and they were coming after {i.e. following} Him.

From what I can tell both words have the same root in Aramaic:

“ܣܡܝܟܝܢ” (semikin) is in the plural form. It’s used when referring to multiple individuals reclining or lying down.

On the other hand:

“ܣܡܝܟ” (semik) is in the singular form. It’s used when referring to a single individual reclining or lying down. In the context of Mark 2:15, it’s used to describe Jesus (“He”) reclining at the table.

Searching "recline" in the Aramaic Lexicon and Concordance yields:

All using the same root: Word Number: 14539 Word Number: 14541 Word Number: 27947 Word Number: 27952

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Searching "recline" in the New Testament Aramaic Lexical Dictionary yields #2058 - ܣܡܰܟ݂.

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  • Verse 15 next uses συνανέκειντο (also translated as recline in English) which means sitting at the table. So the verse explains that everybody was sitting but not everybody was sitting at the table? The table was too small for everyone. Commented Aug 5 at 23:56
  • @ReturnOfRoamer I've added an edit: From what I can tell both words have the same root in Aramaic: “ܣܡܝܟܝܢ” (semikin) is in the plural form. It’s used when referring to multiple individuals reclining or lying down. On the other hand: “ܣܡܝܟ” (semik) is in the singular form. It’s used when referring to a single individual reclining or lying down. In the context of Mark 2:15, it’s used to describe Jesus (“He”) reclining at the table.
    – Jason_
    Commented Aug 6 at 1:02
  • Great. So is there another Aramaic word that only means to sit down at a table when eating? Commented Aug 6 at 12:43
  • In English, bedridden and dining would be a good example. If there was a English word that means to be bedridden or dining, Commented Aug 6 at 12:47
  • “On the couch with the TV table” Commented Aug 6 at 13:05
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Jason covered the Syriac Peshitta the Aramaic in Syria, very close to the Aramaic in Judah. This is the word used to translate κατάκειμαι in the Septuagint.

generated from Logos Bible Software

The same root is in the Targum dictionary.

שָׁכַב (b. h.) to incline; to lie down, lie, sleep.... -- Jastrow, M. (1903). In A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature and II (Vol. 1, p. 1570). Luzac & Co.; G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

Hebrew translations (both use came to pass meaning)

וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר הֵסֵב בְּבֵיתוֹ וַיַּסֵּבּוּ מוֹכְסִים וְחַטָּאִים רַבִּים עִם־יֵשׁוּעַ וְעִם־תַּלְמִידָיו כִּי רַבִּים הָיוּ הַהֹלְכִים אַחֲרָיו׃

Franz Julius Delitzsch. (n.d.). Delitzsch Hebrew New Testament (Mark 2:15).

אַחֲרֵי כֵן הֵסֵב יֵשׁוּעַ בְּבֵיתוֹ וּמוֹכְסִים וְחוֹטְאִים רַבִּים הֵסֵבּוּ עִמּוֹ וְעִם תַּלְמִידָיו, כִּי רַבִּים הָיוּ וְהֵם הָלְכוּ אַחֲרָיו.

ha-Berit ha-ḥadashah (Mark 2:15). (2000). The Bible Society in Israel.

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  • Since I normally read a KJV I have noticed that the phrase “came to pass” is in there a few times. So they that have the palsy sit on a mat, and they that eat also sit on a mat. So we watch them that sit on a mat to eat or rest and wonder if they have the palsy. Commented Aug 7 at 12:10
  • Will they walk again? Or haveth they now gotten the palsy? Commented Aug 7 at 12:11
  • They all liveth in fear that the palsy might overcometh them whenever they sit down. Commented Aug 7 at 12:14
  • Maybe there was a known phenomena where people eat then the palsy would overcometh them. A evil spirt in the food. Commented Aug 7 at 12:18
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I think the OP is probably right that Jesus spoke Greek. This event happened in Capernaum, which is in Galilee. Galilee was significantly Hellenized at this time; so, Jesus speaking Greek at this location, in my opinion, is rather obvious. Personally, I think he was fluent in Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. However, I don't think this passage necessarily determines that. At most, it's weakly supportive.

The OP suggests that the double entendre of the Greek word, κατάκειμαι, indicates Jesus was speaking in Greek. But, Jesus wasn't speaking when Mark presents the word κατάκειμαι ("recline to eat, lie down, bed ridden"). Mark as narratator is the one that uses it in the text. When Jesus is speaking about the sick he says, "οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες" (lit: those having disease). So, Jesus doesn't use the word when he refers to sickness.

However, the OP made an interesting observation of a play on the word κατάκειμαι. So, I'd like to add that the play on the word is strengthened by the chiastic structure of the text. In my opinion, it's a very good observation.

Here's the chiasm form applied to the NASB:

A  15 And it happened that He was reclining at the table (κατάκειμαι) in his house,
   and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples;
   for there were many of them, and they were following Him.
B       16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating
        with the sinners and tax collectors,
B'      they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating with tax collectors and sinners?”
A' 17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them,
   “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician,
   but those who are sick (οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες);

I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This is how Mark structures the text. Note that κατάκειμαι (in one of its senses), at the beginning, reflects οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες at the end. And notice how "sinners and tax collectors" is reversed in the middle (parts B and B'). The inversion is typical of Inclusio and chiastic structures. Also, the concept of 'sickness' is already quite prominently turned on by the immediately previous story of the paralytic. So, for the person hearing or reading these stories, back to back, the word κατάκειμαι would have brought 'bed-ridden' immediately to mind. The chiasm strengthens the connection; it strengthens the double-entendre.

So, I think Jesus, and Mark as the narrator, are going out of their way to correlate sickness with sinners and being well with the righteous. And yet, doing so with a paradoxical twist, the parody the OP suggests. At the end, when Jesus says, "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners," the reader is left with a bit of a question as to which is which and who is who. The double entendre of κατάκειμαι sets up this dialectic in a rather clever way.

In that regard, 'righteous' and 'sinners', at the end, are used rhetorically almost like titles--they label two groups of people. At that time, that would have immediately brought to mind the conflict between the staunch Jewish leadership (Scribes and Pharisees), that is, "the Righteous", and the Hellenizing efforts of the Greeks and Romans (the Gentiles), that is, "the Sinners", Jews alleged to be in name only. The 2nd temple period is characterized by this ideological conflict and how it played out in day-to-day life. For the "righteous Jew", the conflict was marked by a steadfast adherence to Torah, specifically in actions which publicly differentiated Jews from Gentiles. One differentiator is quite evident in this text: eating with "sinners".

This is why there's so much talk in the New Testament about what defines in-group and out-group. This is brought out in both the Gospels and the Pauline writings (social interaction rules, circumcision, food laws, etc). So, for this text before us, the ideological conflict is brought front and center by the labels "healthy" and "sick".

In other words, there's an ideological undercurrent flowing through this text that works to define who Jesus is.

The OP had asked about the Aramaic or Hebrew term that may have been used. I think the other answers (Jason and Perry Perry Webb) give sound responses. However, there are assumptions in the OP that present a pathway to say, "Jesus spoke Greek." While I actually agree with the OP that Jesus spoke Greek, and I hope I've supported that, I don't think one can conclude that use of κατάκειμαι implies Jesus spoke Greek. If the text says anything about speaking in Greek, it says that Mark wrote in Greek. And it says that Jesus came to resolve the sin problem through a physician metaphor that was contrary to a sinner's works-based effort that demarcates the in-group from the out-group. Thus it builds, and perhaps reemphasizes, the point of the previous story: Jesus has the authority to forgive. Neither Hellenizing effort nor strict Torah adherence will achieve forgiveness.

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  • Wasn't Jesus essentially a Jewish Rabbi preaching to fellow Jews? And wasn't Christianity open to non-Jews after a vision/dream to Peter or something like that (i.e., after Jesus' death)? I am not making claims - I am fairly ignorant on the subject - just asking out of curiosity.
    – Roger V.
    Commented Aug 7 at 15:51
  • I’m not aware or knowing of how anything relevant to academically astute Greek verb conjugations have ever had any relevant to how the Bible has been translated and interpreted Commented Aug 7 at 16:05
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    @RogerV. It's not that simple. An answer would take up more than a comment will allow; but, there's no hard line between the two. There's a clear transition which occurs over time. Jesus says in one place that his ministry is to the "lost sheep of Israel", and yet he ministers to a Centurion. And then you have Paul talking about "the mystery" hidden in the Old Testament, which in part refers to an expansion to the Gentiles. The Abrahamic Covenant promises blessing the Gentiles. Note, however, that transition means a before and after--there's old in the new; there's new in the old. Commented Aug 7 at 18:04
  • @ReturnOfRoamer I'm at a loss as to what you're saying. It sounds like you're saying that there's nothing academic that supports Bible translation or interpretation. I hope that's not what you mean since it's extremely obvious that that isn't true. Commented Aug 7 at 18:08
  • All that I can understand from the verse in Greek grammar is (disciples: μαθηταῖς:subject) because it ends in ς(C), so Jesus: Ἰησοῦ should end in ν(N) but it doesn’t so I’m not claiming to know what I’m talking about regarding Greek grammar because I’ve been blessed with a spirit of not much intelligence Commented Aug 7 at 22:25
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There are several passages I am aware of in the gospels that hint at Jesus not only speaking Greek, but being familiar enough with Greek pop culture for it to be an influence in his mode of speaking:

  1. His instruction to the disciples to cast their nets on the right side of the boat reflects the common superstition that the right side of the boat was the "lucky" side.
  2. His comment about good fathers not giving their children stones to eat when they ask for bread, is, IMO, a reference to the myth of Rhea and Kronos.
  3. In the Garden Of Gethsemane, He says to Peter, after Peter assaults the centurion that"those who live by the sword, die by the sword", which is a line from "The Agamemnon". This one is very telling, because this is an extremely tense, dangerous and stressful moment, in which Jesus chooses to reference a play, indicating more than a passing familiarity with the work for both Jesus and Peter. Under stress, we revert to what we are most familiar with, so clearly here both Jesus and Peter must have been very familiar with "The Agamemnon", possibly even had seen a performance of it... Some of these examples are shaky, and please correct me if I'm wrong on any point but these are just things I have noticed while studying.
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