It’s Been A Long Time Coming

For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.  Titus 3:3  NASB

Spending our life – “To behave in a certain way.”  That’s the meaning of Paul’s Greek word diagō.  It’s about a lifestyle, a constant behavior, a way of conducting oneself.  The verb is an active plural (which makes me wonder why the translation reads “life” instead of “lives”).  You get the picture.  What Paul’s referencing is the SOP (the Standard Operating Procedure) of living.

But this raises an issue.  Paul suggests that when we were foolish, disobedient, and enslaved, our typical way of living was filled with malice and envy.  We were typically hateful and hating others.  Is that true?  Is that how you would describe your way of living before God showed up?  Yes, it could be that Paul is exaggerating for effect, but his claim doesn’t seem to match my experience, nor the experience of almost everyone I know.  Maybe we need a closer look at his characterization of life before God.

Malice—kakía. Well, not really “malice.”  That would be kakoḗtheia.  Paul’s term is broader.  Kakía is the equivalent of the Hebrew word for evil.  As such, it is anything that opposes God’s will, in particular, moral behavior.  Malice is much too limiting.  Malice is “the intention or desire to do evil,” while kakía includes the actuality.  It’s not just what I want to do.  It’s also doing it.  Reminds me of Yeshua’s comments about adultery.  Yes, if I have the courage to admit it to myself, there were times in the past when I thought evil toward others—and times when I actually did what I was thinking.  But not all the time.

Paul couples kakía with phthŏnŏs.  A rather rare word meaning “ill-will.”  But we need to distinguish “envy” from “jealousy.”  Envy is wishing that I had something like what you have.  I envy the rich and famous because I would like a lifestyle like them.  Jealousy is wishing that what you have was mine.  Not something like what you have, but actually exactly what you have.  I am jealous when I think that what you have really belongs to me.  God is jealous because Israel really belongs to Him and anything that takes Israel away from Him is evil.  But God is not envious.  He doesn’t wish that He had a relationship with Israel like someone else does.  Nor does He wish He had your devotion like the devotion you give to other masters (whatever they may be).  He is your Creator and therefore is the rightful Master of your life.

When we consider both of these words in their wider context, maybe we have to admit that our former lives were, in fact, fundamentally committed to ourselves.  Maybe we didn’t exhibit this all the time, but underneath our behavior was the thought of taking care of ourselves first—and foremost.

Then Paul chooses stygētos.  “pertaining to being hated or regarded as worthy of being hated.”^[1]  What does that mean?  When I think of my past, do I really believe that I constantly hated others?  No, not really.  But then I look a little deeper.  “to have a strong dislike for someone or something, implying repulsion and desire for avoidance.”^[2]  Ah, that’s a bit closer to home.  I did have strong dislike for some.  I did avoid some.  I was repulsed by some.  Undeservedly.  I had prejudices.  I was biased.  I was intolerant, unfair, showing partiality, discriminating.  Maybe not always.  Certainly not in situations where I might be embarrassed.  But underneath, yes, it was there—stygētos.

Lastly, the root of it all—miséō.  Hate.  My self-evaluation exonerates me on this one.  I’m not a hateful person.  A little stygētos might creep in now and then, but miséō—pure hatred—no, oh, no, not me.  Except.  Except when I look at the real Greek/Hebrew meaning.  “Hating God means ignoring his commands and persecuting his people. Those who hate God may be strong, and they show their hatred by repaying evil for good, but in the long run their opposition to God is doomed to failure (Pss. 34:21; 35:19; 38:19–20; 69:4; 86:17).”^[3]  The foundation of miséō is opposition to God’s commands and maltreatment of His people.  Oh, my!  Isn’t the history of the West filled with miséō?  Replacement theology.  Pogroms.  Anti-Semitism.  Christian “manifest destiny.”  Luther’s rejection of the Mosaic code.  It’s all there—and I was part of it, perhaps unknowingly, but nevertheless, a proponent, an adherent, an evangelist for the “truth.”  Yes, miséō.

Maybe Paul was right.  Maybe diagō fits.  I didn’t know it, but fundamentally I was behaving in ways that opposed God even if I thought I was doing the right thing.  The wake-up call is a painful realization.  God help me!

Topical Index: diagō, living, kakía, evil, phthŏnŏs, envy, jealousy, stygētos, hateful, miséō, hate, Titus 3:3

^[1] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 763). New York: United Bible Societies.

^[2] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 763). New York: United Bible Societies.

^[3] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (p. 598). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.