Of all the words in the Bible, the Greek word parousia--pronounced: par-oo-see'-ah (G3952) has generated as much discussion and as many articles as any other word. What does the word mean? Does it mean coming or presence? The best place to find the answer is in the scriptures. This part will make every attempt to define the word from the biblical perspective. Greek is very precise and a meaning of a word in one place will be the same in another place except for a nuance of meaning in a context, but the basic meaning does not change. Verb forms and context generally provide the nuance. Further, the meanings and action imparted by any given verb or verbs do not change from verse to verse when the same forms are used.

Mark identified in 13:3 the four of the disciples who asked the question; they were Peter, James, John and Andrew; they asked in private. It is important to remember their identity as the study progresses. It is important to examine the three part question they asked and just as important to determine what they didn’t ask. The question not asked will help determine the meaning of parousia. Being versed in the history of the Jews they would have known the prophecies concerning the Law, the temple and Jesus. Jesus made a statement in 24:2 that lead to the question And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. They asked the three part question in verse 3 which contains the word parousia for the first time in the chapter. Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? It is apparent that the disciples didn’t question what Jesus said except for the question that would identify the destruction of the temple. They didn’t show any surprise at what Jesus said and they didn’t ask the reason for his declaration; they had to know what he meant since they would have known the history of the Old Testament and its prophecies. Yet, while they knew the history and heard the words while Jesus was on earth, they couldn’t understand or grasp the fact that Jesus was going to leave, and in some manner return and destroy the temple even though he told them in chapters 21, 22, 23, John 13:33-36 and John 16:16-17. Since verse three contains parousia, it is necessary to look at the other verses where the word is used to arrive at the meaning. The word is translated coming in 4 verses and those translations create a conflict with the message of the scriptures as will be shown. Parousia next occurs after verse 3, in 27, 37 and 39 as coming.

Verse three gives insight for the meaning to be present. The case of the parousia is genitive (possessive case in English). It is suggested at this point that the disciples knew he would not be returning bodily because of the words they used in the question. Following the rules for the words and the Greek grammar, the last part of the question’s translation would be “who sign of your presence and the end of the age (era). The word tis--pronounced: tis gives a bit more insight into the meaning of parousia. Most versions use what to translate the Greek word and since it is known from a study of the other verbs that they point to a representative for Jesus of some kind, who gives personification to the representative rather than what. More evidence for the who being correct will be given in another part.

There is more evidence for the meaning of presence. Parousia is a noun (class) the name of something; the cases for parousia are nominative, the subject of the sentence; accusative, direct object of the verb; dative, indirect object of the verb; and genitive, possessive, often expressed by the word of. Nowhere in the 24 occurrences is parousia ever used as verb. Translating parousia coming makes it a participle for which there is no example of such a change in the scriptures. An imposed definition of a word does not change its class or inherent meaning. As the series progresses more evidence of the meaning of  parousia will be presented.

Part X will begin with verses 28 through 31.  

 © 09-18-2012 DEC