This past semester in Ichthus we studied the New Testament book of Hebrews. I absolutely loved the commentary I used, particularly its insight into how the first-century Greco-Roman culture (most notably, the undergirding societal structure of patronage, or patron-client relationships) informs so much of the rhetorical approach of the book. Rather than nerd out about it here, I’ll just say this:
The Greek word for ‘thanksgiving’ is eucharistos and I’ve never understood why. Eu means ‘good’ … charis means ‘grace’ or ‘favor’ … and it has never made sense to me why that etymology would result in that meaning. And now it does — because the biblical culture viewed ‘grace’ as a circle, even portrayed by the Roman moralist Seneca as a dance of three sisters. ‘Grace’ (charis) was the attitude of the benefactor/patron/rich person toward the client/one in need. ‘Grace’ was then also the name given to the actual benefit or connection or gift given. And then finally (and this is the part I have not seen) ‘grace’ was ALSO the name given to the flow of thanksgiving — GRATITUDE (note the link there) — back to the patron.
You “returned grace” … it was viewed as a beautiful circle that if not finished with gratitude, was not complete (and was even an insult to the benefactor/patron/gracious person).
A ton more I could say there, and what’s funny as I look at this particular poem it doesn’t really go very far into any of what I’ve written above. But teachers gotta teach, and Bible nerds gotta nerdize, and finally … we used to make fun of my mom when she’d say before family dinners (referring to prayer), “Shall we return thanks?” We’d say “What, it’s not like God is thanking us!”
Apparently (as usual) Mom knew more than we thought. 🙂
