Language Studies

Greek Thoughts

LATREUO* - Part 2 - εχηγεομαι (Strong's #1834)
To worship, to serve

Please note that all Biblical quotes, in this and all other lessons posted to Greek Thoughts, are from The Literal English Translation of the Bible produced by BTE Ministries - The Bible Translation and Exegesis Institute of America.

This week we continue our study of λατρεὺω (Strong's #3000), a Greek verb expressing worship in the form of service. In our last study, we saw from the Old Testament Septuagint that there are two Greek words used to translate a̔vad, the Hebrew word for service. When a̔vad is used to express the physical service of a slave, the Greek term δοῦλευω is used in translation; but when a̔vad is used to express the worship of heathen gods or the service of Israel to the true and living God, our Greek word of study λατρεὺω is used. In the New Testament, Jesus expanded the meaning of λατρεὺω to apply to one's life response, the choice each of us must make between the world and the Lord.
To see this at work within the life of our Lord, we revisit the temptations of Jesus — this week from Luke 4:1-13. Satan's purpose here in tempting Jesus is to tempt Him to misuse His authority as the Son of God, to use it to worship and serve Satan and his worldly system. It is in His replies to these temptations that we see Jesus expanding the scope of λατρεὺω from the simple concept of worship, to include the concept of lifestyle, whether expressed in worship to the devil and his system, or in worship to the living God and sacrificial obedience to Him.

Luke 4:1-13

1)

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordon, and was being led in the Spirit into the wilderness,

2)

forty days being tempted by the Devil. And He did not eat one thing in those days; and after they had finished, afterward He became hungry.

Luke gives us four pieces of information in this introduction to the temptations. First, Jesus returns from the Jordon "full of the Holy Spirit." The Greek word translated "full" is πὶμπλημι (Strong's #4130) and means "to fill." This tells us that Jesus returned from the Jordon with His inner human faculties filled with the Holy Spirit. Second, the Holy Spirit is leading Jesus "into the wilderness." Third, Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. From these facts, we understand that God Himself has arranged the circumstances for these temptations. The Greek word for tempt is πειρὰζω (Strong's #3985), which means "to put to the test," or "to prove." Jesus is led into the wilderness, not that He could or would succumb to the temptations He will face there. James 1:13 states: "Let no one say while being tempted, 'I am being tempted from God'; for God is unable to be tempted by evils, and He Himself tempts no one." Fourth, we are told that after the forty days are complete, Jesus becomes hungry. This sets the scene for the first temptation.

3)

And the Devil said to Him, "If you are Son of God, speak to this stone in order that it might become bread."

The devil begins his string of temptations by stating, "If you are the Son of God." The Greek word translated "if" is the conjunction εἰ (Strong's #1487). Εἰ is used here with the present tense verb and is in the first class condition assumed to be true. From the Greek it would be more literally translated, "If you are the Son of God, and You are." The more literal English meaning is, "Since you are the Son of God." The first thing we learn from this is that the devil is not tempting Jesus to prove Himself to be the Son of God, but rather Jesus is tempted to abuse His authority as the Son of God. The second thing we learn from this temptation is that the devil is appealing to Jesus' physical condition of hunger. The devil is calling upon Jesus to use His authority as the Son of God to speak the stones into loaves of bread so that the Lord's hunger can be satisfied. The devil is obviously attempting to get Jesus to use His authority to satisfy His
physical appetites.

Next week in our study of λατρεὺω, we will consider the second and third temptations, as presented in Luke 4:1-13, in which Jesus proclaims that it is called "worship" and, "service" to the devil if a person looks to the devil and the world system to satisfy the fleshly appetites.

* LATREUO is the English font spelling of the Greek word λατρεὺω.

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