Saturday, September 01, 2012

John 3:2 Nicodemus calls Jesus, “Rabbi”

John 3:2

The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

Use of Rabbi in the Bible

abbi is used five times in John's gospel, and twice in Matthew’s. That’s it.

What is a Rabbi?

We’ll look at finding the meaning of the word, Rabbi, two different ways. Context and an online dictionary.

Context

Without using a dictionary, we can discover the meaning in John's gospel. The meaning is explicitly given from chapter one.

John 1:38

Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

Rabbi means master. What they are a master of is again, obvious from reading all the gospels. They were masters of Jewish law.

If that's not good enough, then you can also get the meaning by the context of this verse, located in Matthew’s gospel:

Matthew 23:8

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

In context, Jesus uses two terms in the same sentence, using one to suggest the meaning of the other. I'm sure my college English professor would have some technical name for that discovery of meaning by context.

A Little Side-trip, but related to our topic, Rabbi..

Matthew 23:7

One little side-point to make from the Biblical point of view: the scribes & Pharisees highly desired being called, Rabbi or Master. As you read through the gospels, they revelled in that station of life. They also enjoyed being a Pharisee, too. xref, Luke 18:10-13.

Dictionary Definition

The Free Dictionary

n. pl. rab·bis 1. Abbr. R. A person trained in Jewish law, ritual, and tradition and ordained for leadership of a Jewish congregation, especially one serving as chief religious official of a synagogue. 2. A scholar qualified to interpret Jewish law.

[Middle Englishrabi, from Old French, from Late Latinrabb , master, from Greekrhabbi, O my master, from Hebrew and Aramaicrabbî, my master :rab, master (fromrab, to become great; seerbb in Semitic roots) +-î, my.]

The dictionary definition agrees with the Bible. Matthew 23:1-33 shows the great job the Pharisees did in performing their outward duties, while neglecting the inner man and their fellow-man.

In all this, they were being called, Rabbi, Rabbi. I liken this to the pop/music/movie stars of today, who love to hear their name called out from the crowds.

For Next Time, will go a little deeper into on John 3:2.