When Jesus says "Amen, Amen I say to you" is that a hint that the next thing He says should be taken "more literally" than usual?

Upvote:1

No, 'Amen, amen' is a hint that what He's saying is important ("Pay attention!"), and He is about the intensify his point - whether it's to be understood literally or figuratively.

Consider John 3:3-5 (Berean Standard Bible, 'Truly, truly' = 'Amen, amen').

Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."

Jesus is not confirming Nicodemus' literal and wooden misunderstanding of what Jesus is saying at John 3:3.

Or consider John 1:50-51.

"Jesus said to him, “Do you believe just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51 Then He declared, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”"

Is Heaven going to 'literally' open, like a trap door? No, that's a wooden understanding of what Jesus is saying here.

Or consider John 5:19

"So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does."

Is Jesus "literally" seeing the Father, who is Spirit and has no form, doing things? Sounds more like a figurative way to describe Jesus understanding something.

Or John 8:34

"Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin."

Is one "literally" a slave? No, one is a slave in a spiritual or figurative sense.

Or John 8:51

"Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death."

People who keep Jesus' word die - this again is meant in a figurative or spiritual sense.

Or John 10:7

"So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep."

Is Jesus "literally" a gate, made of iron, say? No, again this is meant in a figurative and spiritual sense.

Or John 12:24

"Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

Are Jesus' followers "literally" kernels of wheat? Do wheat kernels "literally" die when they fall to the ground?

To these, of course, can be added examples where Jesus says 'Amen, amen' but He is talking literally. The 'Amen, amen' doesn't 'hint' one way of the other, it just is used to emphasize an important truth will be spoken, whether literal or figurative.

Upvote:1

When Jesus says, "amen". (“ἀμὴν”), it simply adds emphasis to what he is about to say. Amen is from the Hebrew אָמַן,(or אֲמַן, ܐܡܢ in Syriac and Aramaic). It simply means, "This is firmly established". And from that one can see how it can commonly mean, "trustworthy/faithful, etc."

According to the Bible software, Accordance, Amen (“ἀμὴν”) appears 138 times.

Much the same as "amen" is the particle in the Greek, "ἰδοὺ". That word appears 260 times in the NT. It is translated as "look!/behold!" The same sort of word in Hebrew, "hin-ay" (הִנֵּה) occurs 766 times. Both of these words (amen & look) serve pretty much the same purpose: We are to pause and consider what is just about to be spoken.

Very often, in English, the "look!" particles are omitted (especially in the Gospel acc. to Mark) since the repetition seems tedious to English ears.

Hope that helps.

More post

Search Posts

Related post