Greek in Acts 4

[JML]

First off, I don't know Greek nor do I have any Greek study tools on hand. So I need the assistance of my PB brethren. I was reading John Gill's commentary on Acts 4 and it seems that he is saying that the word "servant" in Acts 4:25 and the word "child" in Acts 4:27 are the same Greek word.

Is this correct?

If so, what in the Greek gives the idea that it can be translated both as those two words seem pretty different.


P.S. I am reading a King James translation. Other translations have both translated servant.

 

[rbcbob]

John, they are the same word.
1. a child, boy or girl; Matt. 17:18; Luke 2:43; 9:42; Acts 20:12; h` pai/j, Luke 8:51, 54; plural infants, children, Matt. 2:16; 21:15; o` pai/j ti,noj, the son of one, John 4:51. 2. (Like the Latin puer, equivalent to) servant, slave -Thayer

 

[CharlieJ]

Yes, it can mean either, perhaps tipping us off to a difference between Greco-Roman culture and our own.

I think "servant" is better in both cases, since it better reflects the OT allusions. Both David as God's servant and the Messiah as God's servant are common themes in the OT.

 

[fredtgreco]

Both instances are the same word. It is the Greek word [FONT=&quot]παῖς[/FONT] (pais), which has as its main meaning "boy, child, youth." It also has as a secondary meaning "servant, slave." Context determines how it is used.

It is not dissimilar to the 19th century's practice of using the word "boy" to refer to slaves (and it is why that practice is so offensive today).

 

[JML]

Thanks my brethren. I appreciate it.

 

[Eoghan]

dont the french have something similar in garçon?