Losing our temper

I have a little puzzle for you this morning regarding the word temper in English and its equivalent in NT Greek.

Temper is a funny word in English. Look at a few examples and you might see why:

1. He has a real temper.
2. She lost her temper.
3. Don’t have a temper tantrum.
4. That child is good-tempered.
5. Temper, temper!

So, is temper a good thing or a bad thing? Someone with a temper can get really angry. But when someone loses their temper it means they got angry! Strange isn’t it?

The Encarta dictionary gives the etymology of this word as:

[Pre-12th century. Latin temperare "mix, restrain yourself" < tempus "time"]

The word tempero in Portuguese means seasoning as in the spices you mix into food. And that seems to be related to the “mix” in the English etymology.

I suspect that the English etymology is wrong. It seems probable that temper goes right back to the Greek word θυμός thumos (Luk 4:28, Acts 19:28, Rom 2:8, 2 Co 12:20, etc) which is most often translated anger.

Linguists and Bible exegetes are very skittish around etymologies. Tracing a word back to its roots very often leads you down rabbit trails without giving you any insight into how the word is used by contemporary speakers. So, in the case of temper, the etymology is interesting but the modern speaker of English doesn’t think about mix or spice or time. Even so, I think looking at the etymology does give us insight into translating a very tricky word in 1 Corinthians 13:4, μακροθυμέω makrothumeo. This word is translated as “to be patient” or, traditionally, “to be long-suffering.” But there are a couple of things about these translations that make me angry. Just kidding.

Our translations turn what in the original is an active verb into a stative verb. “Love is patient.” Perhaps my understanding of the Greek is weak here. But I suspect there is a clash between Greek grammar and English grammar. In Greek it makes sense to say “Love big-tempers” or “Love patients.” But there is no natural equivalent in English that does not require an idiomatic phrase. Long-suffering has been the traditional rendering of this verb and it is close in my estimation to what the original says. But, as they say, close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and dancing.

In my view, this ends up leading to a misunderstanding of 1 Corinthians 13. This passage is meant as a new decalogue for the Christian community. And it is given in the context of a very contentious group of believers in chapter 12. So, I’d be tempted to translate it as “Love takes a long time to get angry” or “Love is slow to get angry.”

There are many puzzles in 1 Corinthians 13. There is so much overlap in meaning between the different qualities of love and also it’s hard to tell how they are grouped. In my earlier post The Thirteen Commandments I hinted that this passage is tied to Jesus’ “thirteenth commandment” for his disciples to “love one another” in John 13. And not only that but this “decalogue” in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 seems to have thirteen commandments!

I’d be interested to hear from students of Greek what they think about the grammar of 1 Cor. 13:4-7:

• Should these be a series of predicate adjectives or are they active verbs?
• How would you translate Ἡ ἀγάπη μακροθυμεῖ?
• Is it appropriate to read 1 Corinthians 13 at marriage ceremonies?
• Can you find thirteen commandments in 1 Cor. 13:4-7?