Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Kephale as "cause"

This is from Women in ministry: four views by Robert Clouse et al. (page 168) Here the Greek word kephale for "head" is interpreted as "cause." This is understood to fall under the same general category of "source."
    The Greek writer Artemidorus (second century AD) yields numerous examples of head (kephale) meaning "source."In LIb. 1, Cap. 2. Paragraph 6, we read, "He [the father] was the cause [aitios] of the life and of the light for the dreamer [the son] just as the head [kephale] is the cause [aitios] of the life and the light of all the body." In another section (Cap. 35, Paragraph 36) Artemidorus writes, "indeed, the head is to be likened to parents because the head is the cause [or source] of life."
It is important to note that "source" or "cause of life" is not the meaning of kephale, but is one possible way of interpreting it.

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