ἐλευθερία

My Facebook friends know that I have been planning out my tattoo for the past few days.  In the process, I was spending some time "hanging out" with the Greek Bible.  How fun is that?  Well, for me, it's lots of fun!

I think I already told you that my tattoo will say this:

Ὑμεῖς γὰρ ἐπ' ἐλευθερίᾳ ἐκλήθητε
(For you were called to freedom   -Galatians 5:13)

And so it will.  But, my dear friend Jen also gave me an outstanding verse the other day:

οὗ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα κυρίου, ἐλευθερία
(where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom  -2 Corinthians 3:17)

 
Now I'm thinking, I'll need one verse around each ankle...eventually.


Anyway, that's not the point of this post :-)


The point is, while I was wandering around the Greek Bible, I was looking up the Greek words in a Greek Lexicon.  You know, to make sure that my tattoo really said what I wanted it to say.  Wouldn't it be awful if I got this permanent tattoo and it ended up saying something like, "I like to eat octopus"


Anyhow....while browsing through the lexicon, this word, ἐλευθερία, struck me.  In both of my tattoo verses, it's translated "freedom" but the lexicon gives more detail.  Here's the definition:

ἐλευθερία, n  \{el-yoo-ther-ee'-ah}
1) liberty to do or to omit things having no relationship to salvation  2) fancied liberty  2a) license, the liberty to do as one pleases  3) true liberty is living as we should not as we please 

Wow!  It makes me like these verses and that word all the more!  Maybe you all find this quite boring and uninspiring, but not me!  I'm going to enjoy living in ἐλευθερία.