Can't wait to introduce the passive voice in Greek class today! There would be no Beatitudes without the passive:
"They will be comforted."
"They will be satisfied."
"They will be shown mercy."
"They will be called sons of God."
Incidentally, I love how Williams renders Matt. 5:6:
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for being and doing right, for they will be completely satisfied."
His footnote on "completely" reads:
"Gorged, as a calf on clover."
This is precisely why I teach Greek! I want my students to so study their Greek New Testaments that they leave each session in the word feeling gorged, stuffed, glutted, satiated, filled to capacity! I want them to read the text greedily, craving the pure spiritual milk of the word (1 Pet. 2:2). As Richard Foster puts in his excellent book Celebration of Discipline, "The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people or gifted people, but of deep people."
Oh, I also love how Williams writes "hungry and thirsty for being and doing right." As we begin to exegete 1 John, my students will see that the heretics were engaged in the perverse teaching that you could "be" righteous without bothering to "practice" righteousness. John roundly condemns this error. The only person who is righteous is the one who does righteousness, like Jesus (1 John 3:7). "Doing is the best test of Being" (Robert Law).
Have a superb week!