Heaven by Force

Appendix 1: Side-by-Side Sub-Elements of Mat 12.12 and Luk 16.16

While working on a detailed study of the terms Heaven, the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God (for my future article on the errors of Amillennialism), I encountered Mat 11.12 and Luk 16.16. I confess that I’ve never really understood these, but I realized that it was time to finally work at them until I was given a better understanding of them.

I began with the assumption that they were parallel verses (as are many that you encounter in the synoptics). So, initially I put together the following table to help me to understand them. Note that text like this is an initial, intermediate translation that I believe should be adopted to be both biblically consistent and true to the actual grammar of each verse.

[The section 8. The biblical solution to the “enigma” of these verses. shows what I’m convinced is the correct solution to the correct translation of these verses.]

The table breaks each verse into phrases, then attempts to correlate each phrase to its corresponding phrase in the other verse. Of interest are two verbs in Mat 11.12 and a single verb in Luk 16.16. Those verbs, in the active voice, are:

βιάζω G971 [used only in the verses above in the NT]

1. to use force, to apply force
2. to force, inflict violence on

and

ἁρπάζω G726 [used in 14 verses, one of which is Luk 16.16 above]

1. to seize, carry off by force
2. to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly
3. to snatch out or away

Note, however, that the active voice of βιάζω does not occur in the NT. As shown in the Greek, the actual verb form is βιάζεται a middle/passive form. The middle/passive meaning is:

βιάζεται G 971 [used only in the verses above]

1. I am forced
2. I am raped

As you can tell, it is a powerful, violent verb (no pun intended). This fact must be considered in the translations shown in Appendix 2 and Appendix 3.