Commenting on the use of τρωγω in John
6:54f, Norwegian biblical scholar Peder Borgen noted:
It is strange that in
vv. 54.56.57.58 the word τρωγειν is used as the present substitute for φαγειν instead of the usual εσθιειν. John’s vocabulary has, however,
parallels in Hellenistic Greek usage. The word τρωγειν is also
used in the quotation of Ps. 41, 10 as a translation of the Hebrew אוכל in John
13, 18 (LXX translates as ο εσθιων). There are even agreements in wording
between this quotation and John 6, 58.
John 6, 58 ο τρωγειν τουτον τον αρτον
John 13, 18 ο τρωγειν μου
τον αρτον (Ps. 41, 10)
These agreements and the fact
that the word τρωγειν occurs only
in the two eucharistic passages in John indicate that it comes from the
eucharistic traditions, probably as a peculiar translation of Ps. 41, 10. In
any case, the presence of τρωγειν in John 13, 18 and the parallels in
Hellenistic Greek texts show that no special theological significance should be
attached to the use of the word in 6, 54.56.57.58. (Peder Borgen, Bread
from Heaven: An Exegetical Study of the Concept of Manna in the Gospel of John and
the Writings of Philo [2d ed.; The Johannine Monograph Series 4; Leiden:
Brill, 1981; repr., Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2017], 92-93)
In the above, Borgen referenced the entry
for τρωγω in Moulon and Milligan’s The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament.
Here is the entry in full (note how it includes non-literal/metaphorical usages
of the verb, contra RC apologists who claim it is never used in such a way):
τρώγω,
orig.
of animals, “munnch,” “crunch,” “eat audibly,” then of men, “eat vegetables,
fruit, etc,” as in Herod, ii. 37, and then “eat” generally. The word, outside
the Fourth Gospel (654 al.), is found in the NT only in Mt 2433 (the Lukan parallel 1727 here substitutes ἐσθίω): cf. Syll 805
(= 3
1171)10 ἔδωκεν εὔζωμον νήστῃ
τρώγειν. Other exx. are P Lond
12177
(iii/A.D.)
(= I. p. 89) ψυχρὰ
τρώγοντα κατακαίεσθαι, and Preisigke 57305 (= P Bouriant 1160) a school-exercise of
iv/v A.D. containing a saying of Diogenes who, when he saw a certain man eating
e;;σθοντα), remarked—ἡ
νὺξ τὴν ἡμέραν τρώγει. There seems no good
reason for assuming the survival of any difference in meaning between the two
verbs that supplied a present stem for φαγεῖν: but see Haussleiter in Archiv fiir lat.
Lexicographie ix. (1896), p. 300 ff. In MGr τρώ(γ)ω is the usual word for
“eat.”
In
one of the Klepht ballads edited by Abbott Songs p. 22, the verb is used
to denote security. The famous Andritsos, besieged in the great Monastery,11 ἔτρωγε κ᾽
ἔπινε, while his enemies stormed at the gate. For the
compd. ἐπιτρώγω cf. P Oxy IX. 118511 (c. A.D. 200) παῖδα τὸν μεικρὸν δεῖ
ἄρτον ἐσθίειν, ἅλας ἐπιτρώγειν, ὀψαρίου μὴ
θινγάνειν, “a little boy must
eat bread, nibble besides some salt, and not touch the sauce” (Ed.). For τραγήματα = “the dessert” or δευτέρα τράπεζα (secunda mensa,
bellaria), see Cagnat IV. 10006 (ii/B.C.).
For more on John 6 and other topics
relating to the Eucharist, see:
Responses to Robert Sungenis, Not By BreadAlone (2000/2009)
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