Poenitentiam agite
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The Latin term Poenitentiam agite is used in the first of the Ninety-Five Theses of Martin Luther, and variously translated into English as "Repent" or "Do Penance".[1]
The term is part of the larger quotation from St. Jerome's Vulgate translation of Mt. 3:2 (as said by John the Baptist) and Mt. 4:17 (as repeated by Jesus of Nazareth): "Pœnitentiam agite: appropinquavit enim regnum cælorum" ("Repent: the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand").[2]
The term is translated from the original Greek command μετανοεῖτε (English transliteration: "metanoiete"),[3] which some post-Vulgate translators (including Erasmus) alternatively render in Latin as "resipiscite" – a translation that favors the connotation of changing one's internal state of mind,[4] rather than the connotation of engaging in external penitential action.[5] The Greek μετανοεῖτε is alternatively translated within the Vulgate at Mk. 1:15 as "pœnitemini,"[6] a translation more similar in connotation to "resipiscite."[1] The translational issue is often used to justify positions on the subject of sacramental penance.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Campbell, George (1837). The Four Gospels, Translated from the Greek, with Preliminary Dissertations, and Notes Critical and Explanatory, Vol. I. New York: Gould and Newman. p. 358. ISBN 9780559846120. http://books.google.com/books?id=DPpJAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA358&dq=Poenitentiam+agite.
- ^ See the translations at "Sacred Texts: Matthew Chapter 3". http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/vul/mat003.htm. and "Sacred Texts: Matthew Chapter 4". http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/vul/mat004.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ^ "Greek Bible: Mt. 3:2". http://www.greekbible.com/index.php. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ^ Liddell, Henry George. "A Greek-English Lexicon:μετανοεω". http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=metanoew&la=greek#lexicon. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
- ^ McKim, Donald K. (1998). Historical Handbook of Major Biblical Interpreters. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. p. 187. ISBN 9780830814527. http://books.google.com/books?id=mkmcaVKsXbgC&pg=PA187&lpg=PA187&dq=%22poenitentiam+agite%22+vulgate+translation+greek&source=bl&ots=7-AgxmXJ2e&sig=RXqL2wJmBVvI6hOWGz5iv6V0sUQ&hl=en&ei=Gpw6Sqv2CJjKMJ3bra8F&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1.
- ^ "Sacred Texts: Mark Chapter 1". http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/vul/mar001.htm#015. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
