Conversation

VIEW:46 DATA:01-04-2020

CONVERSATION.—In EV [Note: English Version.] the word is always used in the archaic sense of ‘behaviour,’ ‘conduct.’ In the OT, AV [Note: Authorized Version.] gives it twice (Psa_37:14; Psa_50:23), representing Heb. derek = ‘way’ (cf. RV [Note: Revised Version.] and RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ). In the NT it is used in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] to render three sets of words. (1) The noun anastrophç = ‘behaviour’ (Gal_1:13, Eph_4:22, 1Ti_4:12, Heb_13:7, Jam_3:13, 1Pe_1:15; 1Pe_1:18; 1Pe_2:12; 1Pe_3:1-2; 1Pe_3:16, 2Pe_2:7; 2Pe_3:11), RV [Note: Revised Version.] substituting in each case ‘manner of life,’ ‘manner of living,’ ‘life,’ ‘living,’ or ‘behaviour’; the vb. anastrephesthai = ‘to behave oneself’ (2Co_1:12, Eph_2:3). (2) The noun politeuma = ‘citizenship’ or ‘commonwealth’ (Php_3:20); the vb. politeuesthai = ‘to act as a citizen’ (Php_1:27). (3) tropos = ‘manner,’ ‘character,’ lit. ‘turning’ (Heb_13:5). Cf. RV [Note: Revised Version.] and RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] throughout. The main point to notice is that in every case ‘conversation’ in the Bible refers not to speech merely, but to conduct.
J. C. Lambert.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

kon-vẽr-sā?shun (ἀναστροφή, anastrophḗ, ὁμιλία, homilı́a): This word is another illustration of the changes which time makes in a living language. The modern sense of the term is mutual talk, colloquy, but in the King James Version it never means that, but always behavior, conduct. This broader meaning, at a time not much later than the date of the King James Version, began to yield to the special, limited one of today, perhaps, as has been suggested, because speech forms so large a part of conduct. The New Testament words for ?converse? in the modern sense are homiléō (Luk_24:14, Luk_24:15; Act_20:11) and sunomilḗō (Act_10:27).
(1) In the Old Testament the word used to indicate conduct is דּרך, derekh, ?way? the course one travels (the King James Version Psa_37:14; margin Psa_50:23). It is the common Hebrew idea of conduct, possibly due, as Hatch thinks, to the fact that in Syria intercourse between village and village was so much on foot, with difficulty on stony tracks over the hills, and this is reflected in the metaphor.
(2) In the New Testament the idea of deportment is once rendered by trópos, ?Let your conversation be without covetousness? (Heb_13:5 the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) ?be ye free from the love of money?; the Revised Version, margin ?let your turn of mind be free?). But the usual Greek word is anastrophē, ?a turning up and down,? possibly due to the fact, as Hatch again avers, that life in the bustling streets of Athens and Rome gave rise to the conception of life as quick motion to and fro. ?Ye have heard of my conversation? (Gal_1:13 the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) ?manner of life?). So also Eph_4:22; 1Ti_4:12; Heb_13:7; ?Let him show out of a good conversation? (Jam_3:13 the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) ?by his good life?); ?vexed with the filthy conversation? (2Pe_2:7 the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) ?lascivious life?); ?holy conversation? (2Pe_3:11 the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) ?holy living?); ?Our conversation is in heaven? (Phi_3:20 the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) ?citizenship? (which see)). See also in the Apocrypha (Tobit 4:14; 2 Macc 5:8).
The translations in the Revisions put a wholesome emphasis upon conduct, and eliminate the danger of much misunderstanding. See further Hatch, Essays in Biblical Greek.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Conversation
(דֶּרֶךְ, de'rek way, Psa_38:14; Psalms 1, 23; Apocrypha and N.T. ἀναστροφή, but τρόπος in 2 Maccabees 20:12; Heb_13:5) is never used in the Scriptures in the sense of verbal communication, but always in its now obsolete meaning of course of life or deportment, including all one's words and acts. In Php_1:27; Php_3:20, a different term is found in the original (πολιτεύομαι, πολίτευμα), which literally signifies residence, or relations to a community as a citizen. SEE CITIZENSHIP.
Orientals are little in the habit of repairing to each other's houses for the purpose of social intercourse, but rather prefer to resort to some spot out of doors, where friends can meet together, and for this purpose the gate of the city is generally chosen. SEE GATE. Such was the custom of old, and, accordingly, we find that to each city among the Jews there was an open space near the gate, which was fitted up with seats for the accommodation of the people (Gen_19:1; Psa_69:12). Those who were at leisure occupied a position on these seats, and either amused themselves with witnessing those who came in and went out, and with any trifling occurrences that might present themselves to their notice, or attended to the judicial trials, which were commonly investigated at public places of this kind (Gen_34:20; Rth_4:11; Psa_26:4-5; Psa_127:5). Promenading, so agreeable in colder latitudes, is wearisome and unpleasant in the warm climates of the East, and this is probably one reason why the inhabitants of those climates preferred holding intercourse with one another while sitting near the gate of the city, or beneath the shade of the fig-tree and the vine (1Sa_22:6; Mic_4:4).
This mode of passing the time is still customary in the East. “It is no uncommon thing,” says Mr. Jowett, “to see an individual or a group of persons, even when very well dressed, sitting with their feet drawn under them, upon the bare earth, passing whole hours in idle conversation. Europeans would require a chair, but the natives here (Syria) prefer the ground; in the heat of summer and autumn, it is pleasant to them to while away their time in this manner under the shade of a tree. Richly-adorned females, as well as men, may often be seen thus amusing themselves.”
The Orientals, when engaged in conversation, are, in general, very mild in their demeanor, and do not feel themselves at liberty directly to contradict the person with whom they are conversing, although they may at the same time be aware that he is telling them falsehoods. The ancient Hebrews, in particular, very rarely used any terms of reproach more severe than those of שָׂטָן, satan', meaning “adversary,” or “opposer;” רֵיקָה, reykah', paccia, “contemptible;” and sometimes נָבָל, nabal', “fool,” an expression which means “a wicked man,” or “an atheist,” not, as with us, a person deficient in understanding (Job_2:10; Psa_14:1; Isa_32:6; Mat_5:22; Mat_16:23). SEE FOOL.
When anything was said which was not acceptable, the dissatisfied person replied, “Let it suffice thee” (Deu_3:26), or “It is enough” (Luk_22:38). In addressing a superior, the Hebrews did not commonly use the pronouns of the first and second person, but instead of “I,” they said “thy servant,”' and instead of “thou,” they employed the words “my lord.” Instances of this mode of expression repeatedly occur in Scripture (as in Gen_32:4; Gen_44:16; Gen_44:19; Gen_46:34; Dan_10:17; Luk_1:38). The form of assent or affirmation was, “Thou hast said,” or “Thou hast rightly said;” and modern travelers inform us that this is the prevailing mode of a person's expressing his assent or affirmation to this day in some parts of the East, especially when they do not wish to assert anything in express terms (comp. Mat_26:64). SEE AFFIRMATIVE.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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