Word of the Week
December 21, 2024
Diatarassō and Dialogizomai: When God Shows Up
But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was.
Luke 1:29 NASB
What do you do when an angel shows up?
Abraham fixed lunch for them (Genesis 181-5) not immediately realizing that his visitors were more than human (see Hebrews 13:2).
John fell to the ground and tried to worship the angel (Revelation 22:8).
The contingent of Roman troops at the tomb shook in fear and fainted dead away (Matthew 28:4)
And then there was a teenage girl named Mary who looked up to discover that an angel had just entered her room. Not just any angel, but Gabriel the great messenger of God – carrying a message that would upend all her expectations about the course of her life.
We get a fascinating and instructive look at Mary’s response to the angel’s greeting by noting the two Greek words used to describe it. As we do, we will observe a process that we can experience whenever God steps into our lives with a surprise.
Diatarassō – First Response: Emotional turmoil
Mary is having a perfectly normal day, moving through her typical routines, when someone suddenly shows up and pronounces a startling salutation: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
I don’t know whether Gabriel looked like a regular man or if there was something distinctive about his appearance. But his opening words made it obvious that this was more than just a neighborly visit from a friend. Mary knew at once that something unique had just broken into her life.
Her instant response was emotional turmoil – in Greek, diatarassō [dee-ah-tah-RAHSS-oh], a word that appears only here in Luke 1:29 in the New Testament. It is an intensified form of the word tarassō, which does show up 17 times. In secular Greek, it meant to stir something up, to kick it into motion. It was the word used in John 5:7 for the stirring of the water in the pool of Bethesda that was supposed to provide healing for paralytics.
More often, tarassō was the troubling emotional response to an event.
- Herod was disturbed by the news that a new king had been born (Matthew 2:3).
- Zacharias was startled when Gabriel interrupted his priestly work to announce the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:12).
- The disciples were terrified when they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water (Mark 6:50).
- When the risen Jesus surprised the disciples by appearing to them, they were confused (Luke 24:38).
Jesus Himself was occasionally troubled (John 11:33; 12:27; 13L21, so we know that this kind of emotional response is not sinful, even though He told His disciples not to be disturbed by the opposition that they would later face (John 14:1, 27; see also 1 Peter 3:14).
Mary had never dealt with an angel before, so it was perfectly natural for her to experience a surge of emotion, a sense that “Something is happening here that I’ve never encountered before. I have no idea whats going on!” She had every reason to feel thrown into confusion. However, she didn’t stop there.
Dialogizomai – Follow up: Mental analysis
Mary was a thinker. We can see that in the rest of the Christmas story, where she breaks out in an eloquent song of praise (Luke 1:46-55). And after the shepherds visited the newborn Jesus, we read that she “treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
In the first moments of her encounter with the angel Gabriel, her initial burst of confusion was immediately followed by something else: an intense mental dialogue that sought to understand what was happening. In fact, the Greek word used here is dialogizomai [dee-ah-law-GIDZ-ah-mye], the source for our English word dialogue. Appearing 16 times in the New Testament, this word often describes a back-and-forth conversation by a group trying to determine how to think about an issue. For example, the disciples discussed Christ’s comment about leaven on one occasion (Mark 8:16-17); they later spent time arguing about which of them would have the loftiest post in the kingdom (Mark 9:33). Christ’s opponents put their heads together to decide how to answer one of Jesus’ questions (Mark 11:31)
The word can also describe an inward process where one person evaluates alternatives and tries to reach a conclusion. Jesus told a parable about a rich man who went through a decision-making process to decide how to store his excess crops (Luke 12:17). We also read about some Pharisees who were doing a mental critique of Christ’s announcement of forgiveness for a paralyzed man (Mark 2:6, 8). Those who listened to John the Baptist “were wondering in their hearts” about his identity (Luke 3:15).
That’s what Mary was doing. She quickly moved from a moment of emotional upset to launch a process of mental analysis, trying to understand the reality of what was happening. She was evidently mature enough to start looking immediately for more details, so she was ready to hear the next words from the angel.
What a helpful example of a markedly mature response!
The next time God bursts into your routine with something unexpected, try Mary’s approach:
- Acknowledge that your world has just been upset by a sudden event.
- Move quickly to ask the Lord, “What do you want me to know about this?”
- Listen to the truth that God reveals, especially from Scripture.
- Do whatever He asks you to do – even if you don’t see an angel in the room!
Study Hint:
The Greek verb tenses used in this verse provide additional insight into Mary’s response.
Diatarassō – to be perplexed – is in the aorist tense, which simply records the fact that an action took place. It is the most appropriate tense for a single, instinctive response.
Dialogizomai – was pondering – is in the imperfect tense, which describes repeated or continual action over a period of time.
These tenses paint the picture of an instant emotional response which quickly turned into a continued attempt to understand the implications of Gabriel’s visit.
Coming Up
Did you know that there are some non-Greek words in the New Testament? Next week we will look at a few words that are actually Hebrew or Aramaic.
©Ezra Project 2024
4 Responses
I’m learning to be attentive to the Word of God even when the source of His words are not necessarily obvious to me. Not being dismayed, but being attentive to the message.
interesting, thank you!
I’m also doing a study of the Greek and Hebrew words for “bow down”, I see that Abraham bowed down to these 3 visitors in greeting them, and it looks like John also bowed down to the angel, and it’s peculiar to me how the word for bow down is sometimes translated as bow down, and other times as worship.
Thank you John, these are always so encouraging and helpful.
thanks, it helped a lot. But what about the instinct for men to want to worship angels. Example Rev.19:10, but are told not to. Explain this instinct for me, please.