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What is Spiritual Milk?
Disclaimer: Today's post gets far more technical than usual. In the course of reading for today's post, I had to consult a number of resources to figure out this issue. I don't normally get so technical, but I wanted to give you a glimpse into how to deal with a more advanced issue in Bible study, in this case having to do with vocabulary. Proceed ready to think and do your best to follow.
in today's reading, 1 Peter 2:2 is an interesting verse. Peter here exhorts the recipients to crave "pure spiritual milk". But what is that milk? As Christians ourselves, we should be seeking the same thing that Peter exhorts them to seek, but what does he mean here? Fellowship? God's Word? Prayer? There are a number of options. First things first however - Peter is using "milk" in a different way than we've seen in other places in the NT. The other places we've seen it have been primarily in a negative sense (that people need to move past milk to solid food), but you don't really get that sense here:
"The reference to “milk” (gala) in 1 Cor 3:1–3 and Heb 5:11–14 occurs in contexts where believers are indicted for spiritual immaturity, but we must beware of imposing those contexts on [Peter's] usage." [1]
So we've established that it's not being used in a negative way, but we still are no closer to figuring out what it actually is. As I've been researching and looking through material on this topic, it's actually proven very difficult to nail down. The biggest reason for this is the modifier, "spiritual". The word used for "spiritual" (logikos) here is very ususual - t occurs only here and in Romans 12:1: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." The context there doesn't offer to much help in figuring out our verse, so I consulted some other Bible versions.
A lot of people view the "spiritual milk" to be God's Word, most likely because of the KJV translation of this verse:
"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby..."
This version is interesting because the adjective here is "sincere" rather than "spiritual", with an added phrase "of the word" which is inferred because it doesn't actually occur in the Greek text. The KJV translators were highly interpretive in their translation of this, adding words to clarify what they thought it meant rather than attempting to preserve the original wording. Other versions mostly use "spiritual milk" here, which still gets us no closer to really understanding.
Commentaries are divided here, most of them uncharacteristically not going very deep into the issue:
""Pure spiritual milk” refers to the very things that nourish the Christian community in its growth: knowledge of God, prayer, instruction in the gospel, faithful obedience, and hearing God’s preached word." [2]
This is a good thought that I mostly agree with, but with no support for the interpretation. Two other commentaries take the approach of the KJV and peg it as the Bible:
"The Greek word translated “spiritual” is logikos; it means “logical, reasonable, and spiritual.” As such, it probably points to the Word of God, which provides spiritual life to those who partake of it." [3]
Also, with more explanation:
"The word logikos is translated by the NIV and understood by many to mean “spiritual.” Usually, however, in Greek literature the term refers to that which is rational or reasonable. It is not equated with the term “spiritual,” even though it overlaps with it (cf. T. Levi 3:6; Philo, Spec. Laws 1.16; Epictetus, Discourses 1.16). Peter probably opted for the term to clarify that the milk he had in view was the word of God. The “word” (logos), after all, was the means by which God begot believers. God’s “word” (rhēma) abides forever, and that very word is identified as the gospel preached to the Petrine believers (1:25). Hence, Peter used logikos to define milk here, so that the readers will understand that the milk by which they grow is nothing other than the word of God. The means by which God sanctifies believers is through the mind, through the continued proclamation of the word. Spiritual growth is not primarily mystical but rational, and rational in the sense that it is informed and sustained by God’s word." [4] (emphasis mine)
This is no doubt the thinking behind the KJV's translation of this verse and other interpretations that take it to be the word of God, but I have some big problems with the logic used here. Schreiner admits that the normal (non-New Testament) use of the word in Greek was "rational or reasonable". Consulting Greek dictionaries shows this to be true (titles are acronyms):
BDAG: thoughtful (this is a NT and early Christian Greek dictionary)
LSJ: for speaking, expressed in speech (classical Greek dictionary)
Louw-Nida: true to real nature (dictionary focused on understanding the senses and similarities/differences in NT Greek words)
The important lesson? None of them define this word as "spiritual" even though most translations do. Also, none of them give the sense of "Word of God" unless you count "speech" as "words". So why does he write this? Schreiner here is using the root of the word "logikos", which is "lego" (to speak) to bridge to another word with the same root, "logos" (word). He is suggesting that using the word meaning "true to real nature/rational" here is supposed to bring to mind "the Word of God" to the readers. I have a real problem with this thinking. It is what is usually called "The Root Fallacy" in word studies. D.A. Carson explains with and English example of the danger of determining word meaning through roots:
"All of this is linguistic nonsense. We might have guessed as much if we were more acquainted with the etymology of English words. Anthony C. Thiselton offers by way of example our word nice, which comes from the Latin nescius, meaning “ignorant.” Our “good–bye” is a contraction for Anglo–Saxon “God be with you.” Now it may be possible to trace out diachronically just how nescius generated “nice”; it is certainly easy to imagine how “God be with you” came to be contracted to “good–bye.” But I know of no one today who in saying such and such a person is “nice” believes that he or she has in some measure labeled that person ignorant because the “root meaning” or “hidden meaning” or “literal meaning” of “nice” is “ignorant.”" [5]
It would appear that many have fallen prey to this error in linguistic logic.
So know that we know what it DOESN'T mean, what DOES it actually mean. If it's not specifically "the word of God", then what is the meaning of "spiritual" here?
Louw-Nida suggest that "true, unadulterated milk" is more accurate:
"...pertaining to being genuine, in the sense of being true to the real and essential nature of something—‘rational, genuine, true... ‘as newborn babes you drank the true, unadulterated milk’ 1 Pe 2:2. Since in 1 Pe 2:2 the context is figurative, some translators have preferred to render λογικός as ‘spiritual,’ so as to make the reference not literal but figurative." [6] (emphasis mine)
The sense here is in the word is "rational" being used in a spiritual sense in the sense of being "true". This makes sense if this verse is contrasting the previous one. They are to put away the old ways of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander and desire the things that are true and holy. They ways of the world are the ways of the flesh, but they believers have come to know that which is truly "rational" because it is True (with capital T) in the deepest sense. To desire pure "spiritual/true" milk is to desire that which nurtures your soul and brings growth and strength, just a physical milk does. The word of God does that, but as I said before, I don't think that this passage is limited to simply the word of God. It is ALL of the things that grow us up, as Scot McKnight mentioned above:
""Pure spiritual milk” refers to the very things that nourish the Christian community in its growth: knowledge of God, prayer, instruction in the gospel, faithful obedience, and hearing God’s preached word."[7]
In the end, I find that I totally agree with his explanation after working through what this phrase both does and does not mean. I wish he'd done some more detailed explaining, but it is a little complex, isn't it?
If you made it all the way to the bottom: Questions? Comments? Confusion?
What is Spiritual Milk?
Disclaimer: Today's post gets far more technical than usual. In the course of reading for today's post, I had to consult a number of resources to figure out this issue. I don't normally get so technical, but I wanted to give you a glimpse into how to deal with a more advanced issue in Bible study, in this case having to do with vocabulary. Proceed ready to think and do your best to follow.
in today's reading, 1 Peter 2:2 is an interesting verse. Peter here exhorts the recipients to crave "pure spiritual milk". But what is that milk? As Christians ourselves, we should be seeking the same thing that Peter exhorts them to seek, but what does he mean here? Fellowship? God's Word? Prayer? There are a number of options. First things first however - Peter is using "milk" in a different way than we've seen in other places in the NT. The other places we've seen it have been primarily in a negative sense (that people need to move past milk to solid food), but you don't really get that sense here:
"The reference to “milk” (gala) in 1 Cor 3:1–3 and Heb 5:11–14 occurs in contexts where believers are indicted for spiritual immaturity, but we must beware of imposing those contexts on [Peter's] usage." [1]
So we've established that it's not being used in a negative way, but we still are no closer to figuring out what it actually is. As I've been researching and looking through material on this topic, it's actually proven very difficult to nail down. The biggest reason for this is the modifier, "spiritual". The word used for "spiritual" (logikos) here is very ususual - t occurs only here and in Romans 12:1: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." The context there doesn't offer to much help in figuring out our verse, so I consulted some other Bible versions.
A lot of people view the "spiritual milk" to be God's Word, most likely because of the KJV translation of this verse:
"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby..."
This version is interesting because the adjective here is "sincere" rather than "spiritual", with an added phrase "of the word" which is inferred because it doesn't actually occur in the Greek text. The KJV translators were highly interpretive in their translation of this, adding words to clarify what they thought it meant rather than attempting to preserve the original wording. Other versions mostly use "spiritual milk" here, which still gets us no closer to really understanding.
Commentaries are divided here, most of them uncharacteristically not going very deep into the issue:
""Pure spiritual milk” refers to the very things that nourish the Christian community in its growth: knowledge of God, prayer, instruction in the gospel, faithful obedience, and hearing God’s preached word." [2]
This is a good thought that I mostly agree with, but with no support for the interpretation. Two other commentaries take the approach of the KJV and peg it as the Bible:
"The Greek word translated “spiritual” is logikos; it means “logical, reasonable, and spiritual.” As such, it probably points to the Word of God, which provides spiritual life to those who partake of it." [3]
Also, with more explanation:
"The word logikos is translated by the NIV and understood by many to mean “spiritual.” Usually, however, in Greek literature the term refers to that which is rational or reasonable. It is not equated with the term “spiritual,” even though it overlaps with it (cf. T. Levi 3:6; Philo, Spec. Laws 1.16; Epictetus, Discourses 1.16). Peter probably opted for the term to clarify that the milk he had in view was the word of God. The “word” (logos), after all, was the means by which God begot believers. God’s “word” (rhēma) abides forever, and that very word is identified as the gospel preached to the Petrine believers (1:25). Hence, Peter used logikos to define milk here, so that the readers will understand that the milk by which they grow is nothing other than the word of God. The means by which God sanctifies believers is through the mind, through the continued proclamation of the word. Spiritual growth is not primarily mystical but rational, and rational in the sense that it is informed and sustained by God’s word." [4] (emphasis mine)
This is no doubt the thinking behind the KJV's translation of this verse and other interpretations that take it to be the word of God, but I have some big problems with the logic used here. Schreiner admits that the normal (non-New Testament) use of the word in Greek was "rational or reasonable". Consulting Greek dictionaries shows this to be true (titles are acronyms):
BDAG: thoughtful (this is a NT and early Christian Greek dictionary)
LSJ: for speaking, expressed in speech (classical Greek dictionary)
Louw-Nida: true to real nature (dictionary focused on understanding the senses and similarities/differences in NT Greek words)
The important lesson? None of them define this word as "spiritual" even though most translations do. Also, none of them give the sense of "Word of God" unless you count "speech" as "words". So why does he write this? Schreiner here is using the root of the word "logikos", which is "lego" (to speak) to bridge to another word with the same root, "logos" (word). He is suggesting that using the word meaning "true to real nature/rational" here is supposed to bring to mind "the Word of God" to the readers. I have a real problem with this thinking. It is what is usually called "The Root Fallacy" in word studies. D.A. Carson explains with and English example of the danger of determining word meaning through roots:
"All of this is linguistic nonsense. We might have guessed as much if we were more acquainted with the etymology of English words. Anthony C. Thiselton offers by way of example our word nice, which comes from the Latin nescius, meaning “ignorant.” Our “good–bye” is a contraction for Anglo–Saxon “God be with you.” Now it may be possible to trace out diachronically just how nescius generated “nice”; it is certainly easy to imagine how “God be with you” came to be contracted to “good–bye.” But I know of no one today who in saying such and such a person is “nice” believes that he or she has in some measure labeled that person ignorant because the “root meaning” or “hidden meaning” or “literal meaning” of “nice” is “ignorant.”" [5]
It would appear that many have fallen prey to this error in linguistic logic.
So know that we know what it DOESN'T mean, what DOES it actually mean. If it's not specifically "the word of God", then what is the meaning of "spiritual" here?
Louw-Nida suggest that "true, unadulterated milk" is more accurate:
"...pertaining to being genuine, in the sense of being true to the real and essential nature of something—‘rational, genuine, true... ‘as newborn babes you drank the true, unadulterated milk’ 1 Pe 2:2. Since in 1 Pe 2:2 the context is figurative, some translators have preferred to render λογικός as ‘spiritual,’ so as to make the reference not literal but figurative." [6] (emphasis mine)
The sense here is in the word is "rational" being used in a spiritual sense in the sense of being "true". This makes sense if this verse is contrasting the previous one. They are to put away the old ways of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander and desire the things that are true and holy. They ways of the world are the ways of the flesh, but they believers have come to know that which is truly "rational" because it is True (with capital T) in the deepest sense. To desire pure "spiritual/true" milk is to desire that which nurtures your soul and brings growth and strength, just a physical milk does. The word of God does that, but as I said before, I don't think that this passage is limited to simply the word of God. It is ALL of the things that grow us up, as Scot McKnight mentioned above:
""Pure spiritual milk” refers to the very things that nourish the Christian community in its growth: knowledge of God, prayer, instruction in the gospel, faithful obedience, and hearing God’s preached word."[7]
In the end, I find that I totally agree with his explanation after working through what this phrase both does and does not mean. I wish he'd done some more detailed explaining, but it is a little complex, isn't it?
If you made it all the way to the bottom: Questions? Comments? Confusion?
[1] Thomas R. Schreiner, vol. 37, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 99.
[2] Scot McKnight, 1 Peter, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 104.
[3] Bruce B. Barton, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 1995), 50-51.
[4] Schreiner, 100.
[5] D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, 2nd ed. (Carlisle, U.K.; Grand Rapids, MI: Paternoster; Baker Books, 1996), 28.
[6] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, vol. 1, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 674.
[7] McKnight, 104.
[2] Scot McKnight, 1 Peter, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 104.
[3] Bruce B. Barton, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 1995), 50-51.
[4] Schreiner, 100.
[5] D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, 2nd ed. (Carlisle, U.K.; Grand Rapids, MI: Paternoster; Baker Books, 1996), 28.
[6] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, vol. 1, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 674.
[7] McKnight, 104.
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