"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will
toward men!"
This is one of the most well known
passages from
the Bible. This is what
the heavenly
army (yes, its often translated to 'heavenly
host', but
'stratia' means army) proclaimed to the
shepherds in
Luke 2:14.
"Doxa en hupsistos Theo, Kai epi ge eirene, En anthropos eudokia!"
- Doxa
- This word is glory, and honor. It is the basis for the word
'doxology'.
There are other shades in the Greek meaning though. Originally the word
referred to an opinion, or estimation. Later it 'doxa' came to mean
honor, fame, and praise.
- en
- A preposition that can be translated as:
- hupsistos
- The highest or heights - often meaning Heaven.
- Theo
- 'God' (its a very straight forward word)
- Kai
- Simply, the conjuction 'And'.
- epi
- Another preposition - upon/on
- ge
- Earth (as opposed to heaven)
- eirene
- Peace, similar to the Hebrew equivalent - shalom. While this word
means national tranquility and freedom from war, it also has a strong
spiritual implication of peace between individuals, harmony and a spiritual
well being.
- En
- (see above)
- anthropos
- Men, human being (of either gender), all human beings. The Greek word
'aner' means manly men as opposed to human - 'anthropos' has no such
implications.
- eudokia
- The most interesting and complex of all the words in this passage -
good will. The verb form 'eudokeo' is comes from two Greek words:
'eo' meaning well, and good; and 'dokeo' meaning to consider and think.
There are two basic ways which this can be used:
- To think or consider it good to do something
- To take pleasure or delight in something or someone
The first usage is common in legal documents with the stress on the
willingness of someone's intentions concerning the good. The second
usage can be found in Matthew 3:17 referring to God's delight in His
Son.
The noun form (which is used here) refers to an active good will and good pleasure. In some places this passage has been translated to 'peace on earth towards men of good will' or 'peace on earth, and goodwill to men with whom He is well pleased'. While the second translation is also valid, it should be noted that 'eudokia' does not have a condition upon it. This refers to all people, not just a select group. It is also reasonable to read this passage as: 'peace on earth, good will with/among humanity' - the wish of an active good will between all people.