Meek, Matthew 11:29

I read Elder Bednar’s Conference talk today.  It is a well constructed treatise on the quality of “meekness”.

I decided to look into the way the word "meek" has been understood and translated in recording what Jesus said in Matthew 11:29, “for I am meek and lowly in heart”.

So I looked up the translation of that verse in a the few languages I know.  The variety in the translations was interesting.  And I looked it up in an English dictionary.

One entry in the latter caught my eye.  It was an “obsolete” definition; a definition that was understood long ago, but has been dropped long since.  It was “gentle, kind”.

That made sense to me.  That definition of meek in the context of that verse would make a great deal of sense.  Probably more sense than the other traditional definitions in religious discourse: submissive, obedient, humble, inclined to righteous responsiveness or given to restraint.

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am gentle and kind and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your soul.

So I looked up the that passage in Greek.  The word there is  “πραύς (praus)
And that word is defined in three different Greek dictionaries as “meek, gentle, kind, forgiving, mild, benevolent, humane”

You can find that same word also in Matthew 5:5,  (The meek shall inherit the earth.) Matthew 21:5, (Where Jesus describes his final entry into Jerusalem as “meek”) and 1st Peter 3:4. (the quality of meekness and quietness of spirit being highly valued by God)

Being gentle, kind, forgiving, benevolent, humane qualifies you as trusted by God to inherit the earth.

Kindness, forgivness, benevolence and a humanitarian response were the qualities of Christ at the time when he received the loudest acclaim and could have been, instead, proud and pleased and flattered.

When you are gentle, kind, forgiving, benevolent and humane, you are acting in a way that is highly valued by your Father in Heaven, the amazing Father who will be our ultimate judge

Obedience that comes from a way of being that includes kindness, gentleness, benevolence, forgivness and humane response (meekness) is different in quality and depth from the obedience that comes just from the other linked attributes of submission or humility or willingness to do good or self-restraint.  There is a power of goodness that is profound when the lost definitions are restored to the existing one.

I think that the contraction of and change in the word “meek” over the centuries has robbed us of something valuable in our reading of scripture.

Interestingly, I think that the men that Elder Bednar referred to in his talk,  Amulek and Pahoran, did incorporate some of those elements; Amulek in his willingness to take in and feed and help Alma when Alma was being persecuted, Pahoran's amazing response to Moroni's scathing remonstrance.

Elder Bednar didn't cover that though, perhaps because the language has changed.  I think that our language has left us with a loss.