Every branch that does bear fruit he PRUNES

[tonychanyt]

Leviticus 25:

3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits,

LXX used τεμείς. Wiki τέμνω:

1. to cut, hew
2. to maim, wound
3. to butcher, sacrifice
4. to cut down, reap
5. to cut through, advance, drive through, plow through

τέμνω meant physical pruning.




Now in the NT, John 15:

2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

This was a different Greek word.

Strong's Greek: 2508. καθαίρω (kathairó) — 1 Occurrence

BDAG:

① to cause someth. to become clean, make clean, lit., of a place that has been swept

② to remove superfluous growth from a plant, clear, prune of a vine (cp. Philo, Agr. 10, Somn. 2, 64) J 15:2.—DELG s.v. καθαρός. M-M. TW.

G2508 had double meanings.

3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

The pruning cleanses us from dead (unproductive) works and makes us more efficient to produce more fruit. That's the process of sanctification and walking in the Spirit.

Gal 5:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23a gentleness, self-control.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Leviticus 25:


LXX used τεμείς. Wiki τέμνω:

1. to cut, hew
2. to maim, wound
3. to butcher, sacrifice
4. to cut down, reap
5. to cut through, advance, drive through, plow through

τέμνω meant physical pruning.




Now in the NT, John 15:


This was a different Greek word.

Strong's Greek: 2508. καθαίρω (kathairó) — 1 Occurrence

BDAG:

① to cause someth. to become clean, make clean, lit., of a place that has been swept

② to remove superfluous growth from a plant, clear, prune of a vine (cp. Philo, Agr. 10, Somn. 2, 64) J 15:2.—DELG s.v. καθαρός. M-M. TW.

G2508 had double meanings.


The pruning cleanses us from dead (unproductive) works and makes us more efficient to produce more fruit. That's the process of sanctification and walking in the Spirit.

Gal 5:

Not sure if you mean to imply something by the difference in the two words or what...

Regardless, there is pretty obviously some overlap here, no?

 

[tonychanyt]

Regardless, there is pretty obviously some overlap here, no?

Yes, their meanings overlap. τεμείς stressed on the physical cutting while καθαίρω had a broader meaning to include cleansing.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Yes, their meanings overlap. τεμείς stressed on the physical cutting while καθαίρω had a broader meaning to include cleansing.

If I'm remembering right, of the second, καθαίρω, my father, a Koine master of rather some authority, (I really liked his way of understanding language use, and his practical skepticism concerning the 'too sure' way of others to glom onto a meaning), said that it can even mean, "props up".

 

[tonychanyt]

If I'm remembering right, of the second, καθαίρω, my father, a Koine master of rather some authority,

John 15:1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser."

said that it can even mean, "props up".

That's not the lexical meaning but an interpretation.