- αἴνιγμα
- αἴνιγμα, ατος, τό (Pind., Aeschyl. et al.; LXX, Philo; Jos., C. Ap. 1, 114f; SibOr 3, 812)① lit. that which requires special acumen to understand because it is expressed in puzzling fashion, riddle PtK 4 p. 15, 31. This sense is preferred by some for 1 Cor 13:12: βλέπομεν διʼ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι (ἔν αἰν. as Athen. 452a; REB: puzzling reflections; NRSV dimly [= indistinctly] but mg. in a riddle). Hugedé may offer the better explanation (see 2 below, at end).② indirect mode of communication. In the context of mirror imagery ἀ. signifies indirect image, and ἐν αἰνίγματι functions as an idiom meaning indirectly. βλέπομεν διʼ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι then gives the sense we see by reflection as in a mirror with emphasis on anticipation of direct personal encounter (cp. Num 12:8 of direct as opp. to oblique communication; Plut., Mor. 382a αἴ. τοῦ θείου refers to inanimate or incorporeal things such as numerals as ‘mirrors’ or ‘models’ for understanding divine matters. Cp. Mor. 12d of Pythagorean maxims, which communicate αἰνίγμασιν=speak in circumlocutions, i.e. ‘ambiguously’ or with ‘double sense’; 370f contrasts Plato’s earlier presentations διʼ αἰνιγμῶν οὐδὲ συμβολικῶς w. his later use of κύρια ὀνόματα ‘plain terms’. On the mirror imagery cp. Mor. 672e.—αἴνιγμα=intimation: Sallust. c. 6 p. 12, 10).—NHugedé, La Métaphore du miroire dans 1 et 2 Cor ’57; other lit. s.v. ἀγάπη 1aα and ἔσοπτρον.—DELG s.v. αἶνος. TW. Sv.
Ελληνικά-Αγγλικά παλαιοχριστιανική Λογοτεχνία. 2015.