Amazed (astonished, astounded, besides one's self) (1839) existemi

Beside (1839) (existemi from ek = out + hístemi = to stand) literally means to stand out from or to stand outside oneself (and thus to be beside oneself). To put out of position, to displace or to change. To remove from its place. For example Aristotle writes "you won't budge (existemi) me from my position on these matters." The NT uses of existemi are all related in some way to the human mind. Richards adds that existemi "suggests astonishment mixed with anxiety, stimulated by extraordinary events that cannot be explained." Existemi means to be amazed, astonished or astounded describing "the feeling of astonishment mingled with fear, caused by events which are miraculous, extraordinary, or difficult to understand." (BDAG) It can describe one who is so astonished almost to the point of failing to comprehend what one has experienced. Existemi can also mean to not be able to reason normally, to become insane, to be out of one's senses, to be beside oneself. Mounce notes that... existemi carries two distinct but related meanings. It can mean confusing, astounding, or terrifying. Its secondary meaning is to be out of one’s senses. (Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan or Computer version) BDAG adds that existemi means to cause to be in a state in which things seem to make little or no sense = confuse, amaze, astound....Out of the sense ‘to become separated from something or lose something’ emerges the psychological sense (the only sense of the intransitive in our literature; for physical disturbance = be out of one’s normal state of mind. (Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature or Wordsearch) Wuest notes that the word "trance" is... the translation of the Greek word ekstasis . This word comes from the verb existemi. The simple verb histemi means “to stand,” the prefixed preposition, “out,” thus, the compound word means “to stand out.” The noun ekstasis thus means “a standing out.” A person in a trance is one who in a sense is standing out of himself. He is actually in his physical body, but his attention has been so engaged by something or someone else that his mind does not register the impressions given him by his senses. He might as well be out of his body so far as recognized sense sensations are concerned. Existemi - 74x in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (Lxx) - 33" class="scriptRef">Ge 27:33; 42:28; 43:33; 45:26; Exod 18:9; 19:18; 23:27; Lev 9:24; 11" class="scriptRef">Josh 2:11; 10:10; Judg 4:15, 21; 12" class="scriptRef">8:12; Ruth 3:8; 13" class="scriptRef">1Sam 4:13; 13:7; 14:15; 16:4; 17:11; 21:1; 28:5; 2 Sam 17:2; 22:15; 1 Kgs 1:49; 9:8; 2 Kgs 4:13; 2 Chr 7:21; 15:6; Job 5:13; 12:17; 26:11; 36:28; Isa 7:2; 10:31; 13:8; 16:3; 28:7; 29:9; 32:11; 33:3; 41:2; 42:14; 52:14; 60:5; Jer 2:12; 4:9; 9:10; 18:16; 49:23; Ezek 2:6; 21:14; 26:16; 27:35; 32:10; Dan 2:1, 3; Hos 3:5; 5:8; 11:10f; Mic 7:17; Hab 3:2; Matt 12:23; Mark 2:12; 3:21; 5:42; 6:51; Luke 2:47; 8:56; 24:22; Acts 2:7, 12; 8:9, 11, 13; 9:21; 10:45; 12:16; 2 Cor 5:13 TDNT writes that existemi occurs in the LXX for many Hebrew words to denote the human reaction to God’s self-revelation (cf. Ex. 18:9; 19:8; Hab. 3:2). (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans or Wordsearch) Existemi - 17x in 17v in NAS - amazed(10), amazement(1), astonished(2), astonishing(1), astounded(1), beside ourselves(1), lost His senses(1). Matthew 12:23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?" MacArthur: Existemi (to be amazed) means to be totally astounded, beside oneself with amazement and wonder. One writer suggests that “it means to be literally knocked out of your senses,” and another that “it means to be out of your mind with amazement.” In ways that we may not fully see from the narrative, this particular miracle was unusually overwhelming, as if Jesus meant to intensify its demonstration of supernaturalness. (Matthew 8-15, Matthew 16-23, Matthew 24-28 or Logos or Wordsearch) Mark 2:12 And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this." JESUS ACCUSED OF BEING OUT OF HIS MIND Mark 3:21 When His own people heard of this (Mk 3:20), they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, "He has lost His senses." Comment: Paul being spiritually out of his mind or beside himself is in "good company" according to Mark where Jesus Himself is accused of being out of His mind by His own family! (As an aside, it is often your family members who will accuse you have lost your marbles when you fall radically in love with Jesus!) Anyone who has made a radical commitment to Christ will at one time or another be accused of being "out of their mind". Others will question your behavior. Even some in church will question your "irrational behavior". D L Moody was known as "Crazy Moody" because of his zeal to see lost souls come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Lord, may his tribe increase! Amen Mark 5:42 Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. (Literally = out of their minds with great amazement) Mark 6:51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, (astonishment because of amazement or fear) Luke 2:47 And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. Luke 8:56 Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened. Luke 24:22 "But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, Acts 2:7 They were amazed and astonished (thaumazo), saying, "Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" Acts 8:9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great...11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts....13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. Acts 9:21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, "Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?" Acts 10:45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. Acts 12:16 But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. 2 Corinthians 5:13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. Plummer highlights the difficulty of interpreting this verse writing that a... reasonable suggestion is that existemi refers to his self-commendation, which his critics said amounted to a mania. Cf. "To glory out of season is to sound the same note as madness” (Pind. Ol. ix. 39)...Other suggestions are: (1) Existemi refers to the vigour with which the Apostle followed his own advice of being ‘instant in season and out of season’ (2Ti 4:2) in proclaiming the word. ...(2) He is referring to the comments made on the letter which he sent between 1Corinthians and this Epistle—the severe letter, about the effects of which he was so anxious. If 10–13. formed part of that letter, some Corinthians might easily say, “The man must be mad”; and he himself foresaw the possibility (2Co 11:1, 16, 12:6). Herveius seems to agree with Augustine in restricting the reference to ecstasy.... All that is certain is that existemi refers to exceptional, and sophroneo to ordinary conditions, and that these two cover the whole of his behaviour, which, therefore, is never self-seeking. Constable summarizes the difficulties as follows... What Paul meant by the charge of being beside himself, and its opposite, being of sound mind, could and probably does include all the following possibilities. Some critics apparently attacked him for his teaching that differed from mainstream Judaism, his ecstatic experiences, and his ceaseless service. To this his response was, “That is for God to judge” (cf. 2Co 5:9–11). Other critics may have thought him crazy for speaking in tongues and having visions (cf. Acts 22:17, 18, 19, 20, 21). For Paul, that was a matter between him and God (cf. 1Co 14:2). Occasionally Paul may have appeared carried away with his emotions, but that conduct only resulted in God’s glory. His self-commendation may have looked like lunacy to some in Corinth, but Paul was only defending God’s cause. To the Jews the apostle’s conversion marked him as a madman, but that change of mind was a totally rational decision. Jesus’ critics had misjudged Him too. (2 Corinthians Expository Notes) Jamieson feels that... The glorifying of his office was not for his own, but for God’s glory. The abasing of himself was in adaptation to their infirmity, to gain them to Christ (1Co 9:22). (2Corinthians 5 Commentary) Charles Hodge The apostle means to say that whether he was extravagant or moderate, whether he exceeded the bounds of discretion, as his enemies asserted, or whether he was sober and discreet, it was not for himself. He had in view only the glory of God and the good of his church, and therefore the Corinthians might safely vindicate him from the aspersions of the false teachers. Whether the extravagance or insanity referred to here consisted in his self-commendation or in his zeal and devotion is a matter of dispute. The former is the more probable, both because in the immediate context he had been speaking about that subject and because in chapters 11 and 12 he speaks so much about his commending himself, although it was forced upon him, as a kind of folly or insanity. In those chapters the madness he accuses himself of was self-praise; and the sanity or soberness that he wanted to display was moderation in speaking about himself and his labors. Paul, therefore, in this passage is most naturally understood to mean that whether he praised himself or not, he spoke not for himself but for God and his people. (2 Corinthians 5 Commentary) Adam Clarke It is to God - If we do appear, in speaking of the glories of the eternal world, to be transported beyond ourselves, it is through the good hand of our God upon us, and we do it to promote his honour. Whether we be sober - Speak of Divine things in a more cool and dispassionate manner, it is that we may the better instruct and encourage you. (2 Corinthians 5 Commentary) Joseph Beet Gone-out-of-our-mind: become mad. These strange words can be accounted for only as being actually spoken by his enemies. The relatives of Christ said (Mk 3:21) the same of Him. We can well conceive that Paul’s ecstatic visions, (2Co 12:2ff, ) his transcendental teaching, which to many would seem absurd, his reckless daring in face of peril, and his complete rejection of all the motives which rule common men, would lead some to say and even to believe that he was not in full possession of his senses. The same has been said in all ages about similar men. For God: to work out His purposes. Of sound mind: exact opposite of madness. Same contrast in Mk 5:15; Ac 26:25. For you: to do you good. If, as our enemies say, we are mad, we have become so in order to serve God and do His work. And, therefore, our very madness claims respect. If we are men of sound sense we use our sense, not, as most others do, to enrich ourselves, but to do you good Paul thus appeals to his readers’ observation of his conduct. They knew that where human prudence might condemn his recklessness his purpose was to serve God; and that whatever mental power he possessed was used for the good of others. (2 Corinthians 5 Commentary) If we are of sound mind, it is for you - This most likely describes times when Paul was simply teaching in a calm manner. His goal was to edify and equip the saints at Corinth. In sum, if things I do look insane to some, I am doing them for God. If other things I do look sane and sober minded, I am doing those things for your sake. Paul is showing that there is a place for defending yourself in ministry -- If it is done for God's glory and if it is done for the benefit of the saints.

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Amazed (astonished, astounded, besides one's self) (1839) existemi

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