Pt1-10-PAIDAGOGOS

PAIDAGOGOS

"WHEREFORE the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster"--(Galatians 3:24-25).

"Schoolmaster" is the rendering in the Authorised Version of the Greek word which appears as the title of this chapter. In the Revised Version "tutor" is given as the translation; Weymouth has "tutor-slave"; and Moffatt paraphrases: "The Law thus held us as wards in discipline." It is well for us to appreciate the difficulty of the translators, which arises from the fact that we have no one word in English which adequately represents the Greek term, nor have we any recognised class of persons who exercise the functions implied by it. Our word "pedagogue" is used in the sense of "teacher", and is derived from the Greek paidagogos, but, as often happens with words, the derivative has moved from the meaning of the parent term.

Breaking the word into its component parts, we find that it is formed from pais, a boy, and ago, I lead. just as we frequently hear men referred to as boys, sometimes pais was used of a man in the position of a slave. It may be that our English word "page" (a boy attending a person of rank) carries this meaning over to English, for some philologists think that "page" is derived from paidion, a diminutive of pais. In harmony with these facts, Classical usage of the term paidagogos shows that the person indicated was certainly not a schoolmaster. Nor, indeed, was he a private tutor in our sense of that word.

What, then, were the functions of a paidagogos? He was a guardian, usually a trusty slave hot fitted for hard toil, whose duty it was to take charge of a boy as soon as he left the nursery, and to see that the child did not get into bad habits. He would watch the boy at his meals, and correct his faults in "table-manners". He would keep an eye on the morals of his charge, and deal severely with any delinquencies. Part of his duty was to take the boy to school, perhaps carrying his writing-tablets and other school requisites, and when lessons were over see that he returned safely home. His guardianship did not cease till the boy was entering manhood.

Quotations from Classical authors will be of use in presenting the functions of this boy-leader. In Plato’s Lysis, Socrates comes upon a group of boys "playing together at knuckle-bones, all in their holiday dress". Lysis is one of these boys, and Socrates, engaging him in conversation, twits him with being under the authority of various persons who limit his freedom. The dialogue refers to restraints imposed by parental control, and then a reference to his governor or guardian is made. Socrates reports himself as asking:

"Do they (your parents) let you rule yourself, or not even allow you this? "

"Rule myself! I should think not," said he.

"You have some one to rule you, then?"

"Yes, my governor here."

"Not a slave?"

"Yes, but he is, though, ours."

"Shocking!" I exclaimed "A free man to be ruled by a slave. But how, pray, does this governor exercise his authority? "

"He takes me to school, of course."

"And do you mean to say that they rule you there, too--the schoolmasters?"

"Most certainly they do." The dialogue was continued for a while, and then was abruptly terminated by the appearance of a guardian, who took Lysis off, grumbling at his expostulations in "sad Greek". In Plutarch’s Lives, there is another reference to a Paidagogos. The life of Fabius, the famous Roman Dictator, is under review. Appointed to meet the crisis brought about through Hannibal’s descent upon Italy, Fabius adopted the tactics of delaying a pitched battle until the moment most favourable to himself. His commander of horse, Minucius, eager for action, encouraged a feeling of restlessness among the soldiers, who began to reproach Fabius, "calling him Hannibal’s pedagogue, since he did nothing else but follow him up and down and wait upon him".

These quotations distinguish the Paidagogos from the teacher, and show the difficulty of finding an English equivalent for the word. Apart from Galatians 3:24-25, there is only one other instance of the term in the New Testament. This is in 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, where the Authorised Version gives "instructor" as the translation. Rather is Paul thinking of those guardians, sometimes harsh, who were ever ready to find fault. It has been suggested that Paul was drawing upon his own boyhood experience; whether that be so or not, his words here show a familiarity with these guardian-slaves as a class. His readers, too, would readily appreciate the distinction between these and "fathers", when he says: "You may have thousands to superintend you, but you have not more than one father. It was I who in Christ Jesus became your father by means of the gospel" (Moffatt’s rendering). In the light of the facts thus collated, what is the function of the law indicated in Galatians 3:24-25? That Paul had the Greek and Roman usage of the term in mind seems evident from the fact that he chose the term paidagogos, when a word meaning "teacher" (didaskalos) was ready to hand, especially when we find that the former word is not used in the Greek versions of the Old Testament. One tempting interpretation is that the law acted as a leader for those under its authority to guide them to Christ, the great Teacher. Although the words "to bring us" are not in the Greek text, the idea suggested can be gathered from the etymology of the word "boy-leader" and the construction of the sentence; but the figure of leading to a teacher cannot be pressed. The context is against this view. As the closing words of verse 24 declare, justification, not teaching, is the blessing which is here said to come to the believer in Christ. When, therefore, the law is said to be a paidagogos, the thought is that the law acts as a guardian of morals, exposing faults, revealing to those under its authority that they are sinners in need of justification. The law convicts of sin and brings condemnation, but those under it are thereby led to look for Another for justification-Christ, who is "the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth". Justified by faith, the believer enters into the full status and privileges of sonship.

Thus the passage under consideration is similar in thought to the opening verses of the fourth chapter, which draw an illustration from an heir who is under age. In childhood he is under guardians (epitropos) and trustees (oikonomos), but upon reaching manhood he enjoys freedom in the possessions to which he is heir.