goodness

How would you define goodness? This week, we encounter two different words that can be translated as good in the Gospel According to
Matthew 7:17. I’ve translated this verse as: “In this way, every good tree makes quality fruits, but the rotten tree makes wicked fruits.”

The first word used to describe the trees is ἀγαθός (agathos), a word that is roughly equivalent in meaning to the English word good. It originally had strong moral connotations.

The second adjective that modifies fruit I’ve translated as “quality.” This word, καλός (kalos), has a root meaning of beautiful. From that meaning, it also can mean of fine quality or even good in the moral sense. The Greeks regarded beauty as a great virtue, much more than we do today.

Why do you think moral terminology associated with goodness is being used in this image to describe a tree and its fruit?

related topics: righteousness; worthy

you also may like our study of Saul, David & Solomon (digital only)
The United Kingdom of Israel: Saul, David & Solomon Foreshadow Christ the King, a 28-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, provides an in-depth look at the First and Second Books of Samuel to learn how the lives of the monarchs Saul, David, and Solomon point ahead to the kingdom of heaven. The unified reign of King David is seen as a foreshadowing or type of the unity that is one of the four marks of the Church—the kingdom of God—established by Jesus Christ. Click here to view a sample of the first lesson.

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