The "
idiom" of "
gnashing of the teeth" appears in the Bible. This phrase appears
9 times in the
GNT (Greek New Testament) and
5 times in the
LXX (Septuagint). In the
LXX the phrase appears to be related to "
anger" against someone else.
The English word "
gnashing" does not quite express the idea (unless one uses a hard "
g" sound), but the ancient Greek word
"βρυγμος" ≈ "gnash". The modern Greek word
"βρύγμος" (VREE-gmos) ≈ "gnash". Try saying it a few times - fast. The modern Greek word for tooth is
"δόντι" (THON-tee) ≈ "tooth" from which we get the English word "
dental" and "
orthodontist".
The phrase appears to have a more restricted meaning when used by Jesus in the
GNT in that it appears to be "
anger" against oneself as in "
regret" in a counterfactual sense. This is in a similar sense of how Jesus use the word "
offend" as "
entrap" in the sense of "
misinterpret".
It appears that the phrase "
gnashing of teeth" has to do with someone who "
thought" they were correct but gets surprised. This idea appears on the narrow and wide gates, the parable of the sheep and goats, etc. Let us investigate.
[gristmills]