1 John 5:20 - who is hOUTOS?

GregStffrd at aol.com GregStffrd at aol.com
Fri Aug 28 10:42:01 EDT 1998


In a message dated 8/27/98 9:48:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
spiffy at learningstar.com writes:

<< Normally, hOUTOS refers to an immediate antecedent. Does that mean that
 hOUTOS in 1 John 5:20 is referring to IHSOU CRISTWi, or does it refer to TON
 ALHQINON?
 
 Kyle Dillon >>

hOUTOS may have an anaphoric, deictic, contrastive or cataphoric reference. I
don't know that hOUTOS *normally* refers to an immediate antecedent. Each
instance must be analyzed in view of its own context, both immediate and
larger. 

In 2 John 7 we have a case where hOUTOS does not refer to the immediate
antecedent. In John 11:4 hAUTH hH ASTHENEIA refers to the cognate verb in
verses 1, 2, and 3. In this case the noun that follows hAUTH points out the
natural antecedent. 

I believe the same is true in 1 John 5:20, where hO ALHTHINOS, following
hOUTOS, refers to the TON ALHTHINON . . . TWi ALHTHINWi of the previous verse.
Others take a different view and consider IHSOU CHRISTOU as the reference. 

This issue, as it relates to 1 John 5:20, was discussed at some length a few
months ago. You may want to check the archives. 

Greg Stafford



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