The Epistolary Plural in 1 John 1:4?

Ilvgrammta at aol.com Ilvgrammta at aol.com
Tue Jan 4 20:10:01 EST 2000


In a message dated 00-01-04 17:56:43 EST, cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu writes:

<< Wherefore, I still must say
 that the use of the plural in this situation is not at all uncommon (even
 in alternation with a first-person singular), enough so that one needs to
 show some convincing evidence that there's a different reason for use of
 the first-plural here in 1 John than customary usage >>

Dear Carl,

Thanks for your input. I am inclined to think that we have a literary 
(epistolary) plural in 1 John 1:4. You have answered my question about the 
prevalence of this usage and this provides me with a nice starting point for 
research. Other candidates for this convention seem to be 1 Thess. 2:18; 3:1, 
2 (cf. 3:5).

Edgar Foster





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