John 1.5 - try again

Kimmo Huovila kimmo.huovila at helsinki.fi
Thu Jan 13 12:39:41 EST 2000


"Joe A. Friberg" wrote:

> Namely, the pres./ao. contrast highlights the continuous shining of the
> light in spite of any or all attempts of the darkness to in any way grasp
> it.  The neg. + ao. highlights the inability/complete failure of the
> darkness in its contest with the light.  Perhaps this contrast is the
> primary meaning to be grasped from the use of the tenses, rather than a
> particular time frame. This contrast is usually brought out in translation
> however the verse is translated:
<snip>
> - ...darkness did not attempt to overpower the light (Kimmo Huovila)

This one was an attempt to render the sense if KATALAMBANW had been in
the imperfective aspect (present or imperfect). I realize I was quite
ambiguous in my previous posting, sorry. I was trying to illustrate the
constrast between the aspects. The aorist allows for attempts, but not
successful ones, whereas an imperfective (in the negative) denies the
process altogether.

Kimmo




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