Fw: Revelation 3:14 hH ARCH- the Beginning or the Origin,the ...

GregStffrd at aol.com GregStffrd at aol.com
Tue May 15 14:11:04 EDT 2001


In a message dated 05/15/2001 10:44:57 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
virgilsalvage1 at msn.com writes:

<< >    As someone has mentioned on this list in the past, the context will
 point
 > us to which meaning we should refer to that can be indicated by a
 particular
 > word. Since creation, or beginnings and such " doctrines " are clearly not
 > the subject at hand in Revelation 3, I think it is compelling that we take
 > ARCH here to mean ruler, authority, leading one...the One with whom we
 have
 > to do as it were. This meaning fits the context in that it has to do with
 > relationship, don't you think ? >>


Dear Virgil, et al:

This issue was discussed in the archived discussion of a few months back. 
There it was noted that when ARCH is used for "ruler" in the NT then it is 
always accompanied by terms denoting "power," or "authority," neither of 
which are present here. 

Additionally, ARCWN is the common word for "ruler" in the NT, and, in fact, 
John uses it in Revelation 1:5, ARCWN TWN BASILEWS THS GHS. Had "ruler" been 
intended in 3:14 then either John or his translator could have simply used 
ARCWN. 

Elsewhere in Revelation ARCH always means beginning. There does not seem to 
be any grammatical or semantic reason for preferring "ruler" over "beginning" 
in Revelation 3:14.

Best regards,

Greg Stafford



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