John 2:23
Ben and Jo Crick
ben.crick at argonet.co.uk
Thu Apr 4 16:04:30 EST 2002
On Wed 3 Apr 2002 (13:28:32), backusfam1 at bluefrognet.net wrote:
> My question is in regard to John 2:23 as to the use of the dative
> plural of the word Jerusalem in the Greek text. Why is this in the
> plural form? In numerous other passages the singular form is used,
> but for some reason he used the plural here. Can you shed some light
> on this? I understand that the word Jerusalem undergoes a certain
> Hellenisation, but why use a plural form as a referent? I checked the
> critical apparatus in some of the Greek texts, as well as the various
> Greek texts, and they all use the same plural form, so I know that it
> is not a textual variant. I would appreciate any help you could
> provide.
Dear Vance,
IMHO the simplest explanation is that the Hebrew YeRuW$aLaYiM is not the
Hebrew Singular form, but the grammatical *Dual* form. As Greek does not
distinguish between the Dual and the Plural Number, the Greek transcriber
of "Jerusalem" makes it plural.
ERRWSQE
Ben
--
Revd Ben Crick BA CF, and Mrs Joanna (Goodwin) Crick
<ben.crick at argonet.co.uk>
232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm
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