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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