John 1
Polycarp66 at aol.com
Polycarp66 at aol.com
Wed Aug 28 13:25:56 EDT 2002
In a message dated 8/28/2002 9:03:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
jburke at sprint.net.au writes:
Hi Lew,
>
In John 1:3 the word 'him' was translated 'it' until the Rheims Bible of the
late 1500's. When we go to verse 5 the same word is translated 'it' and in
verse 4, 10,11 and 12 the same word is translated as 'him'. To me it is
obvious that the subject is light, especially in verse 10. Should the word
be translated 'him' or 'it' as it is done elsewhere such as Matt.13:19; Mark
4:19,20; and more particularly Luke 11:28.
>
Actually, the way it reads to me is that the LOGOS is the subject, then what
the LOGOS became. The LOGOS was with God, and was God, then the LOGOS was
made flesh.
But since a LOGOS is an impersonal subject (there's not even any
personification here), it is the LOGOS which I would translate 'it' to verse
5.
As for what the LOGOS became, I would translate that 'he', because the LOGOS
(the impersonal rational thought, the Divine utterance), has now become a
physical reality - has in fact become a person.
I see no difference between the use of the LOGOS here and the extensive use
of the DAVAR in the Old Testament. The usage is identical.
Genesis 1 is the first place in which the DAVAR becomes anything - and it
becomes light at the beginning of the creation, and flesh and the end (very
much like John 1).
In short, I would treat the LOGOS here in the same way that I would treat
the DAVAR of the Old Testament. It's clearly talking about the same
subject - call it the DAVAR of God, or the LOGOS of God, it's still the word
of God.
___________________________________________
In Greek they would not have thought so much of 'it' or 'he'. The gender of
the pronoun is determined by the noun which it represents (as I'm sure you
know). In English, however, gender is not determined so much by grammatical
gender as by actual physical gender. Things are animate or inanimate. If
they are inanimate they are 'it', and if they are animate they are 'he' or
'she'. There are, of course, exceptions. Ships are 'she'. Countries are
'fatherlands'. The point is that the problem is with English, not with the
Greek. I would say use whatever "floats your boat" and makes it clear that
the same LOGOS is being referred to throughout.
gfsomsel
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