God so loved the world
boyd at huxcomm.net
boyd at huxcomm.net
Thu May 2 09:58:16 EDT 2002
Iver,
I appreciate your comments as always. I'll just comment on a few
things that you mentioned.
Iver said:
<<Concerning the other comment about hOUTWS occurring with
hWSTE *regularly* expressing a manner other than one of high
degree, I would like to see the evidence. I could find only once
place in the GNT where the two occur together in the same
sentence, namely Acts 14:1 KAI LALHSAI hOUTWS hWSTE
He spoke in such an extraordinary/powerful way that a great
number believed.>>
Gundry and Howell put some restrictions on their search. First,
they were going to look for usage of "hOUTWS . . . hWSTE where
each word in this combination is construed with a finite verb" (p.
25). They recognize that this only occurs in the GNT in John 3:16,
so their material comes from outside the GNT. They say, "To keep
the discussion in bounds, selections come from passages in
Demosthenes, Josephus, Philo, and Epictetus cited in lexicons for
the meaning of high degree or translated with that understanding in
the Loeb Classical Library" (p. 25).
Iver wrote:
<<Jn 13:25 ANAPESWN OUN EKEINOS hOUTWS EPI TO
STHQOS TOU IHSOU LEGEI AUTWi How did he recline/lie at
table/lean back? He did it against the breast of Jesus. So
hOUTWS refers forward as well as indicating a further description
of the main verb.>>
Gundry and Howell discuss this text, saying, "hOUTWS refers
back to the beloved disciple's reclining in Jesus' bosom according
to v. 23. Because of the intervening material in v. 24, the reclining
is repeated in v. 25, with a typically Johannine use of synonymous
expression, to make clear the referent of hOUTWS" (p. 33).
They say that John 21:1 is "the only possible prospective use of
hOUTWS in John's gospel" (p. 33).
Iver wrote:
<<In the case of Jn 3:16, the context also indicates that hOUTWS
refers forward as well as describing the main verb HGAPHSEN.
How did God love? He did it by giving his only Son.>>
Iver, one of the best things about explaining someone else's work
is that one doesn't need to agree with it. I simply referred Richard
to this article because I thought he would find it interesting. As for
myself, I would agree with you that hOUTWS describes how God
loved, so that the main thrust is "God loved in this way . . ."
Although perhaps Carl's translation, "God loved the world such that
. . ." captures the ambiguity of the Greek.
As to the question of whether this is John's editorial on Jesus'
words or not, I don't really see how that makes a whole lot of
difference either way.
Jonathan Boyd
Huxley, IA
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