[B-Greek] use of EK in 1 John 4.13 & EN in v16

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Mon Feb 24 04:24:01 EST 2003


>
> Since you mentioned the NET Bible, I though I would add its comments on
> EN in 1 Jn 3.16:

Thanks, Steve. I had not checked the NET Bible comment for this verse. It
looks like a different person came up with this note than the one who made
the note I was referring to (from Romans).
>
> "tn The force of the preposition EN (en) in the phrase EN hHMIN (en
> hemin) in 4:16a is disputed: although (1) 'for' (in the sense of 'on
> behalf of') is possible and is a common English translation, the other
> uses of the same phrase in 4:9 (where it refers to God’s love for us)
> and 4:12 (where it refers to God’s indwelling of the believer) suggest
> that (2) the author intends to emphasize interiority here—a reference
> to God’s love expressed in believers. This is confirmed by the only
> other uses in 1 John of the verb ECW (echo) with the preposition EN
> (3:15 and 5:10) both of which literally mean something in someone."
> ============

I would certainly disagree with the arguments set forth in this note, since
I think they are superficial and misguided, and they do not adequately
consider the context of the verses mentioned. In addition, I don't think
"for" has the sense "on behalf of" in this verse. If we say "God has love
for us" it does not mean that God has love on behalf of us, but that God
loves us.

One cannot just look at the phrase EN hHMIN (which occurs 8 times in 1
John). We would need to look at the semantic participants in the verbal
idea. The note appears to do that in part by referring to other places where
ECW is used with EN (but not EN hHMIN), but we would need to look at the
subject for ECW also. So, let me address the references mentioned in the
note to check if they support what it is claimed they support.

4:9 EN TOUTWi EFANERWQH hH AGAPH TOU QEOU EN hHMIN hOTI TON hUION AUTOU TON
MONOGENH APESTALKEN hO QEOS EIS TON KOSMON hINA ZHSWMEN DI' AUTOU

Now, the phrase EN TOUTWi is famous in 1 John. It is often used as here to
foreshadow and emphasize a following clause or sentence. The phrase looks
forward to the content of the hOTI clause which is similar in content to
John 3:16: God sent his only son into the world to save us. (And John 3:16
indicates that this action shows the greatness of God's love). The question
is basically whether to take EN hHMIN with the noun hH AGAPH or the verb
EFANERWQH. To me, the context favours the connection with the verb, because
the hOTI clause talks about God as subject manifesting his love for us (the
world) by sending his only son to save us. It is IN/BY THIS ACTION (EN
TOUTWi) that God's love for us was manifested/shown. In John 3:16 the world
(us) is the direct object for the verb "love".

My suggestion is that when the verb "love" (AGAPAW) is changed to an
abstract noun (AGAPH), the semantic roles have to be supplied by
prepositions. For the recipient of that love, either EIS or EN are used in
the GNT. Paul uses EIS 5 times (Rom 5:8, 2 Cor 2:8, Eph 1:15, Col 1:4, 1 Th
3:12) and EN once (2 Cor 8:7 - the better reading here is not THi EX hHMWN
EN hUMIN AGAPHi, but THi EX hUMWN EN hHMIN AGAPHi). Peter uses EIS once in 1
Pet 4:8.
It is also commonly agreed that EN has taken over much of the turf of EIS in
Koine Greek, and I think especially among those who think partly in Hebrew
as John does. It is relevant that in 1 John we find the preposition EIS 9
times, but EN 79 times, a ratio of 1:9. In Romans, for instance, the ratio
is 1:1.5. I don't want to put too much emphasis on that kind of statistics,
just to indicate that EN may well have taken over some turf from EIS in 1
John. But even Paul used EN at least once to indicate the recipient with the
noun AGAPH.

4:12 EAN AGAPWMEN ALLHLOUS, hO QEOS EN hHMIN MENEI KAI hH AGAPH AUTOU EN
hHMIN TETELEIWMENH

This verse is quite parallel to the contents of John 15. The topic is mutual
love among Christians. If that mutual love is present, then God abides in us
and his love has reached its goal/perfection. Here, I would be open to both
interpretations. Either (1) "his love in/among us" refers to Godly love that
we show one another, or (2) "his love for us" may indicate that God has
reached his goal in sending his son and showing his love for us when we show
that same love to others. It depends how you understand TELEIOW. From the
other uses of this verb in John, I would take option (1) as most likely, so
the subject who is showing love is not God, but us. Therefore EN hHMIN plays
a different semantic role here as opposed to 4:9 and 4:16.

3:15 OIDATE hOTI PAS ANQRWPOKTONOS OUK ECEI ZWHN AIWNION EN AUTWi MENOUSAN

This verse is not in any way parallel to 4:16, because the pronoun refers
back to the subject. Whether a murderer has eternal life abiding in him is
quite different from God having love EN hHMIN.

5:10 hO PISTEUWN EIS TON hUION TOU QEOU ECEI THN MARTURIAN EN (E)AUTWi

Again, whether a believer has the testimony in him(self) is very different
from God having love EN hHMIN.

I suggest the NET Bible people look carefully at that footnote again.

Iver Larsen



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