[B-Greek] TAUTA and hINA in Jn 15:17
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Fri May 23 14:05:01 EDT 2003
This is an interesting question. I had not thought of the possibility that
hINA here could refer to anything else than the content of the command that
follows, but when I looked at this construction in the context of the Greek
language used in the NT and especially in John, I am not nearly as sure as
Carl is what is the better analysis. Comments below:
> At 7:05 AM -0400 5/23/03, Rbsads at aol.com wrote:
> >Jn 15:17 TAUTA ENTELLOMAI hUMIN, hINA AGAPATE ALLNLOUS
> Carl said: My comments are simply: (1) For what it's worth, I really think
that the
> differences in the English versions has to do with a (IMHO) misguided
> notion that "literal" translation should convey English
> equivalents of each item in the original; the differences may also involve
a notion
> that hINA + subjunctive clauses should normally or invariably be carried
over into
> English as purpose clauses.
Whereas I completely agree that hINA, especially in John, is a consecutive
connector which can mean either purpose or result or consequence or just
content, there are other reasons for suggesting that the case here needs
careful looking into.
(2) TAUTA is commonly used in ancient Greek to
> highlight something that is about to be said, as "What follows is my
> command to you: ..."
I am not aware of how common this is in ancient Greek, but it occurs nowhere
else in the NT.
The common expression when a hOUTOS construction is kataphoric is the kind
we find in
15:12 hAUTH ESTIN hH ENTOLH hH EMH, hINA AGAPATE ALLHLOUS.
This kind of language is especially common in John. The fronted hOUTOS
highlights the content that follows.
Quite often John uses EN TOUTWi in such a kataphoric way (e.g. John 15:8 and
in 1 John)
A singular TOUTO may - rarely - be used in a similar way as in Phil 1:9:
KAI TOUTO PROSEUCOMAI hINA...
I have not been able to find a single case of TAUTA (or any plural
substantive form of hOUTOS) being used in such a kataphoric sense.
Maybe the closest parallel to John 15:17 is in 1 Tim 5:7:
KAI TAUTA PARAGGELLE hINA... I am charging you these things so that...
Coming back to John 15:17, it is interesting that we have the same verb
(ENTELLOMAI) with the same direct (hA - TAUTA) and indirect object (hUMIN)
just above in v. 14:
hUMEIS FILOI MOU ESTE EAN POIHTE hA EGW ENTELLOMAI hUMIN
What are the things Jesus is in the process of commanding his disciples?
Several have been mentioned in 15:1-16: Abide in me (v. 4), abide in my love
(v. 9), love one another (v. 12).
Because we have "the things I am commanding you" in v.14 and "I am
commanding you these things" in v. 17, and because 15-16 is somewhat of a
parenthesis, I would say there are good grammatical reasons to take TAUTA as
anaphoric as is normal in the NT rather than the unique and nowhere else
attested plural kataphoric. In this context it makes sense to say that Jesus
is commanding them these things - abiding in him and in his love from v. 4
and 9 - for the purpose that the disciples may show mutual love. The more
immediate result of the abiding is that they bear fruit, but it seems to me
that Jesus is highlighting mutual love as the most important aspect of that
fruit.
This purpose is at the same time given as a command in v. 12. So, the end
result may not be that different. However, v. 17 is the closing verse of
15:1-17, so it seems fitting for Jesus to say that the whole purpose of
these various commands is that they love one another, because IF they do,
the world will understand and be more ready to accept the gospel message
(13:35).
So, we have two analyses: Either Jesus is repeating the command to love one
another or he is clarifying the overall purpose and intended result of his
teachings and commands to the disciples: that they love one another.
I would say that both are possible, and none are silly.
Iver Larsen
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