[B-Greek] John 1:18 -- MONOGENhS QEOS
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sat Nov 8 09:16:16 EST 2003
At 9:56 AM -0800 11/7/03, Seth VM wrote:
>Greetings Greekers,
>
>I am somewhat confused by the apparently different greek of John 1:18.
>
>In the textus receptus, John 1:18 is rendered as follows:
>QEON OUDEIS hEWRAKE PWPOTE hO MONOGENhS hUIOS hO WN EIS TON KOLPON TOU PATROS
>EKEINOS EXHGHSATO
>
>Subsequently, the KJV translation renders the preceeding passage as follows:
>"No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the
>bosom of the Father, he hath declared him"
>
>---
>
>However, the NA27 renders John 1:28 much differently:
>QEON OUDEIS EWRAKEN PWPOTE MONOGENhS QEOS hO WN EIS TON KOLPON TOU PATROS
>EKEINOS EXHGHSATO
>
>Among translations, there are still variants to how this is rendered. Some
>will render similarly to the Receptus version by using the term "only
>begotten Son," and others use completely different renderings of the same
>passage.
>
>Depending upon how one translates the NA27 text, one's theology could be
>affected. Is this the "only-begotten of God," or the "only-begotten God" (as
>the NASB renders), or something else???
>
>I would appreciate clarity on this passage and its correct greek meaning.
>Thank you all out there who are able to answer this question.
In the first place, this is indeed a text-critical question and for that
reason, as has been noted in previous respones, outside the parameters of
list-discussion for B-Greek.
Secondly, whether one accepts the TR/MT reading hO MONOGENHS QEOS or the
NA27/UBS reading hO MONOGENHS hUIOS, the real question to be raised is that
of the meaning of MONOGENHS. The current standard view is that it does NOT
mean "only-begotten" but "unique" or "one of a kind," as both L&N and BDAG
indicate, although BDAG also indicates that there are those who continue to
maintain that the sense is "only-begotten." It does seem unlikely that the
TR/MT hO MONOGENHS QEOS should mean "only-begotten god."
Thirdly, theological implications--those going beyond what the Greek text
clearly indicates--also lie outside the parameters of B-Greek discussion. I
think, however, that the voluminous correspondence on the Johannine
prologue in this forum, especially on John 1:1c (KAI QEOS HN hO LOGOS) has
indicated that there's more than one perspective on the meaning of QEOS in
the prologue
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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