[B-Greek] Word Order in John 1:1
Steve Klemetti
sklemetti at softhome.net
Fri Oct 24 23:19:12 EDT 2003
bertdehaan at gosympatico.ca wrote:
> John 1:1 EN ARCHi HN hO LOGOS, KAI hO LOGOS HN PROS TON QEON, KAI QEOS HN hO LOGOS.
> I read somewhere that the word order of the last phrase here (KAI QEOS HN hO LOGOS) is what makes QEOS definite.
> I quess this is due to emphasis. Context would have a bearing on whether QEOS is definite or indefinite, would it not?
> It also said that if the subject and the predicate had been reversed, (KAI hO LOGOS HN QEOS) this phrase would mean; 'and the word was a god'. Is this true?
I haven't heard that. But I do know that the absence of the article shows that it is
at predicate and quality.
The meaning of John 1:1
An Exegetical Grammer Of The Greek New Testament William D Chamberlain
page 57
d. A qualitative force is often expressed by the absence of the article: en tois propsetais
(Heb. 1:1), 'in the prophets,' calls attention to a particular group, while en uio (Heb. 1:2), 'in son,' calls attention to the
rank of the Son as a 'spokesman' for God. The ARV in trying to bring out the force of this phrase translates it, 'in his Son,' italicizing 'his.'
e. The predicate of a sentence may be recognized by the absence of the article: theos en ho logos
(Jn. 1:1), the Word was God; kai ho logos sarz egento (Jn. 1:14), 'And the Word became
flesh'; esontai oi eschatoi protoi (Mt. 20 :16), 'the last shall be first.' The article with each of
these predicate nouns would equate them and make them interchangeable, e. g., ho
theos en ho logos would make God and the Word identical. The effect of this can be
seen in ho theos agape estin (1 Jn. 4 :8), 'God is love.' As the sentence now stands
'love' describes a primary quality of God; the article he with agape would make
God and love equivalents, e. g., God would possess no qualities not subsumed under love.
AN EXEGETICAL GRAMMAR 0F THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT
William D Chamberlain
Since it was first published in 1941, this standard intermediate-level textbook has successfully bridged the gulf in students' minds between a knowledge of
grammatical facts and their application to exegesis
The author sought to "condense, arrange or simplify the works of the great pioneers in the grammatical field, so as to give a convenient handbook to the
seminary student."
A concise introduction to exegesis precedes chapters on building a Greek vocabulary, the parts of speech and their function, clauses, and sentences.
BRUCE M. METZGER has recommended this book "as a comprehensive and helpful grammar written to enable the average minister to feel at home in the Greek New
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study of the New Testament."
WILLIAM F. ARNDT has written: "To all pastors and theological students who would like to review the chief grammatical facts pertaining to the Greek of the New
Testament and who are looking for a
somewhat new approach, we cordially recommend this book."
William D. Chamberlain was professor of New Testament language and literature at the Louisville Presbyterian Seminary when he wrote this volume.
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