[B-Greek] John 6:45

Harold R. Holmyard III hholmyard at ont.com
Tue Dec 21 13:48:22 EST 2004


Dear William,

>KAI ESONTAI PANTES DIDAKTOI QEOU...
>
>So, would you all say 'taught OF (about)' God, or 'taught BY God'? The
>standard translations seem evenly split on this one.

HH: Jesus' words are close to the LXX of Isa 54:13, adding a 
copulative verb, and the LXX in the relevant words is a close 
translation of the Hebrew (QEOU replacing the Hebrew YHWH). The word 
"taught" is an adjective in Greek and Hebrew. John Oswalt's NICOT 
commentary on Isaiah 40-66 translates the line as: "Then all your 
children will be disciples of the Lord." Here are other verses where 
the adjective "taught" occurs in the OT:

Is. 8:16 Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples.

HH: Here the "my" corresponds to "Yahweh" in Isa 54:13, and in 8:16 
the disciples are learning from Isaiah, not about him.

Is. 50:4 The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to 
know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by 
morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.

HH: Here the one taught is learning from God. The adjective occurs 
twice in the verse, the first time as "instructed." In the other two 
verses below the adjective is translated as "accustomed" and is not 
relevant to the discussion:

Jer. 2:24 a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind 
in her craving - in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that 
pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find 
her.

Jer. 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its 
spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.

HH: The context in Isaiah 54 is what God will do, so it is not 
strange to suppose that God will do the teaching. The recently 
translated Holman Christian Standard Bible at Isaiah 54:13 has: "Then 
all your children will be taught by the Lord . . . ."

HH: Also, the context in John 6 has God the Father as the subject:

John 6:44  "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws 
him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:45 It is written in the Prophets:  'They will all be taught by 
God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to 
me. (NIV)

HH: So I have always understand John 6:45 to mean "taught by God." 
The people are drawn by the Father's teaching so that they come to 
Christ in faith.

					Yours,
					Harold Holmyard





>
>William Zeitler
>
>
>---
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