[B-Greek] Revelation 13:18
EgwEimi at aol.com
EgwEimi at aol.com
Mon Jul 5 20:36:04 EDT 2004
In a message dated 7/5/2004 2:03:45 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
ronpt at comcast.net writes:
This question concerns the explanatory clause ARIQMOS GAR ANQRWPOU
ESTIN, in which both nouns are anarthrous. John has used the term
"number" three times in this verse and the two others have teh definite
article. How would this best be understood grammatically, and I have
read the comments of Wallace in GGBTB.
The generic "it" should be regarded as the subject.
"It is a person's number" is a worthwhile translation,
although "it is the number of a person" is reasonable;
both say the same thing.
In context, the number belongs to a designated human
being, called the "wild animal" (QHRIOS), whose
number can be calculated (YHFISATW, ..."should
calculate..."). This is the number represented by a
person's name (v. 17).
The passage does not name any particular person, but
the description of this wild animal is supposed to
enable the first century reader to identify him. This
identification, though, is more a matter of the structure
and nature of the work than of the Greek language,
per se.
Frank
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