[B-Greek] Revelation 13:18
George F. Somsel
gfsomsel at juno.com
Tue Jul 6 13:21:57 EDT 2004
On Mon, 5 Jul 2004 20:36:04 EDT EgwEimi at aol.com writes:
>
> 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
> ---
The author tells us precisely what the number stands for. It is not any
particular individual but "Man" -- man writ large.
george
gfsomsel
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