[B-Greek] hO QEOS FWS ESTIN
AJBIRCH
AJBIRCH at terra.es
Tue Feb 15 16:19:51 EST 2005
Dear B-Greekers,
Charles Rempel wrote:
"Question Part 1
1 John 1:5 says that God is light, O QEOS FWS ESTIN.
What aspect of this verse can be understood as literal, if any? To what degree is the metaphor based upon the literal? Or must it be understood only as metaphor?"
A few thoughts:
(1) This somehow feels like a 'trick-question' - no offense implied. We're all going to say that it's metaphorical, and then Charles will give us his Part 2, which might be something like, 'What about 1 John 4:8, 16: hO QEOS AGAPH ESTIN? Is that metaphorical too?' (I'm just guessing, obviously.)
(2) The question seems to have more to do with Hermeneutics than with the Greek as such.
(3) If light is considered something basically physical, in what sense could hO QEOS FWS ESTIN be anything other than metaphorical, when referring to, essentially, a non-physical being?
(4) The immediate context seems to suggest a strongly moral meaning for both FWS and SKOTIA (holiness and sin?).
Andrew J. Birch
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
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