[B-Greek] John 18:37 EK THS ALHQEIAS

Iver Larsen iver at larsen.dk
Tue Nov 15 14:48:29 EST 2005


>
> "Why can't [lit. "don't"] you understand my teaching? Because you can't hear
> my word. You are from (EK) your father the Devil, and it's your father's
> cravings (pl. EPIQUMIA) that you want to carry out."
>
> [This can be taken in the sense you propose, but notice that Jesus can also
> just as easily be taken to mean that they are emissaries from the Devil and
> that they have been sent to carry out what he craves--which is to destroy
> Jesus. That is, after all, what ends up happening, following on "the Devil
> entered him" (Judas)]

I don't think this is what John intends. According to BAGD EK used with EINAI regularly has the sense of "belonging to". 
It is not the possessive sense, but more of a partitive sense. That these people are EK their father the Devil, is more 
a description of them as being like the Devil. They belong to his camp. The whole context indicates much more than 
emissaries, namely a description of them.

>
> "That one was a murderer from the beginning, and he doesn't stand in the
> truth, because truth isn't in him.
>
> [Once again, there is the spatial metaphor. The truth is like a territory on
> whose soil the Devil has never stood.]

Rather, he does not have the quality of truth. He is not truthful.

>
> Whenever he tells lies (hOTAN LALHi TO YEUDOS), he's speaking from (EK) his
> own nature, because he's a liar, and so is his father [?!]. But because I am
> telling the truth, you don't believe me. Which one of you (EX hUMWN--second
> sense) criticizes me for sinning? If I'm telling the truth, why don't you
> believe me? The person who is from [EK] God hears God's words. That's why
> you can't hear--because you're not from [EK] God."
>
> [The first of these EK QEOU statements could easily, in John's terminology,
> be referring to Jesus himself (Jn 5:30), in which case the sense is, "If you
> had come from God as I have, you would hear God's words as I do".]

No, it cannot refer to Jesus himself. The devil is described as the father (orginator) of lies (It is not the father of 
the devil who is a liar). He speaks lies and he is a liar.
The Pharisees in this passage belong to that camp.
People who are EK God, belong to God's camp. Jesus is described as the truth, and it is only those who have come to 
believe in him, who also are of the truth or of God. Although EK can mean "from", the context here suggests that it is 
not origin, but being part of or belonging to a particular camp.

> I think your sense is possible--but the key question is: is there any
> unwelcome consequence of understanding the sense as I have?

To me the key question is: Is your understanding what John had in mind. I don't think so, and the various English 
translations don't agree with you.

Iver Larsen




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