[B-Greek] John 1:18 Direct Discourse?
Harold Holmyard
hholmyard at ont.com
Sat Aug 12 07:08:25 EDT 2006
Dear Jason,
>
> In a book published by Hendrickson Publishers entitled, "A Dictionary of Early
> Christian Biography," on pg.777, end of the first paragraph in the right column, in Origen's biography, it says, and I quote:
>
> "Perhaps it is not less charateristic that he blames those who like Heracleon, hold
> that John 1:16-18 are the words of the evangelist and not the Baptist."
>
> Now, assuming Origen's position that John 1:18 contains the words of John the
> baptist, wouldn't this fit under the category of direct discourse? and thereby allow for
> theos to be understood as the topic of the only begotten's declaration?
>
>
HH: If the Gospel of John were quoting John the Baptist in John 1:16-18,
then the words would be direct discourse, but a free-standing nominative
cannot be the object of the verb.
>
> Also, in the Interlinear that I own (Nestale Aland, translated by Alford D. Lit.) the
> translation underneath eugaletos says, and I quote:
>
> "declared [?him]"
>
> Without understanding theos, and thus ekeinos, as the noun (and pronoun) being
> declared doesn't this leave John 1:18 as an incomplete sentence without any stated
> topic of the Son's declaration at all? Thus causing the translator to write [?him]????
>
HH: This issue is what is causing you the problem, but some verbs don't
require an object because the reference is understood. In English this
can occur with a verbal phrase. The verb EXHGEOMAI can have a basic
meaning of "describe" according to BAGD. The BAGD lexicon offers the
following translation of the phrase EKEINOS EXHGHSATO in John 1:18: "'he
has made known' or 'brought news of' (the invisible God)." One might
also translate the phrase as "that one has given description." The
reader simply understands that "that one" has given description of this
God that no one has ever seen. It is the logical object of the verb
EXHGEOMAI without having to be explicitly stated.
HH: Other glosses for EXHGEOMAI in LSJ include "tell at length, relate
in full, set forth, expound, interpret, explain."
HH: I don't say this for certain, but the reference to a word in one
phrase can sometimes carry over to the next phrase or clause so that the
word does not have to be repeated. It is understood from its first
occurrence. In John 1:18 the author for emphasis has put the word QEON
forward as the first word in the sentence, where it is the object of the
following verb. It is conceivable that to some degree it could carry
over to function as the object of the second verb as well. A simplified
version, using the variant to make it easier, might be: "God no one has
ever seen, but the unique Son has declared."
Yours,
Harold Holmyard
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list