[B-Greek] Comparing John 1:18 & 1John 4:12
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Sun Aug 13 07:09:30 EDT 2006
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jason Kerrigan" <jasonandshon at yahoo.com>
To: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 7:53 PM
Subject: [B-Greek] Comparing John 1:18 & 1John 4:12
> There is a very interesting comparison that can be made when comparing John 1:18
> with 1John 4:12.
>
> John 1:18 says, "theon oudeis heoraken popote monogenes" (God no-man has-seen
> at-any-time the-only-begotten)
>
> 1John 4:12 says, "theon oudeis popote tetheatai ean agapomen" (God no-man at-any-
> time has-beheld if we-love)
>
> The NIV translates 1John 4:12 as, "No one has ever seen God; but if we love" (bold
> letters mine)
>
> By the same standard used to translate 1John 4:12 in the NIV couldn't John 1:18
> be translated as, "No man has seen God at any time but/except the only begotten"?
>
> We see this implication in some Ante Nicene quotations:
>
> "As it is written in the Gospel: 'No man has seen God at any time, except the only-
> begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father; He has declared him." (- Irenaeus,
> Ante Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, pg.489)
>
> And, "It is also supported by the scripture: 'No man has seen God at any time,
> except the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father.'" (- Disputation
> of Archelaus and Manes, Ante Nicene Fathers Vol.6, pg.205)
Yes, it would be legitimate to make the implied contrast explicit by adding a "but". NIV, NLT and NCV are some of the
English versions that do exactly that. It is common in Hebrew thought pattern to first state a general principle and
after that list one or more exceptions. And it is clear from this whole chapter that Jesus, the one-and-only Son was
with God and had obviously seen God in contrast to every human being. That is why Jesus was able to explain/show/make
God known to humans.
Of course, we have a well-known textual problem in this verse. IMO a careless error of writing QS (God) rather than US
(Son) crept in in a few early mss. I am not suggesting a textual discussion, but a different text will obviously give a
different interpretation and translation. I am with the Ante Nicene Fathers you quote on this one, except that
"only-begotten" is not be the best term in English.
Iver Larsen
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