[B-Greek] Jn 1:18b EIS TON KOLPON
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Aug 18 07:06:34 EDT 2006
On Aug 17, 2006, at 11:17 PM, Oun Kwon wrote:
> Jn 1:18b hO WN EIS TON KOLPON TOU PATROS EKEINOS EXHGHSATO
>
> Source (by A. Nyland) renders (quite unlike all others)
>
> 'he is the one who led the way to the place of honor at the
> Father's side.'
>
> Aside from the meanings of the verb hEXHGEOMAI 'to lead the way' 'show
> the way' instead of 'to explain', she takes the phrase EIS TON KOLPON
> TOU PATROS to be connected to the verb.
As an aside, I notice that she gives the verb as hEXHGEOMAI, and
perhaps you took that directly from her version, entitled "The
Source." But the verb has no rough breathing on that initial prefix
EX: it's EXHGEOMAI.
>
> All other translations I know take this to connect hO WN (the one in
> the Father's bosom). However this traditional rendering would make
> sense if the text reads 'EN TW KOLPW' (as in Jn 13:23). With the
> preposition EIS instead, the way she renders the text appears
> grammatically more acceptable.
>
> Can you help me see the basis of one over the other?
This is an interesting suggestion; I see nothing amiss in
understanding EXHGHSATO in the sense of "led the way" EXHGEOMAI can
certainly have that sense in extra-Biblical literature, although the
usage within the GNT seems to be limited to the senses, "explain" and
"report." But it looks to me like she's understanding that phrase EIS
TON KOLPON, which in the Greek construes essentially with hO WN ("the
one who has his being in the Father's bosom") as doing double duty
and construing also with EXHGHSATO. And if I understand her phrasing
correctly, it seems to me that EIS TON KOLPON is understood
differently in the two
Her version in fuller context: "No one has ever seen God at any time.
The Only Son [reading hUIOS rather than QEOS}, the One who is closest
to the Father's heart -- he is the one who led the way to the place
of honor at the Father's side."
I wonder whether EIS TON KOLPON really bears that sense of "the place
of honor at the Father's side." That might seem to be the sense in
the parable of Lazarus and Dives (Lk 16:22ff.), perhaps for the place
of honor at the eschatological banquet. So I wouldn't rule it out,
although the sense in the phrase hO WN EIS TON KOLPON TOU PATROS
seems rather one of intimacy. But I wouldn't automatically rule out
the usage of a phrase by this author in a dual sense: "John" likes to
use figurative language, synonymous expressions, etc., and some
interpreters (myself included) think that ANWQEN in John 3:3 is
deliberately used to suggest dual senses: "from above" and "anew/from
the beginning (da capo)."
This verse and especially the second clause of John 1:18 has a text
that is problematic in many ways. There are the variants QEOS and
hUIOS with MONOGENHS; there's the asyndeton between the clauses (just
a couple days ago we were arguing about whether there was contrast or
antithesis between the two clauses, since there's no conjunction
linking the clauses); there's the awkward resumptive EKEINOS
following upon the appositional phrase hO WN EIS TON KOLPO TOU
PATROS; there's the omission of an explicit object of EXHGHSATO,
which is what makes it possible for most interpreters to supply QEON
from the opening of the first clause and which is evidently Ann's
opening to supply EIS TON KOLPON TOU PATROS from what immediately
precedes. ...
And finally, there's the awkward usage of EIS TON KOLPON with the
verb EINAI in the nominal phrase hO WN EIS TON KOLPON; normally we
don't have an EIS + acc. phrase with an existential EINAI but rather
with verbs of motion. But earlier in the prologue we had something
similar in HN PROS TON QEON in 1:1 and 2, so I would suppose that
this particular usage of EIS + acc. with WN is intended to express
special intimacy, "who has his being deep in the heart of the
Father." But if that's the sense of EIS TON KOLPON in the first
phrase, why isn't it the sense also where it is to be understood (if
it is to be understood) with EXHGHSATO ("the one who is intimate
relationship with the Father is the one who has led the way to
initimate relationship with the Father." There's no question that the
notion of what I'd call "covenant mutual indwelling" is a Johannine
theme (cf. the "true vine", John 14:20, etc.), so that, if the
suggestion should be taken seriously that EIS TON KOLPON TOU PATROS
is to be understood with EXHGHSATO as "led the way" or "showed the
way," I really don't see why intimate closeness wouldn't be the more
appropriate sense for EIS TON KOLPON.
You have asked, Oun, for guidance to choose between two alternatives.
I think I am inclined to prefer the traditional view of the syntactic
link-ups of John 1:18b, but (a) the text of the verse is loaded with
problems any way you look at it, and (b) understanding EIS TON KOLPON
as implicit with EXHGHSATO as "led the way" or "showed the way" is,
it seems to me, every bit as plausible as the traditional
understanding. I guess that leaves it a NON LIQUET: it ain't so
clear, after all.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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