[B-Greek] NWT: Is it an accurate translation of the Greek?
Barry
nebarry at verizon.net
Thu Feb 23 15:09:21 EST 2006
----- Original Message -----
From: <Awohili at aol.com>
To: <hholmyard at ont.com>; <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 2:29 PM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] NWT: Is it an accurate translation of the Greek?
> In a message dated 02/23/2006 10:00:42 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
> hholmyard at ont.com writes:
>
> So, the use of the indefinite article in the Sahidic does not
> necessarily mean that the Coptic translator understood John to have
> written "a god." He was not equating the Word with the proper name
> God, but he could have understood John to be using theos in a
> qualitative sense, as many Greek scholars have argued. Dr. Layton
> says it is up to the reader to decide, but is there any indication
> in the immediate context to help us?
I researched this some time ago, and contacted a coptic scholar (I can supply
the reference off-list, if anybody likes). He simply said that in contexts such
as this, the Coptic indefinite article is required, but does not necessarily
imply what the English indefinite article implies, so that the Coptic indefinite
does not have the same semantic range as the English, any more than the English
definite article has the same range as the Greek. He mentioned that he felt the
standard English translations of John 1:1 would be a fine rendering of the
Coptic version.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter
Adjunct Faculty, The Center for Urban Theological Studies
Philadelphia, PA
http://www.cuts.edu
Visiting Faculty, Reformed Theological Seminary
Washington, D.C.
http://www.rts.edu/campuses/washington_dc/index.cfm
And me:
http://mysite.verizon.net/nebarry/
http://my.opera.com/BarryHofstetter/blog/
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