[B-Greek] John 1:1c

David McKay david.mckay at ozemail.com.au
Tue Jul 4 04:15:22 EDT 2006


Then to John 1:1c: If we put theology aside, can we on the basis of lexicon,

grammar, and syntax, discourse analysis, and context know that the stress of

the anarthrous QEOS is on the quality of divinity rather than on the the 
nature of the participant? In other words, is the rendering "and the word 
was divine" linguistically better than "and the word was a god"?
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Hi Rolf. I am greatly inferior to you in knowledge and experience of the
finer points of Greek grammar. But bearing in mind my limitations I have
always felt that John 1:1c cannot legitimately be translated "and the word
was a god."

But if it were true that the clause could be translated in one or more ways,
"on the basis of lexicon, grammar, and syntax, discourse analysis" shouldn't
theology be a factor in our deciding how it might best be translated?
Shouldn't the theology of the rest of John, the rest of the NT and the rest
of the biblical writings be a factor to bear in mind in our solution to this
ambiguity?

I would have thought that "context" is not neutral theologically.

However, I acknowledge that this forum is not the place for such
determination.

David McKay
david.mckay at ozemail.com.au




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