[B-Greek] Significance of Pluperfects In John 6:17
Douglas M. Wood
dougwood at gracebible.ws
Tue Jul 24 17:57:08 EDT 2007
Dear Text Experts:
I am a pastor preaching this coming Sunday.
In chewing on and investigating the meaning of
my text (John 6:15-21; Jesus Walks On The Sea),
I discovered your website. I trust that you are
most interested in discerning the meaning that
the Holy Spirit intended, through His on-purpose
choice of Greek words.
There are 2 pluperfects in John 6:17. Since
there are only 22 pluperfects in the entire NT, I
am thinking that 2 in one spot is very significant.
Most English translations render the verse
as a report on the time and status -- for example,
"And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come
to them" (NKJV). I find such a translation superfluous
given the time report in v. 16.
I am theorizing that the pluperfects in this
verse intone something more significant --
and cosmically so, related to the Light
coming into the Darkness theme in this, the
Gospel of John.
What say you about the pluperfects here ?
Are there any articles in your archives that you
can point me to ? Do you know of any
commentaries that attempt to fathom the significance
of the pluperfects (so far, I have only found the
William Hendriksen volume on John in the New
Testament Commentary by Baker Book House
[1953] that calls any attention at all to the pluperfects;
but, I find his interpretation of the meaning not
fully satisfying) ?
Thank you for any assistance that you can be.
In Christ,
Doug Wood
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