[B-Greek] Basic Dictionary Work in John 1

Harold Holmyard hholmyard3 at earthlink.net
Sun Apr 27 17:50:16 EDT 2008


Dear Jonathan,
>  
>  
> The most interesting thing about John 1:1-4 is the prepositions. Unfortunately, Wallace pretty much assumes you have BAGD in front of you and only gives short definitions followed by in-depth commentary on texts using the prepositions. So I though I would see what people on the list could add to our understanding.
>  
> Truly the most striking feature of our text is the use of PROS in 1:2 instead of META, PARA, or another preposition translated as 'with'. Also, I generally find EN is often used in connection with means, but you have DIA in 1:3, which tends to have a more spacial dimension in a lot of cases. Is there anything unusual about the use of prepositions here? Of course these verses are of crucial importance to any given number of christological and trinitarian discussions. I was wondering if there has been a lot of theological significance attached to the use of prepositions here.
>   

What BAGD says under definition 7 is that the phrase PROS TINA EINAI 
implies "be (in company) with someone," and they cite John 1:1f. Here 
are other verses that show this usage:

1Th 3:4; 2Th 2:5; 3:10; 1Jn 1:2; Mt 13:56; Mk 6:3, 9:19; 14:49; Lk 9:41

Yours,
Harold Holmyard



More information about the B-Greek mailing list