[B-Greek] subject in Rev 1:1

Dr. Don Wilkins drdwilkins at verizon.net
Fri Aug 15 14:28:01 EDT 2008


Just a quick response to Carl's comment on the solecisms. Aside from  
the theological issues, which are rightly off limits here, it seems  
to me that John's solecisms are sufficiently violent that we would  
expect to find Revelation riddled with many others, if the  
comparatively few that we do find were not deliberate. It's the old  
story: you have to know the rules to (deliberately) break the rules.  
If John really didn't know better, then it's a minor miracle that he  
could write coherent Greek overall.

Don Wilkins

On Aug 14, 2008, at 12:54 PM, Carl Conrad wrote:

>
> On Aug 14, 2008, at 3:32 PM, Elizabeth Kline wrote:
>
>>
>> Rev 1:1  APOKALUYIS IHSOU CRISTOU hHN EDWKEN AUTWi hO QEOS DEIXAI  
>> TOIS
>> DOULOIS AUTOU hA DEI GENESQAI EN TACEI KAI ESHMANEN APOSTEILAS DIA  
>> TOU
>> AGGELOU AUTOU TWi DOULWi AUTOU IWANNHi
>>
>> On Aug 14, 2008, at 11:30 AM, kgraham0938 at comcast.net wrote:
>>
>>> Hello, but would'nt you see the KAI there linking the two clauses
>>> together?
>>
>> Not necessarily, KAI in the apocalypse is often used like vav in
>> hebrew.
>>
>>
>>>  And secondly, I would not see IHSOU CHRISTOU as the subject of
>>> DEIXAI TOIS DOULOIS  because I would take the infinitive as
>>> modifying EDWKEN denoting purpose.  God gave in order to show his
>>> servant...
>>
>> The christology of the Apocalypse and the Gospel of John clearly  
>> point
>> to IHSOUS CRISTOS as the agent of revelation and for that and other
>> reasons I would understand IHSOUS CRISTOS as the agent of DEIXAI TOIS
>> DOULOIS (plural!). So in the semantic structure of Rev 1:1 looking
>> backwards from KAI ESHMANEN APOSTEILAS we find the most recent agent
>> is the subject of DEIXAI TOIS DOULOIS.
>>
>> I am not saying the other readings are impossible.
>
> Moreover (not that this isn't something unnoticed by others) this
> author is not the most careful and elegant Greek stylist among NT
> writers! (I'm well aware that there are some who think the solecisms
> are deliberate).
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
>
>
>
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