[B-Greek] John 3:16 "so"

Steve Runge srunge at logos.com
Tue Dec 15 21:45:23 EST 2009


David and Harold,

If you were going to take hOUTWS as referring ahead to the hWSTE clause,
the use of the colon in the CSB, GWN, NET and NJB all reflect the
forward-pointing interpretation. Rendering hOUTWS as "this way"
indicates they understand it as describing manner rather than degree.
The "so much" of the NLT indicates understanding it as degree. If you
wanted to capture the fronting of hOUTWS for emphasis in Greek, you
would end up with something like:

"For it was *in this way* that God loved the word: He gave his one and
only son." 

This is a bit stilted, and the asterisk indicates where the primary
stress of the reading would be placed. It is not emphasized because it
is important in and of itself, but because of what it points ahead to.
The point of using such a forward-pointing reference is to draw
attention to the hWSTE clause. It is a rhetorical device comparable to
me saying "*Here's* my translation: "For in this...." "Here" is not the
most important word, my translation is. But as I said in the last post,
I do not think that the forward-pointing reading is the most likely. On
to plan B.

I think the most likely reading is to see hOUTWS referring back to vv.
14-15.

"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, in this/the same
way must the Son of Man be lifted up. For in this way God loved the
world, so that He gave his one and only Son..."

Understood in this way, the hOUTWS is reiterating the content of vv.
14-15 that stresses Jesus being lifted up by comparison to the serpent
in the wilderness, which is reiterated by hOUTWS. Note that the
translation looks really similar, the primary difference has to do with
the reference of hOUTWS, whether forward or backward. 

I gotta run my daughter to youth group, hope this will answer the
question.

Steve Runge

-----Original Message-----
From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Harold Holmyard
Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 5:51 PM
Cc: B-Greek
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] John 3:16 "so"

Hi, David,
> Lots of big words here, Steve.
> Could you tell us how you think it should be translated, following on 
> from your analysis and conclusions, please?
> David McKay
>   

The way it is translated by several major translations trying to update
the traditional rendering is as follows:

CSB John 3:16  "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and
Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have
eternal life.

GWN John 3:16  God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so
that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal
life.

NET John 3:16  For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one
and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but
have eternal life.

NJB John 3:16  For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have
eternal life.

However, see the NLT:

NLT John 3:16  "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and
only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have
eternal life.

HH: And the NET translation notes argue that the verse can describe both
intensity and manner of love, supposedly in John's style of using double
meanings.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard




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