[B-Greek] EN vs. EIS in John 16:13a - translation question
Eric S. Weiss
papaweiss1 at yahoo.com
Mon Sep 21 08:58:34 EDT 2009
John 16:13a (NA-27/UBS 4): hOTAN DE ELQHi EKEINOS, TO PNEUMA THS ALHQEIAS,
hODHGHSEI hUMAS EN THi ALHQEIAi PASHi....
UBS 4 gives this reading a {B} rating, and lists the variant hODHGHSEI
hUMAS EIS PASAN THN ALHQEIAN as being that of the Byzantine textual
tradition, as well as in many other mss. Yet a look at Biblegateway.com
shows that all the English translations there give some form of "He will
lead/guide you into all the truth," which looks to be a translation of the
EIS variant, and not the NA-27/UBS text that has EN + the dative.
It seems to me that hODHGHSEI hUMAS EN THi ALHQEIAi PASHi describes the
manner or path in which the Spirit will lead/guide the disciples (and
hence Christians), rather than the goal or end-point of such
leading/guiding. I.e., the leading or guidance of the Spirit is one
controlled and directed by Truth - "He will lead/guide you in all [the]
truth" - rather than "He will lead/guide you into/to the truth."
If so, why do almost all translations opt for a translation of the EIS
textual variant instead of the NA-27/UBS 4 text, if that is indeed what
they're doing (assuming that "into" is not a likely translation of EN in
this passage)? How would you translate the NA/UBS text of John 16:13a if
you do not think "into all the truth" is a correct translation of
hODHGHSEI hUMAS EN THi ALHQEIAi PASHi?
- - -
Eric S. Weiss
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list