[B-Greek] John 1:12 ELABON and EDWKEN

Brian Mitchell mikamimitchell at hotmail.com
Mon Sep 20 03:25:56 EDT 2010


Greetings Oun Kwon,

	
“...From the Greek point of view the aorist is true to its own genius. The aorist
in Greek is so rich in meaning that the English labours and groans to express it...”
A GRAMMAR OF THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT A.T. Robertson page 848



The simplest answer to your question about the verbs in John 1:12 is that historically, English translators have rendered the indicative active aorist in John 1:12 similarly to the way you have mentioned. And, it is hard to break away from the traditional readings when those are ones most likely to be imprinted on the mind. Notice these translations separated by hundreds of years read substantially the same way. 


"But hou many euer resseyueden hym, he yaf to hem power to be maad the sones of God, to hem that bileueden in his name; the whiche not of bloodis" - Wycliffe 1395 


"but as meny as receaved him to them he gave power to be the sonnes of God
in that they beleved on his name" -Tyndale 1535

"But as many as receiued him, to them gaue hee power to become the sonnes
of God, euen to them that beleeue on his Name" -King James Version (1611)

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name" King James Bible (1769)

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God"--(NIV)


The issue you have raised is not really indicative of the meaning of the Greek Text, but rather of the interpretations of the English translators of the various editions. Always remember, translation is an art not an exact science and every translation is an interpretation. 


Brian


> From: kwonbbl at gmail.com
> Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 23:42:34 -0400
> To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [B-Greek] John 1:12 ELABON and EDWKEN
> 
> John 1:12
> hOSOI DE ELABON AUTON EDWKEN AUTOIS ECOUSIAN TEKNO QEOU GENESQAI
> 
> The verbs ELABON and EDWKEN in aorist as translated in English past tense
> (received; gave) make me confused of what does this sentence say - why in
> past tense? Perhaps what the Greek describe is not at all about something
> happened in the past, does it?
> 
> It seems I need someone lecturing on me about 'aorist'.
> 
> Oun Kwon.
> ---
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