Re: John 3:34

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Wed Dec 29 1999 - 12:06:20 EST


At 9:55 AM -0600 12/29/99, Steve Long wrote:
>I'm working on John 3:34, specifically OU GAR EK METROU DIDWSIN TO PNEUMA
>and this is what I've come up with:
>
>God's messenger speaks God's words; all of it is inspired, not just part of
>it.
>
>And I wonder if I'm on track with the meaning. I'm trying to translate
>thoughts or ideas rather than literal words. Any help would be appreciated.

The original; is hON GAR APESTEILEN hO QEOS TA hRHMATA TOU QEOU LALEI, OU
GAR EK METROU DIDWSIN TO PNEUMA.

Unless one is very confident of the level of generality in this sentence
(i.e., does it refer to all God's messengers or to Jesus as the specific
ONE SENT), I'd dare go this way with a translation. As you've set it out,
it looks like your saying something about the Bible which this text, at
least, does not say, by virtue of your shift from "God's words" to the
pronoun "it." So I'd prefer to stay closer to the literal in a way that
preserves the ambiguity of the original:

"The One whom God has sent speaks God's words, since he does not give the
Spirit in measured amounts."

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

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