Re: Question about John 3:5
Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Fri, 30 Aug 1996 08:00:22 -0500
At 6:46 AM -0500 8/30/96, Greg Williams wrote:
>In John 3:5, Jesus answers Nicodemus:
> EAN MH TIS GENNHQH EX hUDATOS KAI PNEUMATOS
> OU DUNATAI EISELQEIN EIS THN BASILEIAN TOU QEOU.
>
>In the past, I've interpreted the phrase "EX hUDATOS KAI PNEUMATOS" as
>referring to two "births": natural birth and birth "again/from above".
>My reasoning for this was that Jesus seemed to be contrasting spiritual
>birth with natural birth in the immediate context.
>
>However, Beasley-Murray in "Baptism in the New Testament" seems to argue
>that "EX hUDATOS KAI PNEUMATOS" could not possibly mean that for the
>purely grammatical reason that "the unity of the two elements is shown
>by the use of the single preposition EK".
>
>From a purely grammatical standpoint, is Beasley-Murray correct? Does
>this Greek construction preclude my previous interpretation?