Re: John 3:35
Carlton L. Winbery (winberyc@popalex1.linknet.net)
Tue, 15 Oct 1996 14:28:44 -0500
Eric Weiss wrote;
>John 3:35 hO PATHR AGAPAi TON hUION KAI PANTA DEDWKEN EN THi CEIRI
>AUTOU.
>
>EVERY translation I've checked gives the second half of this verse as
>something like: "...and He (the Father) has given all things into (in)
>His (Christ's/the Son's) hand(s)."
>
>Is there any reason why it can't be translated: "...and He (the Father)
>has given all things (to the Son) by His (the Father's) hand."?
>
>Is the DEDWKEN awkward if there is no person to whom or into whose hands
>PANTA is given? Is EN THi CEIRI AUTOU an idiomatic phrase the means
>"into his hands" "into/under his authority" when I guess I would expect
>a preposition other than EN?
The only other places where this phrase is used in the NT (Matt., Luke,
Rev.) it is used to locate within. In those passages there is no movement
as is indicated in Jn.3:35 "given into his hand." The statement would be
better made by using EIS with the accusative.
The interpretation you give is certainly a possibility, but I suspect that
this expression is just part of the looseness of the use of the language in
the Johannine literature.
Carlton L. Winbery
Prof. La College
winberyc@popalex1.linknet.net
winbery@andria.lacollege.edu