However, John 1.1 says that it is the Logos that was EN ARXHI with God.
Rolf's posting on the various categories of ARXHI seems to suggest that a
Greek word is chosen for a specific meaning and that other semantic
possibilities can be withdrawn from that word in those instances when the
bulk of translators opt for one choice. Hence he says, "The word ARXH
(singular) occurs 45 times in the NT. The meaning "origin/source" is never
found".
Linguistically this is surely incorrect. One of the semantic equivalences
of the word ARXH in English is "Origin/source" therefore wherever the Greek
word appears one of the possible equivalences will be "origin/source".
It's like saying that when I mention the word "Washington", because I am
always referring to the small town just west of Sunderland in the NE of
England, the meaning "Washington D.C., centre of US government" is never
found!
A word maintains its semantic field regardless of what translators do to
that word. Therefore, ARXH always has within itself all possible meanings.
It is up to the translator to determine which nuance the author is
focussing upon. Crucially with Johannine material it is more often which
nuances rather than which nuance.
Pete Phillips,
Cliff College, Sheffield, England
p.m.phillips@cliff.shef.ac.uk
http://champness.shef.ac.uk/