Johannine nuances

Clayton Bartholomew (c.s.bartholomew@worldnet.att.net)
Tue, 15 Jul 1997 10:49:11 +0000

Peter Phillips Wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
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*.
>>>>>>>>>>

Peter,

I am not about to dive into this thread. However, your last sentence raises a
question that I have been pondering for some time. Have you done a lot of
thinking about polysemy in Johannine literature? I am not just talking about
polysemy at the lexical level, but also polysemy at higher levels of
discourse. I have been pondering the prophecy of John the Baptist in John
1:29 from the stand point of polysemy for a number of years. Now I am
wondering if polysemy is considered to be an aspect of Johannine style in
general.

Any comments on this?

Clay Bartholomew
Three Tree Point