<<*begotten*: the Greek verb can mean "born" from a female principle,
or "begotten" by a male principle. As in 1:13 John primarily means it
as "begotten," though many early versions translate it as "born" or
even, with heightened baptismal symbolism, "reborn". *From above*: the
Greek term *anothen* means both "again" and "from above". V. 31 below
shows that Jesus means it as "from above", but Nicodemus misunderstands.
(A misunderstanding that brings out Jesus' treaching is a common
literary device in John.)??
Theological perspectives aside, is this reasonable, both in this
specific instance and, as the notes assert, elsewhere in the Gospel of
John?
-Chuck Stevens [SMTP: Charles.Stevens@unisys.com]
>----------
>From: Steven Cox[SMTP:scox@ns1.chinaonline.com.cn.net]
>Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 1997 7:20 AM
>To: b-greek@virginia.edu
>Subject: Re: Lamsa and Aramaic (puns again)
>
>
> Hello b-greekers
>
> the last time this came up I asked if anyone had seen a
> reliable study on the comparative incidence of wordgames
> (ie puns like John 15:2) in the recorded words of Christ
> as recorded in Greek vs a hypothetical Aramaic.
>
> I've only browsed one of Lamsa's books once but didn't see
> anything that seemed more than the natural "incidence of
> coincidence" ... have I missed the good stuff?
>
> surely someone has done comparative research on this?
>
> Cheers
> Steven
>
>
>
>