Re: John 1:1a - in *the* beginning
Paul S. Dixon (dixonps@juno.com)
Mon, 27 Oct 1997 22:17:26 EST
On Mon, 27 Oct 1997 21:14:59 -0500 Jonathan Robie
<jwrobie@mindspring.com> writes:
>When I read John 1:1a, I always read EN ARCH as "in the beginning". Of
>course, there is no article, but I've never heard anybody translate this
as
>"in a beginning". Is it the meaning of ARCH that makes it definite,
since
>there is only one beginning in the biblical world view? Or is there
>something else that should tip me off that this is definite and not
>indefinite?
Good question. I learned that an anarthrous noun in a prepositional
phrase is often (usually?) definite. Have often wondered what the
percentage would be. Anybody know of studies done in this area and/or of
more definitive figures?
Paul Dixon