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Re: Word order in John 1:1-2
Perhaps a better way of putting it would be that the passage illustrates
the Greek rhetorical figure of _climax_ (Latin "gradatio"), a perfect
series of three clauses in anadiplosis (a keyword at the end of one
clause appears at the beginning of the next):
En arkhEi En ho logos
kai ho logos En pros ton theon
kai theos En ho logos
At first [there] was the word
And the word was with God
And "God" was the word.
Like Shakespeare's:
"My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain." Richard III 5.3.193-5
Except John's is more ingenious since instead of creating a mere
build-up, it comes full circle by ending where it started.
I'm not sure what to do with the following clause though:
Houtos En en arkhEi pros ton theon
Its not chiastic or parallel with what went before. Not to mention
repetitious-looking.
Greg Jordan
jordan@chuma.cas.usf.edu
References: