From: John Albu (tunon@phantom.com)
Date: Mon Aug 07 1995 - 12:24:55 EDT
On July 13, 1995, Alan R. Craig <CSRT29A@prodigy.com> wrote:
> Because there appear to be a number of different ones here who either
> have access to some remarkable libraries or to some comprehensive CD-
> ROM materials, I would be interested in having someone do a search for
> me. I am trying to locate other examples from the N.T. Greek, LXX, or
> even Classical Greek which parallel the exact word order and precise
> sentence structure as that of John 1:1c; e.g., Acts 28:4; Mark 2:28;
> Esther 10:3 (LXX).
This subject is covered in New World Translation of the Holy
Scriptures--With References, Appendix 6A, published by Watchtower Bible
and Tract Society, Brooklyn, New York, 1984, p. 1579. The examples
presented therein are from the gospels of Mark and John. Herewith I am
quoting this appendix.
Sincerely yours,
John Albu
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6A Jesus-A Godlike One; Divine
Joh 1:1-"and the Word was a god (godlike; divine)"
Gr., kai the.os' en ho lo'gos
1808 "and the word was a god" The New Testament, in An Improved
Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop
Newcome's New Translation: With a
Corrected Text, London.
1864 "and a god was the Word" The Emphatic Diaglott (J21, interlinear
reading), by Benjamin Wilson, New
York and London.
1935 "and the Word was divine" The Bible-An American Translation,
by J. M. P. Smith and E. J. Goodspeed,
Chicago.
1950 "and the Word was a god" New World Translation of the
Christian Greek Scriptures, Brooklyn.
1975 "and a god (or, of a divine Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by
kind) was the Word"* Siegfried Schulz, Gottingen, Germany.
1978 "and godlike sort was the Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by
Logos"* Johannes, by Johannes Schneider, Berlin.
1979 "and a god was the Logos"* Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by
Jurgen Becker, Wurzburg, Germany.
These translations use such words as "a god," "divine" or "godlike"
because the Greek word the.os' is a singular predicate noun occurring
before the verb and is not preceded by the definite article. This is an
anarthrous the.os'. The God with whom the Word, or Logos, was originally
is designated here by the Greek expression ho the.os', that is, the.os'
preceded by the definite article ho. This is an articular the.os'.
Careful translators recognize that the articular construction of the noun
points to an identity, a personality, whereas a singular anarthrous
predicate noun preceding the verb points to a quality about someone.
Therefore, John's statement that the Word or Logos was "a god" or
"divine" or "godlike" does not mean that he was the God with whom he was.
It merely expresses a certain quality about the Word, or Logos, but it
does not identify him as one and the same as God himself.
In the Greek text there are many cases of a singular anarthrous
predicate noun preceding the verb, such as in Mr 6:49; 11:32; Joh 4:19;
6:70; 8:44; 9:17; 10:1, 13, 33; 12:6. In these places translators insert
the indefinite article "a" before the predicate noun in order to bring
out the quality or characteristic of the subject. Since the indefinite
article is inserted before the predicate noun in such texts, with equal
justification the indefinite article "a" is inserted before the
anarthrous the.os' in the predicate of John 1:1 to make it read "a god."
The Sacred Scriptures confirm the correctness of this rendering.
In his article "Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark
15:39 and John 1:1," published in Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol.
92, Philadelphia, 1973, p. 85, Philip B. Harner said that such clauses as
the one in Joh 1:1, "with an anarthrous predicate preceding the verb, are
primarily qualitative in meaning. They indicate that the logos has the
nature of theos. There is no basis for regarding the predicate theos as
definite." On p. 87 of his article, Harner concluded: "In John 1:1 I
think that the qualitative force of the predicate is so prominent that
the noun cannot be regarded as definite."
Following is a list of instances in the gospels of Mark and John where
various translators have rendered singular anarthrous predicate nouns
occurring before the verb with an indefinite article to denote the
indefinite and qualitative status of the subject nouns:
Scripture New King An New Revised Tuday's
Text World James American International Standard English
Translation Version Translation Version Version Version
Mark
6:49 an apparition a spirit a ghost a ghost a ghost a ghost
11:32 a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet a real prophet a prophet
John
4:19 a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet
6:70 a slanderer a devil an informer a devil a devil a devil
8:44 a manslayer a murderer a murderer a murderer a murderer a murderer
8:44 a liar a liar a liar a liar a liar a liar
9:17 a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet a prophet
10:1 a thief a thief a thief a thief a thief a thief
10:13 a hired man an hireling a hired man a hired hand a hireling a hired
man
10:33 a man a man a mere man a mere man a man a man
12:6 a thief a thief a thief a thief a thief a thief
[The footnote reads:]
*Translated from German.
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