From: Mike Adams (mikadams@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Mon Dec 11 1995 - 02:17:33 EST
You wrote:
>
>John 5:39 ERAUNATE TAS GRAFAS, hOTI hUMEIS DOKEITE EN AUTAIS ZWHN
AIWNION
>EXEIN KAI EKEINAI EISIN hAI MARTUROUSAI PERI EMOU 40 KAI OU QELETE ELQEIN
>PROS ME hINA ZWHN EXHTE.
>
>"You search the Scriptures because _you_ think that you have life in them
>_but_ these are that which bears witness to me and you do not wish to
come
>to me so that you may have life."
>
>Can the first KAI have the function of a mild adversative like DE? Is
not
>there a contrast between the fact that they hoped to find life in the
>Scriptures and Jesus' claim in John that life was to be found in himself?
>The function that he assigns to Scripture then is to witness to him in
whom
>life was to be found.
>
>Is this a possible reading of this sentence?
>
>Calton L. Winbery
It seems to me that either one or the other "kai" has to be adversative.
I've always though of verse 40 as being contrasted to verse 39. Still, the
second half of verse 39 does seem more to oppose rather than add to the
first statement. Yet to translate both kai's as buts would obscure the
meaning.
Your rendering makes a great deal of sense. It's like a mathematical
statement a - (b + c). That is, the second two phrases joined with the
conjunction "and", then the two together contrasted to the first.
Neat insight. I'll buy it.
Ellen
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