From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Mon Dec 11 1995 - 06:40:00 EST
At 11:10 AM 12/10/95, Carlton Winbery 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?
I think it is, but it will have to be granted that this is an extraordinary
usage of KAI, as if it were KAITOI. Frankly, although John's gospel is
easier to read than Mark's, its diction is anomalous at many points. I
wonder whether this KAI might be viewed as a Semitism, a KAI used like a
Hebrew V'.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, USA 63130
(314) 935-4018
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwc@oui.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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