From: Eric Weiss (eweiss@acf.dhhs.gov)
Date: Tue Jul 15 1997 - 14:51:00 EDT
In a previous lengthy discussion on the meaning of being born of "water
and spirit" in John 3, one point raised was that the lack of the
repetition of the preposition EK before "spirit" might indicate that
"water and spirit" was a hendiadys (i.e.,.EX hUDATOS KAI PNEUMATOS).
I was reading in I John today and noticed that 5:6 states DI' hUDATOS
KAI hAIMATOS - indicating a possible hendiadys as in John 3:5 - but
then the verse continues with ALL' EN TWi hUDATI KAI EN TWi
hAIMATI - repeating the EN before hAIMATI this time, seeming to indicate
that the water and the blood are to be regarded as two distinct
elements. This could indicate that no conclusion can be drawn in John
3:5 re: "water and spirit" being a hendiadys. Or maybe the presence of
the definite article(s) TWi in I John 5:6 when the elements are repeated
makes this a different grammatical construction altogether - unless the
TWi is just the usage of the article to refer to the previously
mentioned water and blood.
Any comments?
Eric S. Weiss
"a little greek"
http://home1.gte.net/eweiss/index.htm
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