From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Thu Jan 08 1998 - 06:58:11 EST
At 2:33 PM -0600 1/8/98, Al Kidd wrote:
>Hello, Jonathan.
>
> Well, I will reiterate one last time what I believe is and is
>not going on at 1:1c.
>
> When _convertibility_ for subject and predicate is the
>semantic effect, and when the predicate is a common noun
>appellative, then the predicate must be semologically definite
>(through anaphora either implied or discernible from context),
>and such _use_ of the definite predicate (for the semantic effect
>of making the subject and predicate interchangeable) will be
>signalled by its articulation. My examples showed this.
>
>Had the common noun appellative (QEOS) in 1:1c
>been definite through use as the grammatical equivalent
>for the personal name of the Almighty God (such as we
>see for its use in 1:1b where it is articulated), then we
>would have had the semantic effect of convertibility for
>subject and predicate, and there is no way that such a
>predicate could have appeared anarthrously. That it
>does appear anarthrously alerts us to presence of some other
>semantic effect for that predicate use of QEOS. Just what that
>is is still a matter of debate, too.
It's perhaps silly of my to append a comment to what ought to bring closure
to this thread, but nevertheless "the spirit moves me" to comment:
(1) It really seems to me that the tail of this discussion is being wagged
by whatever theological presuppositions one brings to this particular text
rather than by any demonstration of what the grammatical possibilities of
an anarthrous predicate nominative preceding ESTIN may be; there's a
general consensus that the CONTEXT is decisive for how one understands QEOS
in Jn 1:1c (isn't consensus WUNNERFUL?) -- but then, on the other hand,
theological presuppositions seem to govern the way different readers
understand even the CONTEXT, IMHO. And that leads me to the other comment,
(2) a paraphrase of Jn 21:25: ESTIN DE KAI ALLA POLLA hA MURIOI PERI TOUTOU
EGRAYAN TE KAI GRAYONTAI, hATINA EAN GRAFHTAI KAQ' hEN, OUD' AUTON OIMAI
TON KOSMON CWRHSSAI TA GRAFOMENA BIBLIA.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cconrad@yancey.main.nc.us
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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