From: Steven Craig Miller (scmiller@www.plantnet.com)
Date: Wed Dec 22 1999 - 14:37:01 EST
<x-flowed>To: Solomon Landers,
SCM: << Why would "he, him" be a better translation? The pronouns AUTOU &
AUTWi are only masculine because the Greek term LOGOS is grammatically
masculine. But in English the term "word" is considered to be a "thing,"
and normally in English we would refer to such a term as "it."
Grammatically, it seems to me that "it" would be the better translation. >>
SL: << You are of course, grammatically correct. But I think the writer's
(John's) context and target audience enter the picture, as well as the
target audience of the translator into English. >>
I would concur, that is why "it" would be the better translation. In an
earlier message I had written:
SCM: << ... the Johannine Jesus says: "I do know him [God] and I keep his
word" (Jn 8:55). If for John the God's LOGOS was Jesus, how could the
Johannine Jesus keep it? Another example, the Johannine Jesus says:
"Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you
hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me" (Jn 14:24). Again,
the Johannine Jesus speaks as if God's LOGOS is different from himself!
Nowhere does John's gospel simply identify Jesus as God's LOGOS. The
difference of interpretations of John 1:14 is rooted in the fact that some
take God's LOGOS as an individual, while others (such as myself) take God's
LOGOS in the Johannine prologue as an instrumental force. >>
There is no evidence in all of the Johannine Gospel that this author
thought of God's LOGOS as anything other than an instrumental force. Thus
given "the writer's (John's) context and target audience" as well as "the
target audience of the translator into English," it would more accurately
reflect John's Greek text to translate those pronouns as "it."
-Steven Craig Miller
Alton, Illinois (USA)
scmiller@www.plantnet.com
Disclaimer: "I'm just a simple house-husband (with no post-grad degree),
what do I know?"
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