From: Bill Barton (phos@prodigy.net)
Date: Mon Jan 08 2001 - 01:33:02 EST
Harold Holmyard wrote:
HH>The NIV Study Bible has this note at John 21:15:
"more than these." May mean "more than you love these men" or "more than
these men love me" or "more than you love these things (i.e., the fishing
gear). Perhaps the second is best, for Peter had claimed a devotion above
that of the others (cf. 13:37; Mt 26:33; Mk 14:29). Peter did not take up
the comparison, and Jesus did not explain it.>
It seems that the antecedent of "these" is ambiguous. The possible
antecedents that you cite from the NIV Study Bible all seem reasonable to
me.
HH>The NIV Study Bible also has notes on the other issues. It thinks the
usage of the words for love is too deliberate here to be merely stylistic.
On the other hand, it thinks that the expressions for feeding/caring for
the lambs/sheep are probably equivalent in sense.>
The Bible Knowledge Commentary agrees that the synonyms for feeding/caring
are equivalent; but it goes further and suggests the synonyms for love are
likewise equivalent:
"In Jesus' three questions of love (agapas, agapas, and phileis) and His
three commands of duty (boske, "tend"; poimaine, "herd, lead to pasture";
boske) various Greek synonyms are used. Since it is difficult to see any
consistent distinctions that John intended, most scholars see these as
stylistic variations."
I think most here would agree that it's grammatically _possible_ that a
distinction was intended among the synonyms; and I think most here would
agree that it's grammatically _possible_ that a distinction was not
intended. In such a situation I think it's inevitable that the scholars
will interpret the dialogue differently.
In fact when I visited the Sea of Galilee, I learned that the traditional
setting for John 21 is marked by the Church of the Primacy of Peter, which
name itself implies an interpretation of the dialogue.
As another grammatical point, while I was there I picked up a book by a
professional fisherman who had fished the sea for many years. He notes
that the word "casting" (amphiballo) in Mark 1:16 is a technical term
referring to a particular type of net, the cast net:
"The cast-net (Hebrew Kela, Arabic Shabakeh) is circular, measuring from 6
to 8 meters in diameter, with bars of lead attached to the edge, and used
by a single fisherman. He arranges it on his right arm, and standing in
shallow water or in a boat, throws it forcefully out on the water, where it
lands like a parachute and sinks to the bottom." (Nun, "The Sea of Galilee
and It's Fisherman in the New Testament," Kibbutz Ein Gev, 1989, p. 23).
Sometimes the fishing was done at night so the fish could less easily see
the net.
Bill Barton
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