Chrys C. Caragounis - Jan Van der Watt, «A Grammatical Analysis of John 1,1», Vol. 21 (2008) 91-138
This article is a pilot study on the feasibility of investigating the grammar, both in terms of words and sentences, of the Gospel according to John in a systematic manner. The reason is that in general the commentaries and even specialized articles have different foci, inter alia, focusing on the historical nature or the theological and literary aspects that the Gospel is so well-known for. In surveys of commentaries on the Gospel it becomes apparent that real grammatical studies are far and few between, and that there is a tendency among commentators to copy grammatical material from one another. More often than not, grammatical issues are simply ignored and the unsuspecting and trusting reader will not even realize that there is a dangerous dungeon of grammatical problems lurking beneath the surface of the text. Apart from that, the significance of grammatical decisions are often underestimated in studies of John’s Gospel.
124 Jan van der Watt & Chrys Caragounis
1 ᾿Εν á¼€Ïχῇ ἦν ὠλόγος,
καὶ ὠλόγος ἦν Ï€Ïὸς τὸν θεόν,
καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὠλόγος.
2 οὗτος ἦν á¼Î½ á¼€Ïχῇ Ï€Ïὸς τὸν θεόν.
3 πάντα δι᾿ αá½Ï„οῦ á¼Î³á½³Î½ÎµÏ„ο,
καὶ χωÏὶς αá½Ï„οῦ á¼Î³á½³Î½ÎµÏ„ο οá½Î´á½² ἕν.
[ὃ γέγονεν] 4 á¼Î½ αá½Ï„á¿· ζωὴ ἦν,
καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθÏωπων·
5 καὶ τὸ φῶς á¼Î½ τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει,
καὶ ἡ σκοτία αá½Ï„ὸ οὠκατέλαβεν.
Diagram 1
The major syntactic characteristic of verse 1 is the use of copulatives
or conjunctions. Conjunctions make connections in a language. Phrases
are linked/connected inter alia through the use of καί. Since such καί
constructions can either be paratactic (coordinate constructions) or
hypotactic (subordinate constructions)144, it leaves us with at least four
possibilities.
‣ In 1,1 we have a coordinate construction in which the three (indepen-
dent) phrases are paratactically linked145. In other words:
᾿Εν á¼€Ïχῇ ἦν ὠλόγος,
καὶ ὠλόγος ἦν Ï€Ïὸς τὸν θεόν,
καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὠλόγος.
In this case three equal statements are made that should be read to-
gether.
‣ The construction could also be subordinate146, in which case the first
phrase is expanded on a secondary level by the next two.
“The coordinate conjunction links equal elements together… The subordinate con-
144
junction links a dependent clause to an independent clause or another dependent clause,
either of which supplies the controlling idea that the subordinate conjunction and its clause
modifies†(Wallace, Syntax, see n. 9, 667).
In 1,1 “καί is a coordinate conjunction linking two independent clauses†(Wallace,
145
Syntax, see n. 9, 668).
“It is probable that John followed Jewish tradition as well as prophetic inspiration in
146
his three repetitions of ‘the Word,’ implying a threefold aspect, first, the Word in itself, and
then the Word in two other aspects: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
the Divine Being, and Divine Being was the Word.’ The three relations of the Logos are
then summed up thus: ‘This [i.e. the Word conceived as above] was in the beginning with the
Divine Being,’ a summary that is not tautological; for it teaches us that the three proposi-
tions about the Logos were all true ‘in the beginning’†(Abbott, Grammar, see n. 55, ad loc).
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