From: RHutchin@aol.com
Date: Tue Mar 23 1999 - 08:53:39 EST
>Roger Hutchinson wrote--
>Would there be a strategic purpose for a
>writer to construct John 1:1-2 to read--
>
>....hO LOGOS KAI hO LOGOS.....QEON KAI QEOS.....hO LOGOS hOUTOS...
George Blaisdell responded--
Could you rephrase your question please? I am not understanding what a
strategic purpose might be, no which writer ~ The author of John? A
later writer about John? A translator? A commentator?
I am assuming you are aware of the chiastic form of the opening lines of
John...
Roger responds--
Since various endings are added to the stems of nouns and verbs in the Greek
to denote the role of the word in the sentence, it is possible to place a noun
anywhere in the sentence without respect to the verb or other parts of speech
and still express a coherent thought.
Consequently, there is no grammatical difference between--
hO LOGOS AN PROS TON QEON
and
PROS TON QEON AN hO LOGOS.
Each of the above sentences basically say the same thing.
However, the person who writes in Greek seems to have the ability to
manipulate word order in a sentence to enhance the point he desires to make.
Strategically, the writer may place the noun at the beginning or end of the
sentence in hopes of creating a certain effect. In John 1:1-2, it appears
that the writer purposely constructed a series of sentences in a particular
pattern in order to promote or enhance the idea he sought to convey.
My questions were whether this was so.
I am vaguely familiar with the chiastic form but have not had the privilege of
reading of its application to John 1:1-2.
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