TW.1. Special son. Most English versions have only begotten son.
In Greek manuscripts, the words are monogenēs theos, which can be read as only begotten God. Some experts regard this as a probable mistranslation of the Aramaic phrase yehidh ‘elaha, which is taken to mean "the only begotten of God."
In other words, the (presumed) Greek translator interpreted John 1:18 as saying that Jesus is the only God ever born as a natural man. Others then (rightly) interpreted this to mean that Jesus, as the Father's son, is God the Son. The original Aramaic phrase strongly implies that Jesus was the only human being that God had directly fathered -- also making Jesus God the Son.
Hence we see that either way a strong case can be made for the Trinity in John 1:18.
See An Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and Acts by Matthew Black (Oxford Clarendon 1967). Citing Charles Fox Burney, Black writes:
In other words, the (presumed) Greek translator interpreted John 1:18 as saying that Jesus is the only God ever born as a natural man. Others then (rightly) interpreted this to mean that Jesus, as the Father's son, is God the Son. The original Aramaic phrase strongly implies that Jesus was the only human being that God had directly fathered -- also making Jesus God the Son.
Hence we see that either way a strong case can be made for the Trinity in John 1:18.
See An Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and Acts by Matthew Black (Oxford Clarendon 1967). Citing Charles Fox Burney, Black writes:
… one of Burney’s most valuable observations of this kind [a misreading of the Aramaic] is that the disputed monogenēs theos in John 1:18 mistranslates yehidh ‘elaha, 'the only-begotten of God'.
No comments:
Post a Comment