“True, in literary Greek [‘with’] is not a common sense of pros…”
F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John, p
30.
“[One view takes] pros as equivalent to para, denoting ('with'). [Most English
versions simply have 'with God', but some emphasize the local sense: 'in God’s
presence' (NAB, REB), 'by the side of God' (Cassirer).] The preposition does
not imply any movement or action on the part of the Logos…Support for this view may be found in the NT parallels where pros + the accusative, often following
the verb einai, denotes not linear
motion but punctiliar [i.e. not moving] rest…Elsewhere John uses para tini to express the proximity of
one person to another [1.39; 4.40; 8.38a; 14.17, 23, 25; 19.25. Note also mera tinos (e.g., 3.22, 25-26)] or the
nearness of the Son to the Father [8.35; 17.5], never pros tina.
[Dewailly (128) rightly warns against discovering in John 1.1b 'all the
patristic and conciliar Christology which was much later attached to it, still
less the speculation of Eastern or Western traditions concerning existential
relations.' Some commentators seem to have erred here. Bengel, for example,
claims that 'pros…denotes a
perpetual, as it were, tendency of the Son to the Father in the unity of
essence' (2:234). Alford alleges that 'both the inner substantial union, and
the distinct personality of the logos
are here [in 1:1b] asserted' (1:681).]”
Harris, Jesus as God, pp 55-57.
“Moloney (1998:35) says that pros
connotes motion, not just ‘with’, and translates it ‘turned toward’. Yet any
force of motion inherent in pros is
overridden by the [static verb, was/is] (Wallace 1996: 358-59; Schnackenburg
[1990: 1.234] also rejects the idea.)”
John (Baker Exegetical Commentary
on the New Testament), Andreas J. Köstenberger, p 27, f. 22.
“[Pros] can signify that the logos is oriented toward God (1 Thess.
1.9), that it has access to God (1 John 3.21), that it stands in a suppliant
position to God (Jon. 1.5 LXX; Dan 14.5 LXX [Bel and the Dragon 5]; Mark 6.25),
or that it is in league with God (Josephus, J.W.
7.221). In the Septuagint, Moses is described as one who is pros ton theon to signify his authority
over Aaron (Exod. 4.16 LXX) and the people (Exod. 18.19 LXX).”
John, Jo-Ann A. Brant, pp 28-29.
No comments:
Post a Comment