May 27, 2008

• Journal thoughts for my translation of John 1:18

  Greek:
  θεον ουδεις εωρακεν πωποτε μονογενης θεος ο ων εις τον κολπον τοu πατρος εκεινος εξηγησατο.

  My Literal Translation:
  God no one has seen ever/at any time (perfect tense – i.e. completed past tense), the one and only God, who is (present participle – i.e. continuous action) in the bosom of the Father, that he has revealed/made known/narrated precisely/expounded in detail (aorist – i.e. undefined past tense).

  My Mediating Translation:
  No one has ever seen God, but the one and only God, who is closest to the Father’s heart, has made Him known.

  My Idiomatic Translation:
  No one has ever seen God, but [Jesus, who is] the one and only God, who is closest to the Father, has made the Father come to life in vivid detail for us.

  Getting the nuance of this verse correctly is such a challenge.  Although the oldest and most reliable Greek New Testament manuscripts say μονογενης θεος (“the one and only God”), it is clear from the context that the author’s intended meaning is that Jesus is the one and only God.  It is tempting to switch up the word and just translate it, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son…”  However, to do so would take away from the author’s theological point (although actually, the entirety of John 1:1-18 already points to the fact that Jesus is God, so switching “God” to “Son” would not be too bad).  Of my three translations, I like the idiomatic translation the best.  Makes sense to me now why the TNIV translators did it their way now. 

  Such truths revealed in this one small verse!
  No one has ever at any time seen God, except the Son.  The Son has!  He has because He is God and because He is closest to the Father.  The word ων (translated as “is”) is a present participle, which means that it is a continuous and on-going action.  Jesus is and continues to be in the bosom of the Father.  Wow.

  In summary of the verse –  Jesus is 1. the one and only God, 2. closest to the Father, and 3. has expounded in vivid detail the Father’s heart to us through His being/existence.  Being that He continues to be in the heart of the Father, He truly is the only one who was and is qualifed to make Him known, isn’t He?

  • 3:28 am
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