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Re: John 6:22


In a message dated 6/9/97 4:34:53 PM, Jim Beale wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>As far as I can tell, it is quite difficult to draw a distinction
>between PLOION and PLOIARION in John 21.  It seems to me that they
>most likely refer to the same boat, though I guess it is possible
>that there are two.  Does it seem at all strange that the two words
>would be employed in the same passage in order to refer to the same
>object?
>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Although UBS4 and NA27 don't show the variants, numerous manuscripts (for
example, 1113, 544, and 1355) have PLOION instead of PLOIARION in John 6:22,
showing that likely any difference in meaning was at least not considered
significant enough by some scribes to warrant using the diminutive.
 Regarding the use of the diminutive, I would suggest that the excellent
articles by Keith Elliott and G. D. Kilpatrick (Accessible in the volume
edited by Elliott, Essays and Studies in New Testament Textual Criticism)  sho
uld be consulted for further insights about scribal and grammatical
tendencies.  Without doing justice to the scope and detailed analysis of this
work, a summary of one item related to this word variation would be that the
tendency was away from the use of the diminutive due to atticism being
promoted in the dominant Greek grammars from the third century and
afterwards, with the use of diminutives being frowned upon.  Since I don't
have the book here at the house, this will have to do for now, but as
mentioned, the argument and insights in the collected essays are thorough and
helpful for the consideration of the use of diminutives and the copy
practices related to diminutives.

Bill Warren
Professor of New Testament and Greek
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary