1 John 5:7-8
Posted: April 14th, 2021, 11:13 am
1 John 5:7-8 reads:
My personal view is that πνεῦμα, ὕδωρ and αἷμα in v. 8 are described with masculine forms (τρεῖς οἱ μαρτυροῦντες) because they are treated as concrete witnesses (thus personified). The writer of 1 John probably had in mind the well-known legal rule of Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; Matthew 18:16, etc. when he brought out this triplicity of witnesses.
Expositor's Greek Testament has the following comment on τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες in v. 7:7 ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες, 8 τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα, καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν.
Constructio ad sensum is not uncommon in Greek, but are there parallel constructions in extant Greek literature to justify the above comment in the Expositor's Greek Testament? Or is there a possible confusion with what we observe in a passage like the following:τρεῖς οἱ μαρτυροῦντες, masculine though Πνεῦμα, ὕδωρ, and αἷμα are all neuter, because agreeing κατὰ σύνεσιν with τὸ Πνεῦμα—a testimony, the more striking because involuntary, to the personality of the Spirit.
where πάντας agrees with βόας?καὶ ποιήσας φραγέλλιον ἐκ σχοινίων πάντας ἐξέβαλεν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τά τε πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς βόας (John 2:15)
My personal view is that πνεῦμα, ὕδωρ and αἷμα in v. 8 are described with masculine forms (τρεῖς οἱ μαρτυροῦντες) because they are treated as concrete witnesses (thus personified). The writer of 1 John probably had in mind the well-known legal rule of Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; Matthew 18:16, etc. when he brought out this triplicity of witnesses.