So I’ve continued working on my translation project of the Gospel of John, alternating between translation work, and going through my old Greek textbook to fill in what I’ve forgotten of the grammar.





At this point I’m four verses in, and it’s time for another essay, due to some interesting grammatical bits that have cropped up in John 1:3-4.

My full translation thus far is:



1 In the beginning was Reason, and Reason was with God, and Reason was God, [and God was Reason].

2 This was in the beginning with God.

3 All things came into being though the same, but apart from the same not one thing came into being.

4 Which having come into being by him was the means of life, and the means of life was the light of humankind.



The most notable changes appear in verse 4, but part of this is derived from how verse 3 appears in the Greek transcription I’ve been working from.

The Greek is as follows:



3πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. ὃ γέγονεν

4ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων:



My translation relies on the punctuation in the transcription. At this time I should note none of the oldest manuscripts have punctuation. The placement of periods, commas, and so forth were added centuries later, and they were probably placed according to the traditional way a monk (or other copyist) understood the text at the time a copy with punctuation was made.



The punctuation in the Greek above is the most common form I can find online, but I have seen a few different options, and it’s really not clear which tradition is closest to the intention of the author. (so much for death of the author in this essay)



It should also be noted that the numbering of the verses was added even later than the punctuation.



Now with that explanation, you may notice that at the end of verse 3 there is a period that separates the last two words from the rest of the verse. This is odd because that would mean ὃ γέγονεν (ho gegonen) is part of the sentence that is largely in verse 4. These two words on their own mean “which having been made,” or, “which having come into being”.

The word γέγονεν (gegonen) is just the verb to make, become, or come into being, with completed aspect. (The concept of completed aspect another essay, but is the source of the word “having” in my translation).



Now I was not able to find the historical reason the verses were divided this way, but what I can tell you is that the punctuation is older than the verses.



The King James Bible is probably the most influential English translation since many translations I looked at for comparison had a simulare translation of the verses in question.

The King James translation is as follows:



3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.



It appears the phrase, “that was made.” at the end of verse 3 was the translation of ὃ γέγονεν (ho gegonen) the two words which should be translated with the next sentence according to the punctuation.



Now there is some justification in moving the punctuation around, but the King James translation shaves off some of the grammar from the Greek to make it fit the way its translation works.

I also wanted to give thanks to Bill Watson, who pointed out to me that the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) devids the sentences up the way I am in my translation.





OK time for a shift in topic.

The above explanation is the reason for my translation of verse 4 as: Which having come into being in him was life…

But if you were paying attention you may have noticed I didn’t translate it that way when I gave my translation at the beginning of the essay. I made two other changes that represent their own can of worms.

The first one is the change of the word “in,” to “by,” in my translation. The Greek for this was ἐν αὐτῷ (en auto). This is normally translated “in him”, however when in some cases grammar used here is idiomatically used to indicate the means by which something happens. This is still an idiom that is sometimes seen in English, most commonly in christian idioms, such as the sentiment “justified in Christ,” which when unpacked means, justified by Christ, or by his sacrifice.

Because that idiom was common in Greek, and shows up in christian English idioms I feel relatively justified making that translation.



The second major change is the difference in the word “life” and, “the means of life”. The word used in the Greek here is ζωὴ (zoe). This can be translated as life, but that isn’t its most common meaning. The normal word for life in Greek is βίος (bios) which you will recognize as the source of the word biology.

Ζωὴ (zoe) on the other hand is more often means livelihood, or sustenance, most literally “what allows you to live,” or “the means of life.” I don’t really know if this is what was meant by the author, but I felt like it made more sense given the context of the other translation changes.

There you have it, my justification for the translation:



3 All things came into being though the same, but apart from the same not one thing came into being.

4 Which having come into being by him was the means of life, and the means of life was the light of humankind.



I’m more than happy to give further explanations if people have questions.