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On Tuesday morning the pastors of Lutheran Saints in Ministry gather in Fairborn Ohio to discuss the texts for Sunday.

These are the contributions that are brought to the table.

Monday, April 8, 2019

Greek Text study for John 20:1-10 for Resurrection Morning

Greek study John 20:1-10

v1 πρωι (α) "early" - Between 3 and 6 am. or more specifically "dawn"; "early on Sunday morning, just before dawn, ..."
τη ... μια "on the first day" - on the first. The dative is adverbial, temporal.
των σαββατων (ον) gen. "of the week" lite “after Sabbath”- The genitive is adjectival.
ουσης (ειμι) gen. pres. part. "while [it was still dark]" The genitive is temporal. Some disparity here with the synoptic gospels, although the first rays of dawn is an acceptable understanding of what John is saying.
Μαρια η Μαγδαληνη "Mary Magdalene" - Much is made of the disparity found in the gospel accounts as to who and how many women attended the tomb. It was probably four, but John, for obvious reasons, focuses on Mary. None-the-less, note Mary's words to the apostles "they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him", v2.
ερχεται (ερχομαι) pres. "went" - comes. Why did Mary go to the tomb? Nicodemus has already performed the burial rite of anointing, she may have come to wail, but this is not what the synoptics say. Maybe the ladies came to do the job properly, given that it's women's business!
ηρμενον (αιρω) perf. part. "[saw] that [the stone] had been removed" - participle forms a dependent statement of perception expressing what Mary saw.

v2 προς "to" - Mary runs to Peter and to John. Are they in different localities?
εφιλει (φιλεω) imperf. "[the one Jesus] loved" - The imperfect is durative.
αυτοις pro. "-" - [and says] to them. Dative of indirect object.
ηραν (αιρω) aor. "they have taken" - they took. An emphatic reading prompts the question who are the "they". 
ουκ οιδαμεν (οιδα) 1st. pers. pl. "we don't know" - indication Mary is not alone.
εθηκαν (τιθημι) aor. "they have put" - they placed. Mary is probably saying, "we don't know where they have buried him."

v3 εξηλθεν (εξερχομαι) aor. sing. "started" - he went out. Possibly indicating that Peter is by himself and is then joined by John, with Mary tagging along.
εις "[started] for [the tomb]" - [they were coming] to/into [the tomb]. Spacial; they are heading for the tomb, rather than entering it; "set out at once for the tomb", Phillips.

v4 ετρεχον (τρεχω) imperf. "[both] were running" - [the two together] were running. The imperfect is durative.
προεδραμεν (προτρεξω) aor. "outran" - ran ahead [faster]. "The other disciple ran on ahead, 
του Πετρου (ος) gen. "Peter" – an ablative of comparison;  faster than Peter.
ηλθεν πρωτος εις το μνημειον "reached the tomb first" not, as yet, entered it.

v5 παρακαψας (παρακυπτω) aor. part. "he bent over" - stooped down/strained to look. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verb "he sees", as NIV; "he glanced in and saw the bandages lying on the ground".
βλεπει (βλεπω) pres. "looked in" - he sees. Obviously, "he sees in the light of dawn."
κειμενα (κειμαι) pres. mid. part. "lying there" - lying. The participle may be taken as adjectival, limiting "the linen cloths", or as an object complement, accusative complement of the object "linen cloths, sheets."
τα οθονια (οϖ) pl. "strips of linen" - pieces of linen cloth. Shroud-like sheets are most likely what is intended. Strips, as in the wrappings of a mummy, is certainly not intended. 
μεντοι "but [did not go in]" - adversative/contrastive conjunction.

v6 ακολουθων (ακολουθεω) pres. part. "who followed behind [him, arrived] probably adverbial, expressing the manner of his coming. Barrett's idea is that the Johanine tradition is here subordinating Peter to John. A bit far fetched, although some healthy competition may be evident in this account.
εισηλθεν (εισερχομαι) aor. "went/entered into the space” sense of immediacy is carried by a punctiliar aorist; "he went immediately into the tomb seeing what John saw."
κειμενα (κειμαι) pres. part. "[the strips of linen] lying there" – a second mention so the author again sets the scene of the empty tomb, but this time through the eyes of Peter.

v7 το σουδαριον (οϖ) "the burial cloth" - the soodarium (Latin) is a small towel, or large handkerchief, used to wipe the face. It is quite possible that this was of better material than the linen sheets.
εντετυλιγμενον (εντυλισσω) perf. pas. part. "the cloth was folded up  Peter sees that the sundarium .....is not with the linen sheets, but lays by itself], having been folded up. Neatly placed" is implied, which for John, prompts belief, v8..
εις ενα τοπον "by itself " - In the same place [as the linen sheets]" rather than a "different place", is the natural reading of the phrase. That is, the linen sheets have been pushed aside as if a person were getting out of bed, but the sadarium is folded neatly and placed beside the linen. It is clear that there is a point to these details which, for the author, prompts faith.
αλλα χωρις "separate from the linen" – 

v8 ο ελθων (ερχομαι) aor. part. "who had come" - participle may be treated as forming a substantive standing in apposition to "the other disciple."
επιστευσεν (πιστευω) aor. "[he saw and] believed" - believe what? As already noted, what our author seems to describe is a scene that looks as if someone has just got out of bed, rather than a scene disturbed by grave robbers. Such a scene is likely to confront a disciple with Jesus' promise that death will not hold him, a promise even now realized before their very eyes.

v9 ουδεπω "[they still did] not [understand from scripture]" - in the sense of not up to now.
αναστηναι (ανιστημι) aor. inf. "had to rise" - infinitive functions as the subject 


v10 προς αυτους "to their homes" - they went back to where they were when Mary called them. This verse serves to clear the way for Mary's meeting with Jesus. 

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