Most translations render John 8:59 as "Jesus hid himself" after the Jews took up stones to kill him for his apparent blasphemy. The verbal form which lies behind the translations here is ε'κρύβη, which appears to morphologically be an aorist passive verbal form. If in the passive, the better translation would seem to be that Jesus "was hidden," assumedly by God for the purpose of preserving his life until the time of his Messianic mission was ready to be fulfilled. Most commentators who preserve the middle voice sense of the verb defend the translation by noting that the LXX frequently uses the passive form when a "middle" or active sense is intended (Gen 3:8, 10; Jdg 9:5; 1 Kgdms 13:6; 14:11; 19:2; 20:19; 3 Kgdms 17:3; 22:25; 4 Kgdms 7:12; Ps 54:13; 77:4; Job 24:4; 29:8; 34:22; Jer 4:29; 30:4). There are instances, however, where a clear passive sense seems intended as well (Ps 37:10; 68:6; 138:15; Job 28:21; Jer 16:17). Perhaps more importantly, in the New Testament, the passive sense is more dominant (Matt 5:14; Luke 19:42; 1 Tim 5:25; Heb 11:23).
John 12:36 provides another example within John's Gospel, where the same verbal form is used of Jesus. Here it is paired with a temporal participle which proceeds it. If taken as a passive, here the translation would be "Jesus said these things, and, after he departed, he was hidden from them," compared with the "middle" sense which would be "... and after he departed, he hid himself from them." A few important principles are evident in this translation issue. First, language is fluid and does not always fit into "neat" and "absolute" categories. This is why immersion in a language is so vital to success in developing proficiency. Second, this is further evidence why translations do not agree on how to render every verse. There are many complicating factors which make translation difficult. Third, those who wish to develop language proficiency must become familiar with usage patterns not just by a particular author (though that should be primary), but also in the ancient world at large. Part of the decision here is whether to give more weight to the LXX usage patterns or the NT patterns (Morris, for example citing the NT patterns, opt for the passive rendering [Morris, The Gospel According to John, 420-21]). So which is the better translation? If not for John 12:36, it may seem that the passive rendering is more probable in 8:59, for one could easily see the necessity of intervention from the Father when Jesus is about to be killed before his time had come. In John 12:36, however, there is little sense of urgency here (at least when compared to 8:59) and the middle seems to make better sense of the text. It seems unlikely that the author would use the verb in two different senses so closely together, and so it may be that "Jesus hid himself" is the better rendering after all.
2 Comments
OUMA CALVINCE AWUONDA
11/17/2016 04:09:14 am
this is true, i thank God for you
Reply
JP
12/7/2021 11:20:08 am
Excellent and thoroughly researched commentary. Thank you
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
October 2016
Categories
All
|