As for the absence of the article, although it is
possible that the words are an indefinite unit that is subsequently defined by
a substantival participle, [71] ( it is more likely that the article that
goes with the participle makes µονογενὴς θεός definite also: [72]
Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακεν πώποτε· µονογενὴς θεὸς ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον
τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο.
No one has ever seen God: the only(born) god, who is in
the bosom of the Father, that one has made [him] known.
Whether or not µονογενὴς θεός is definite, when
taken as a noun phrase it means that the one who has made the invisible God
known is not just the Son who is also divine, but the god who is God’s
only Son, or (to pick up the alternative interpretation of µονογενής)
“the unique god” who has the peerless distinction of being uniquely close to
God. This amounts to two gods. As one scholar notes: [73]
Since µονογενής means ‘only Son’, if it
modifies θεός the resultant phrase is properly translated as ‘(the)
only-Son God’. But this so sharply distinguishes the God who is the Son from
the God who is not (i.e. the Father) as to posit the existence of two separate
Deities.
Thus, interpreting 1:18 as “the only Son, who is himself
God” (or “the unique one, who is God”) does not appear to be based on
linguistic considerations. It is more likely the result of the presupposition
that to the monotheistic author of the Gospel there can be no more than one
deity. [74] As a consequence of what this linguistic study has shown, that view
is open to debate. (Alexander Smarius, “Another God
in the Gospel of John? A Linguistic Analysis of John 1:1 and 1:18,” Horizons
in Biblical Theology 44 [2022]: 160-61)
Notes for the Above:
[71] Cf. κολυµβήθρα ἡ ἐπιλεγοµένη Ἑβραϊστὶ Βηθζαθά,
(5:2); Πολλοὶ … ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων οἱ ἐλ- θόντες πρὸς τὴν Μαριάµ (11:45). Other NT
examples are: παιδίοις τοῖς ἐν ἀγορᾷ καθηµένοις (Luke 7:32); σκηνὴ ἡ λεγοµένη Ἅγια
Ἁγίων (Heb 9:3).
[72] Other NT examples are: γυναῖκες αἱ συνακολουθοῦσαι αὐτῷ
(Luke 23:49); θεοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν (Gal 1:1); θεῷ τῷ
δοκιµάζοντι τὰς καρδίας ἡµῶν (1 Thess 2:4). It is also worthy of note that all
other instances of resumptive ἐκεῖνος in John refer back to an articular
subject, cf. 1:33; 5:11, 37; 9:37; 10:1; 12:48; 14:21, 26. Cf. Wallace, Greek
Grammar, 307, 330.
[73] Fennema, “John 1.18,” 128.
[74] Cf. Porter, Linguistic Analysis, 87: “it has
been very difficult for biblical scholars to rid themselves of some deeply
rooted preconceptions, since theological presuppositions are strong
motivators.”
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