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NASB | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
Bible Question: It is a good effort, but I would like you to discover, what it means not in dictionary, but in John's Gospel. It is a kind of quizz you know... |
Bible Answer: OK, richilou, if you want an exegesis, I'll give you one. The Greek word John uses in John 3:16 and elsewhere in his gospel that is translated "world" is kosmos, the ususal meaning of which is, oddly enough, world. It can also mean the sum total of the material universe, or the beauty of it. Additionally, kosmos can mean the sum total of persons living in the world....... The context simply won't support any other definition of kosmos (world) except the last one, i.e., the sum total of persons living in the world. Read John 3:16 as follows and you will not be wrong: For God so loved the sum total of persons living in the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life....... Now let's parse the verse using the other definition of kosmos. It would read something like this: For God so loved the material universe and its beauty that He gave his only begotten Son, that whatever in the material universe (the rocks, flowers, oceans, tadpoles) believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Which definition of kosmos makes more sense in this verse? --Hank |