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 | | From: | Muz | | Subject: | John 6:28-29 | | Date: | Thu, 20 Jan 2005 04:28:29 GMT |
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 | I've been looking at John 6:28-29 more closely, and I think it would be
good to look at it more closely.
28 They said therefore to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the
works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work
of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.
28 eipon oun proV" aujtovn: tiv poiw'men i{na ejrgazwvmeqa taV erga
tou' qeou'; 29 ajpekrivqh (oJ) jIhsou'" kaiV ei\pen aujtoi'": toutov
ejstin toV e[rgon tou qeou, ina pisteuvhte eij on ajpevsteilen
ejkeino".
Now, the construction, here, is very interesting. The quesiton in
verse 28 is "What might we do in order that we might work the works of
God?" the ina is intended to reflect purpose, meaning "so that",
although "in order that" works, too.
However, Jesus response parallels their question. "This is the work of
God, ina you might believe Him whom He has sent." Now, "in order
that", here, doesn't fit quite right. However, I was reading my GNT
Dictionary notes on ina, and I found this:
[gree]ina conj. Iin order that (of purpose ; so that (of result); that
(indirect statement); [b]with subj. sometimes = impv. (e.g. hJ deV
gunhV ina fobhtai toVn andra [i]the wife must respect her husband[/i]
#Eph 5:33 )[/b]
Now, this fits John 6:29 VERY nicely. Jesus isn't merely making a
statement of fact, here. The presence of ina doesn't allow that.
However, the use of ina as an imperative DOES fit and DOES make sense.
Thus, what we have is Jesus commanding the people who asked him what
they must do to BELIEVE in Him. If you're looking for free will in
John 6, this may be the clearest example. Jesus is using the
imperative form of ina to command people to believe.
Michael
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