Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Revelation 22:2 ( ξύλον)

ἐν μέσῳ τῆς πλατείας αὐτῆς· καὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ξύλον ζωῆς ποιοῦν καρποὺς δώδεκα, κατὰ μῆνα ἕκαστον ἀποδιδοῦν τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ φύλλα τοῦ ξύλου εἰς θεραπείαν τῶν ἐθνῶν (Revelation 22:2, WH).

BDAG seems to indicate that ξύλον in Rev. 22:2b refers to trees by the water. Conversely, Tyndale renders the passage:

"and on either side of the river was there wood of life . . . and the leaves of the wood served to heal the people withal."

On the other hand, commentator David Aune suggests:

"On each side of the river there were trees of life" and he makes these comments:

"The term ξύλον, 'tree,' is a collective referring to numerous trees found along banks of the river" (Revelation, 52C:1177).

Examples of ξύλον being used collectively are found in Gen. 1:11-12; 3:8; Lev. 26:20; 1 Chron. 16:32; 2 Chron. 7:13; Eccl. 2:5; Jer. 17:2.

5 comments:

Duncan said...

Edgar,

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=skIJ8NNbzJwC&pg=PA246&lpg=PA246&dq=dead+sea+scrolls+trees&source=bl&ots=TGgKsQNqhd&sig=jeaMY9-uP7mgrtatxnQ8Xsz1u1I&hl=en&sa=X&ei=owcAVfXtNsKw7Aak-IDwCg&ved=0CGQQ6AEwDQ#v=onepage&q=%20trees&f=false

Page 345

Interesting?

Edgar Foster said...

Duncan,

yes, I agree. Those are interesting passages on p. 345.

Thank you,

Edgar

Duncan said...

I wonder if Tyndale had this kind of thinking?

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeira_(disambiguation)"

Like the islands covered with trees or as we might insert in modern English:-

"and on either side of the river was there (a) wood of life"

Edgar Foster said...

To clarify, I'm not saying that Tyndale is wrong, because "wood" is a proper translation of xulon. One rendering stresses competitiveness, the other emphasizes plurality. Neither rendering is wrong.

But that's what I think he had in mind.

Edgar Foster said...

Tablet changed my spelling. Competitiveness should be collectiveness.