Toan Do, «Does peri olou tou kosmou imply 'the sins of the whole world' in 1 John 2,2?», Vol. 94 (2013) 415-435
In 1 John 2,2 the phrases (2b) peri ton amartion emon, (2c) ou peri ton emeteron de monon, (2d) alla kai peri olou tou kosmou, demand careful interpretation. The construction ou monon alla kai, explains the sequence of 2b and 2c, following the peri-clause in 2a. However, this does not explain theologically to what peri olou tou kosmou in 2d refers. This essay seeks, in some measure, to remedy this syntactical conundrum by proposing a contextual reading of 2a as parallel with 2d.
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1 John 2,2d, peri, is followed by the genitive 64, so we can agree
with BDAG that peri. o[lou tou/ ko,smou in 2d refers back to Jesus
in auvto.j i`lasmo,j evstin in 2a.
It is interesting to note that peri,, while occurring elsewhere in
the NT with the genitive and accusative, appears only with the gen-
itive in 1 John. Consult the following occurrences (10x total): 1,1;
2,2b.2c.2d.26.27; 4,10; 5,9.10.16.
In 1 John, when peri, is used with an abstract noun (2,2bd; 4,10)
or proper noun (5,9.10), it is accompanied by an article. 1 John 3,12
explicitly uses the article: ta. e;rga auvtou/ ponhra. h=n ta. de. tou/
adelfou/ auvtou/ di,kaia. Indeed, the various uses of peri, show that the
v
author could have expressed the idea “the sins†of the world if he
had so intended (cf. John 16,8-9). Then, verse 2d would have been
peri. a`martiw/n olou tou/ ko,smou or peri. tw/n olou tou/ ko,smou 65. In
[ [
the absence of tw/n or a`marti,a, the phrase peri. o[lou tou/ ko,smou
places no stress on “the sins†of the world. The emphasis is rather on
Jesus’ death as the expiation “concerning†the whole world. The ref-
erence to “sins†might have been presupposed in 2c, but it is not the
focus of 2d. Here peri. o[lou tou/ ko,smou in 2d will be better inter-
preted if it is linked with auvto.j i`lasmo,j evstin in 2a.
VII. The meaning of o[loj in 1 John
In 1 John the adjective o[loj, -h, -on occurs only twice in 2,2 and
5,19. In both cases o[loj modifies ko,smoj. It is helpful to put the two
occurrences in perspective:
2,2 auvto.j i`lasmo,j evstin peri. tw/n a`martiw/n h`mw/n(
ouv peri. tw/n h`mete,rwn de. mo,non avlla. kai. peri. o[lou tou/ ko,smou
5,19 oidamen o[ti evk tou/ qeou/ evsmen kai. o` ko,smoj o[loj evn tw/| ponhrw/|
;
keitai
/
For Cassem both peri. o[lou tou/ ko,smou in 2,2d and o` ko,smoj
o[loj evn tw/| ponhrw/| kei/tai in 5,19 imply the “sins†of the world 66.
The genitive use of peri, is the most common in the NT. Cf. MOULE,
64
Idiom-Book, 62-63; and MOULTON – TURNER, Syntax, 269-270.
HARRIS, Prepositions and Theology, 182-183.
65
CASSEM, “Grammatical and Contextual Inventoryâ€, 85. Similarly,
66
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