_The Christian Prophets and the Prophetic Apocalypse_ (1900), 277pp. by Edward Carus Selwyn, on 258-263, an entire chapter
https://archive.org/details/christianprophet00selwiala
https://books.google.com/books?id=a_4rAAAAYAAJ
_Solecisms of the Seer's Greek._
THE solecisms, or grammatical errors, of the Seer pervade every page of Ap, and not only distinguish it from every book of the Bible except 2 Jn and 3 Jn, but serve as a guarantee for the unity of its authorship in its present form, for they are more or less regular and recurrent irregularities. One of the strongest points of Vischer's hypothesis is that it fully recognises their ubiquity, and accounts for this by the theory that the book as we have it was translated from Hebrew into Greek, and at the same time interpolated by one and the same hand. And in fact their ubiquity finally disposes of every theory which would represent Ap as composed by different Greek writers at different times from 68 onwards.
In order to give the English reader some idea of the extent of these blunders, which are such that they would disgrace the exercise of an English fifth-form school-boy, an attempt is here made to reproduce some specimens. We may grant that one or two are intentional ; but it is undeniable that most are hopelessly bad Greek, and serve no purpose of the author whatever. There are very many besides (see Art. 'Apocalypse' in _Encyclopaedia Biblica_) ; some are not reproducible without too great an effort of language.
i 4 from he that is and the was and he that cometh.
i 5 and from Jesus Christ, he who is the true witness.
ii 18 [20] thou allowest thy wife Jezebel, she who calls herself prophetess.
iii 12 He that overcometh I will make him a pillar.
iii 12 The name of the new Jerusalem, she that cometh down...
vii The number of them was 10,000 times 10,000, they saying,...
vi i And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals.
vii 4 And I heard the number of them that had been sealed, 144,000, they that had been sealed from every tribe.
vii 9 Behold a great multitude, which no man could number it [this Hebraism occurs often],... they standing before the throne and before the Lamb, them clothed with white garments, and palms in their hands.
viii 9 And there died the third part of sea-creatures, they that had life.
ix 14 I heard one voice from the horns of the golden altar before God, a man saying to the sixth angel, he that hath the trumpet.
x 8 And the voice which I heard from heaven again speaking with me and saying...
xi i And there was given me a reed like a rod, which saith...
xiv 6[-7] And I saw another angel flying... he which saith...
xiv 12 Here is the endurance of the saints, they which keep the commandments...
xiv 14 And upon the cloud one sitting likened a Son of Man.
xvi 12 And its water was dried up, that the way of the kings may be prepared.
xvii 8 And they that dwell on the earth shall be astonished, ...of those which see the beast...
xviii 12 their merchandise of gold and of silver &c....and every (accusative case) wood &c....and of horses &c., and souls (accusative case) of men.
xix 6 [20:2] And he subdued the dragon, he that is the serpent.
xxi 27 And there shall not enter into it anything that is unclean and he who maketh abomination and falsehood, except they whose names &c....
iv 7 And the third living thing, a man having the face as of a human being.
v 6 A lamb, a thing standing as slain, a man having seven heads....
v 6 which are the seven spirits of God, men sent into all the earth.
v 13 and all things in them, I heard men saying...
ix 4 [5] that they may not kill them, but that they shall be tormented.
xi 15 And there were great voices in heaven, men saying...
xvii 3 I saw a woman seated on to a scarlet beast, a man full of names of blasphemy, he having seven heads....
xvii 16 And the ten heads which thou sawest and the beast, these men shall hate the harlot.
iii 2 Stablish the last things which was about to die.
iii 4 A few names in Sardis which has not defiled their garments.
iv 5 Seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which is the Seven Spirits.
iv 8 The four living things is full of eyes...
iv 14 The four living things was saying Amen.
ix 20 The devils and the idols... which is not able to see &c.
xi 13 There was killed in the earthquake 7,000 names of men.
xv 4 Because thy just sentences was declared.
xvi 14 For they is spirits of devils doing signs.
xviii 3 For all the nations has drunk of the wine
xviii 23 For all the nations was seduced.
Misuse of participles has been referred to above. Misuse of prepositions is common. Appalling false concords of gender occur in xiv 9 [19], where 'the winepress' is feminine and masculine in one breath ; in xix 20, where 'the fire' is of the same two genders at once : in xxi 14, where 'the wall' is neuter and masculine at once.
One concluding instance must be cited. In iv 11 the words of the Seer overcame the A.V. translators, who boldly took refuge in 'for thy pleasure _they are_ and were created,' .... This position, however, was abandoned in the R.V., which says more literally, 'they were, and were created.' The false concord, however, can only be given literally as 'they was, and was created.' Unfortunately no Greek writer of any age could possibly allow that 'all things were,' because things _become_ and are transitory, whereas realities alone have eternal existence. The whole of life is comprehended to a Greek mind under the great distinction between Being and Becoming. This is one of the peculiar features of the Greek mind, and separates it from every other mind. The horror which such a statement of Ap would produce upon the mind of the Evangelist of the Fourth Gospel, quite apart from the false concord, can hardly be imagined. He has solemnly and beautifully set forth the truth : 'In the beginning was the Word... all things _became_ through Him (i 1, 3).' Things-- all things-- certainly to him 'were not'; they became ; they were created. The only explanation of the solecism of Ap iv 11 is that the Seer was no Greek scholar. And it is quite impossible that the Evangelist can have gone over and interpolated the Apocrypha without correcting this and the other solecisms. We must therefore hold that Harnack's present view (pp. 219, 229 n.) is untenable.
https://archive.org/details/christianprophet00selwiala
https://books.google.com/books?id=a_4rAAAAYAAJ
_Solecisms of the Seer's Greek._
THE solecisms, or grammatical errors, of the Seer pervade every page of Ap, and not only distinguish it from every book of the Bible except 2 Jn and 3 Jn, but serve as a guarantee for the unity of its authorship in its present form, for they are more or less regular and recurrent irregularities. One of the strongest points of Vischer's hypothesis is that it fully recognises their ubiquity, and accounts for this by the theory that the book as we have it was translated from Hebrew into Greek, and at the same time interpolated by one and the same hand. And in fact their ubiquity finally disposes of every theory which would represent Ap as composed by different Greek writers at different times from 68 onwards.
In order to give the English reader some idea of the extent of these blunders, which are such that they would disgrace the exercise of an English fifth-form school-boy, an attempt is here made to reproduce some specimens. We may grant that one or two are intentional ; but it is undeniable that most are hopelessly bad Greek, and serve no purpose of the author whatever. There are very many besides (see Art. 'Apocalypse' in _Encyclopaedia Biblica_) ; some are not reproducible without too great an effort of language.
i 4 from he that is and the was and he that cometh.
i 5 and from Jesus Christ, he who is the true witness.
ii 18 [20] thou allowest thy wife Jezebel, she who calls herself prophetess.
iii 12 He that overcometh I will make him a pillar.
iii 12 The name of the new Jerusalem, she that cometh down...
vii The number of them was 10,000 times 10,000, they saying,...
vi i And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals.
vii 4 And I heard the number of them that had been sealed, 144,000, they that had been sealed from every tribe.
vii 9 Behold a great multitude, which no man could number it [this Hebraism occurs often],... they standing before the throne and before the Lamb, them clothed with white garments, and palms in their hands.
viii 9 And there died the third part of sea-creatures, they that had life.
ix 14 I heard one voice from the horns of the golden altar before God, a man saying to the sixth angel, he that hath the trumpet.
x 8 And the voice which I heard from heaven again speaking with me and saying...
xi i And there was given me a reed like a rod, which saith...
xiv 6[-7] And I saw another angel flying... he which saith...
xiv 12 Here is the endurance of the saints, they which keep the commandments...
xiv 14 And upon the cloud one sitting likened a Son of Man.
xvi 12 And its water was dried up, that the way of the kings may be prepared.
xvii 8 And they that dwell on the earth shall be astonished, ...of those which see the beast...
xviii 12 their merchandise of gold and of silver &c....and every (accusative case) wood &c....and of horses &c., and souls (accusative case) of men.
xix 6 [20:2] And he subdued the dragon, he that is the serpent.
xxi 27 And there shall not enter into it anything that is unclean and he who maketh abomination and falsehood, except they whose names &c....
iv 7 And the third living thing, a man having the face as of a human being.
v 6 A lamb, a thing standing as slain, a man having seven heads....
v 6 which are the seven spirits of God, men sent into all the earth.
v 13 and all things in them, I heard men saying...
ix 4 [5] that they may not kill them, but that they shall be tormented.
xi 15 And there were great voices in heaven, men saying...
xvii 3 I saw a woman seated on to a scarlet beast, a man full of names of blasphemy, he having seven heads....
xvii 16 And the ten heads which thou sawest and the beast, these men shall hate the harlot.
iii 2 Stablish the last things which was about to die.
iii 4 A few names in Sardis which has not defiled their garments.
iv 5 Seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which is the Seven Spirits.
iv 8 The four living things is full of eyes...
iv 14 The four living things was saying Amen.
ix 20 The devils and the idols... which is not able to see &c.
xi 13 There was killed in the earthquake 7,000 names of men.
xv 4 Because thy just sentences was declared.
xvi 14 For they is spirits of devils doing signs.
xviii 3 For all the nations has drunk of the wine
xviii 23 For all the nations was seduced.
Misuse of participles has been referred to above. Misuse of prepositions is common. Appalling false concords of gender occur in xiv 9 [19], where 'the winepress' is feminine and masculine in one breath ; in xix 20, where 'the fire' is of the same two genders at once : in xxi 14, where 'the wall' is neuter and masculine at once.
One concluding instance must be cited. In iv 11 the words of the Seer overcame the A.V. translators, who boldly took refuge in 'for thy pleasure _they are_ and were created,' .... This position, however, was abandoned in the R.V., which says more literally, 'they were, and were created.' The false concord, however, can only be given literally as 'they was, and was created.' Unfortunately no Greek writer of any age could possibly allow that 'all things were,' because things _become_ and are transitory, whereas realities alone have eternal existence. The whole of life is comprehended to a Greek mind under the great distinction between Being and Becoming. This is one of the peculiar features of the Greek mind, and separates it from every other mind. The horror which such a statement of Ap would produce upon the mind of the Evangelist of the Fourth Gospel, quite apart from the false concord, can hardly be imagined. He has solemnly and beautifully set forth the truth : 'In the beginning was the Word... all things _became_ through Him (i 1, 3).' Things-- all things-- certainly to him 'were not'; they became ; they were created. The only explanation of the solecism of Ap iv 11 is that the Seer was no Greek scholar. And it is quite impossible that the Evangelist can have gone over and interpolated the Apocrypha without correcting this and the other solecisms. We must therefore hold that Harnack's present view (pp. 219, 229 n.) is untenable.