Sunday, April 15, 2012

John 4:14; Forever!

14 But whoever may drink from the water which I will give to him, he will never thirst into the age, but the water which I will give to him will become in him a fountain of water welling up into eternal life.

14 ὃς δ᾿ ἂν πίῃ ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος οὗ ἐγὼ δώσω αὐτῷ, οὐ μὴ διψήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἀλλὰ τὸ ὕδωρ ὃ δώσω αὐτῷ γενήσεται ἐν αὐτῷ πηγὴ ὕδατος ἁλλομένου εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
Most translations do translate εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (into the age).  Among some of these are the KJV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, ASV, and others.  The main reason for this is due to the οὐ μὴ (not not) that appears in the verse.  The double “nots” make the expression emphatic, thus “never” is how we would translate it.  Therefore, since “never” means “never” in English, we wouldn’t have to translation the even more emphatic “into the age” which is an idiom that means “forever”.
But for those who are purist in translating all the words, here goes:
But whoever may drink from the water which I will give to him, he will never thirst forever...
But whoever may drink from the water which I will give to him, he will never ever thirst....
But whoever may drink from the water which I will give to him, he will never thirst anymore...
But whoever may drink from the water which I will give to him, he will never thirst again...
But whoever may drink from the water which I will give to him, he will never thirst into eternity...
But whoever may drink from the water which I will give to him, he will never thirst into the age...

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