103 A Grammatical Analysis of John 1,1 of the verb of rest tones down the idea of movement and it frequently expresses the idea of being ‘face to face’, often translated as “with” (see 2 Cor 5,8).44 Since we have a verb of rest in John 1,1 it remains a ques- tion of precisely how this relation should be understood. According to Porter,45 the translation, which has been institutionalized as “with” does not do full justice to this use of the preposition that infers a “face- to-face” presence. Brown46 also refers to the option that πρός with the accusative usually refers to motion, but sometimes it carries the meaning of accompaniment, since in Hellenistic Greek the distinction between prepositions of location and motion were generally weake- ned. On the other hand Winer47 states that πρός” means ‘to, toward’, with verbs of motion or mere direction. Sometimes, with a noun in the accusative, πρός appears to lose the import of the accusative and to signify simply with, particularly before names of persons, as in Jn.1,1. Moule48 is also of the opinion that the preposition in John 1,1 denotes position – i.e. it has a more “punctiliar” (a point in space) sense. This implies that the reader should not read too much into the use of πρός in this case49. However, Zerwick50 argues that in John’s literature πρός is usually used in a dynamic sense (about 100 times), (which in our case may be understood as one of active personal relationship) while the sense of being with ‘with someone’ is always rendered by παρά with the dative or by μετά with the genitive.51 This supports Porter’s view and requires a more dynamic translation. There is even more W.D. Chamberlain, An Exegetical Grammar of the Greek New Testament (New York: 44 MacMillan 1961), 128. A. van Veldhuizen, Het taaleigen des Nieuwen Testaments (Utrecht: Kemink 1906), 150-151 also mentions verbs of rest, which require the translation “bij” (with) if persons are involved. He notes that this use may replace παρά (+ acc.). M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek Illustrated by Examples, [English edition adapted from the fourth Latin edi- tion] (Rome: Scripta Pontificii Instituti Biblici, 1963), 33-34; 55-56 also notes this because the neglect of the distinction between rest and motion causes confusion. The confusion between εἰς and ἐν is similar to that between πρός with the accusative and the dative. Porter, Idioms, (see n. 8), 173. 45 Brown, John, (see n. 9), 4-5. 46 G.B. Winer, A Grammar of the New Testament Diction: Intended as an Introduction 47 to the Critical Study of the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (Edinburgh: T&T Clark 1860), 134, 423. C.F.D. Moule, An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek, 2nd edition (Cambridge: 48 Cambridge University Press 1968), 53, 76, 115-116. It should be noted that πρός is used several times in this Gospel to simply identify a 49 location (11,32; 18,16; 20,11,12). The possibility of 1:1b meaning that Jesus was simply at the location (by/with/at) of God should be considered as an option. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, (see n. 45), 33-34; 55-56. 50 Caragounis notes that here it must be asked: What kind of ‘active relationship’ does 51 Mt 13,56 (= Mk 6,3): καὶ αἱ ἀδελφαὶ αὐτοῦ οὐχὶ πᾶσαι πρὸς ἡμᾶς εἰσιν = “Are not all his sisters with us?” have which is absent from Ex 2,21: κατῳκίσθη δὲ Μωυσῆς παρὰ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, or Jdg 17,11: ἤρξατο παροικεῖν παρὰ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ?