116 Jan van der Watt & Chrys Caragounis therefore, “the most likely candidate for θεός is qualitative”113. This seems as if the word θεός is used in an adjectival sense.114 Wallace115 also points out that before the article of Colwell most commentators saw θεός as qualitative116. “That is to say, the Word is true deity but he is not the same person as the θεός mentioned earlier in the verse”; in other words, the Word was God but he is distinct from the Father. That the word becomes flesh mirrors the expression in John 1,1c, emphasizing his nature rather than his identity. Wallace117 maintains that both grammatically and theologically this is the better choice. The fact that the Word is not the Father comes out clearly, although they share the same essence. Qualitatively, the Word has all the “at- tributes and qualities that ‘the God’ (of 1,1b) had”118. Possible transla- tions would therefore be: “What God was, the Word was”, or “the Word that he did not realize that θεῖος does not really express the full meaning of what the author of John wants to say. Schnackenburg, John, (see n. 10), 234 also remarks: “Hence θεός is not a genus, but signifies the nature proper to God and the Logos in common”. Keener, John, (see n. 54), 374 however supports the idea of translating θεός with “divine” here. Wallace, Syntax, (see n. 9), 269; According to H.H. Moulton, An Introduction to 113 the Study of the New Testament Greek, 4th rev. ed. (London: Epworth Press, 1914), 161 the omission of the article shows that the speaker regards the person or thing not so much as this or that person or thing, but rather as such a person or thing, i.e. regards not the individual but rather its nature or quality. “Hence it is sometimes stated as a ‘rule’ that ‘the article is not used with the predicate’. In fact, predicates commonly lack the article, but this is not in virtue of any ‘rule’ about predicates in particular, but in virtue of the universal rule; for in the nature of things, the predicate commonly refers not to an individual or individuals as such, but to the class to which the subject belongs, to the nature or quality predicated of the subject; e.g. Jn.1,1 καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος, which attributes to the Word the divine nature (ὁ θεός ἦν ὁ λόγος, at least in NT usage, would signify personal identity of the Word with the Father, since the latter is ὁ θεός)”. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, (see n. 45), 33-34, 55-56 argues that not too much should be made of word order, whether the noun without the article is used before or after the verb, although some significance is read into it (before it is not necessarily qualitative, while after it usually is). The voices of Dana and Mantey, Grammar, (see n. 15), 148-150 must also be added: “(it is true) that sometimes the writer’s viewpoint is difficult to detect. The use of θεός in Jn.1,1 in πρὸς τὸν θεόν points to Christ’s fellowship with the person of the Father; where θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος emphasizes Christ’s participation in the essence of the divine nature. The former clearly applies to personality, while the latter applies to character… nor was the word all of God, as it would mean if the article were also used with θεός. As it stands, the other persons of the Trinity may be implied in θεός ”. R. Hanna, A Grammatical Aid to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 114 1983), 147 challenges this view that the noun changes into an adjective, especially in discus- sion with Moffat. Wallace, Syntax, (see n. 9), 268. 115 See B.F. Westcott, The Gospel according to St John, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1958, 116 ad loc. who says “it describes the nature of the Word and does not identify His Person”. Wallace, Syntax, (see n. 9), 269. 117 Wallace, Syntax, (see n. 9), 269. 118