A Syntactical Analysis of oὖν in Papyrus 66 91 For the clarity that Mantey brings to the understanding of οὖν, his analysis of the inferential could be more specific. I wish to provide some subgroups of the inferential use to clarify the different uses, their meanings, and translations into English. a. Deductive (consequently, therefore, accordingly): οὖν indicates that the content of a sentence is the logical consequence of the previous sentence. The deductive use is by far the commonest inferential use of οὖν in the Gospel of John. As has been men- tioned, there are occasions where the deductive use is virtually indistinguishable from the common continuative use. The de- ductive and interrogative uses are the most common uses of οὖν in direct speech. But the deductive use of οὖν also frequently follows direct speech to describe the according reaction to the speech. 8:35, 36: ο δε δουλος ου μενει εν τη οικια εις τον αιωνα ο δε υς μενει εις τον αιωνα εαν ουν ο υς ϋμας ελευθερωση οντως ελευθεροι εστε68. These verses demonstrate how the deductive οὖν can be used in direct speech. From the fact that the son re- mains in the house, we can deduce that the disciples can be free. Notice also that the apodosis, not the protasis, can be inferred from the previous sentence. It is not “The son remains forever; therefore, the son frees you”; rather it is “The son remains for- ever; therefore, you are free”. b. Conclusive (thus): οὖν indicates that the author is drawing a conclusion from the preceding material. I propose this use very tentatively because there may not be sufficient evidence in the Gospel of John alone to warrant its classification; the decision will be left to the reader69. 11:53: απ εκινης ουν της ημερας εβουλευσαντο ϊνα αποκτινωσιν αυτον70. The “Jews” begin their discussion of whether or not to kill Jesus in 11:47. After the Gospel describes their discussion, the narrator provides the conclusion that they reached. Notice also that οὖν occurs in the third position here. While it does not 68 “And the slave does not remain in the house forever, but the son remains forever. Therefore you really are free if the son frees you”. A brief comment is due the two uses of δέ. The first use is continuative and the second is contrastive as it contrasts the status of the son with the slave. Frequently in the textual history, δέ and οὖν are substituted for each other, and this is understandable when one considers that they can perform several identical functions. 69 Possible conclusive uses include 11:45, 53. 70 “From that day on they planned to put him to death”.