# John 14:6- "the Light"?



## MarieP (Dec 26, 2011)

Are any of you aware of a translation that records John 14:6 as "the way, the truth, and the light" rather than "the life?"


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## FedByRavens (Dec 26, 2011)

I googled it and this is all that turned up ........... Islam: The Way, The Truth and The Light?


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## PuritanCovenanter (Dec 26, 2011)

I have never seen one. The references I know of Christ being called Light were referenced in John 1:6-9, 3:19-21, 8:12, 9:5, 12:46. It is kind of strange that I have never noticed that John seems to be the only one who references Christ being light.


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## Herald (Dec 26, 2011)

The word is "zoe" (life), not "phos" (light).


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## MarieP (Dec 27, 2011)

Thanks- the reason I ask is that my dad did a chainsaw carving of an eagle for an ELCA church in town several weeks ago, and he was told to put John 14:6 on it. It was quoted to him as "the way the truth, and the light." My dad made sure he was hearing correctly, but he was certain they said light, and so that's what he wrote. His suspicions were confirmed when several others have said, "Didn't they mean life?" So, my dad called the church member who told him this, and it was insisted that "the words are interchangeable" and "newer translations have light." I checked the Greek lexicon, and I found that the word is in all places translated life. My dad and I looked through a dozen or so translations, and we also did a google search. We saw that most of the sites that said "light" were not direct quotations, and the ones that supposedly were didn't include a translation reference. There's nothing really that he can do, as this wasn't his own church, and he doesn't really know the people there. It's sad because the person who told him this is one of the most prominent church members.

He was commissioned to carve an eagle because he was told that was a historical symbol for John the Evangelist (the name of the church is St. John). So we are glad at least that much is correct (and light is very Johannine, as PuritanCovenanter pointed out).


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## py3ak (Dec 27, 2011)

MarieP said:


> He was commissioned to carve an eagle because he was told that was a historical symbol for John the Evangelist (the name of the church is St. John).



Yes. It is normal to depict John with an eagle.


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