The Two Johannine Verbs for Sending
“The Two Johannine Verbs for Sending: A Study of Johns Use of Words with Reference to General Linguistic Theory,” in Linguistics and the New Testament: Critical Junctures (ed. Stanley E. Porter and D. A. Carson; JSNTSup 168; Studies in New Testament Greek 5; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), 125-43.
Is there a distinction in meaning between the two words used for “sending” in the Fourth Gospel, ἀποστέλλω and πέμπω? Not only does the answer to this question prove to be significant for the exegesis of several important passages in John’s Gospel, the history of the debate surrounding this issue also provides an interesting case study of developments in linguistic theory as applied to New Testament Greek in this century.