Pronouns

Nathaniel declares Jesus that he is the “Son of God, the King of Israel” (Jn 1:49). I wonder if “Son” should not be capitalized. We read it in light of later teaching on the deity of Christ, but Nathaniel obviously equates “Son” and “King.” There is no sense of deity in Nathanael’s declaration, at least on his part.

(I would be curious how many people in our churches know that the Greek text doesn’t use capitalization the way we do, and therefore do not understand that “Son” is interpretive. I will put a poll on Facebook.com/teknia. Please let me know.)

Jesus responds, “Is it because I told you (σοι) that I saw you under the fig tree that you believe? You will see greater things than that.” Then he said to him (αὐτῷ), “I tell you (ὑμῖν) the solemn truth: you will see (ὄψεσθε) heaven standing open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (vv 50f).

In speaking of the final judgment, Jesus says, “All the nations (τὰ ἔθνη) will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people (αὐτοὺς) one from another (ἀπ᾿ ἀλλήλων) as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”

Someone asked a while back why the pronoun is masculine (αὐτοὺς) and the antecedent is neuter (ἔθνη)?

Paul writes that "For by grace (χάριτι) you have been saved through faith (πίστεως), and this (τοῦτο) is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not of works, so that no one may boast" (Eph 2:8-9).