|
Home
Up
| |
John 8:58—“before Abraham came into existence, I have been”
C4 “before Abraham was, I have been”
A Translation of the Four Gospels from the Syriac of
the Sinaitic Palimpsest,by Agnes Smith Lewis,London, 1894.
C5 “before ever Abraham
came to be, I was”
The Curetonian Version of the Four Gospels, by
F.Crawford Burkitt, Vol. 1,Cambridge, England, 1904.
Fifth Century “before Abraham
existed, I was”
The Syriac New Testament Translated into English
from the Peshitto Version, by James Murdock, seventh ed., Boston and London,
1896.
C5 “before Abraham came to be, I was”
“The Old
Georgian Version of the Gospel of John,” by Robert P. Blake and Maurice Brière,
published in Patrologia Orientalis, Vol. XXVI, fascicle 4, Paris, 1950.
C6 “before Abraham was born, I was”
(The New Testament . . . in Ethiopic), by Thomas
Pell Platt, revised by F. Praetorius, Leipzig, 1899.
The action expressed in John 8:58 started “before Abraham came into existence”
and is still in progress. In such situation εἰμί (eimi′),
which is the first-person singular present indicative, is properly translated by
the perfect indicative.
Examples of the same syntax are found in :
 |
(Luke 2:48) Now when they saw him they were
astounded, and his mother said to him: "Child, why did you treat us
this way? Here your father and I in mental distress have been looking for
you."
καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν ἐξεπλάγησαν, καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἡ
μήτηρ αὐτοῦ· τέκνον, τί ἐποίησας ἡμῖν οὕτως; ἰδοὺ ὁ πατήρ σου κἀγὼ
ὀδυνώμενοι ἐζητοῦμέν σε.
|
|
(Luke 13:7) Then he said to the vinedresser, ‘Here
it is three years that I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree,
but have found none. Cut it down! Why really should it keep the ground
useless?’
εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἀμπελουργόν· ἰδοὺ τρία ἔτη ἀφʼ οὗ
ἔρχομαι ζητῶν καρπὸν ἐν τῇ συκῇ ταύτῃ καὶ οὐχ εὑρίσκω· ἔκκοψον [οὖν]
αὐτήν, ἱνατί καὶ τὴν γῆν καταργεῖ;
|
|
(Luke 15:29) In reply he said to his father, ‘Here
it is so many years I have slaved for you and never once did I
transgress your commandment, and yet to me you never once gave a kid for me to
enjoy myself with my friends.
ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ· ἰδοὺ τοσαῦτα ἔτη
δουλεύω σοι καὶ οὐδέποτε ἐντολήν σου παρῆλθον, καὶ ἐμοὶ οὐδέποτε ἔδωκας
ἔριφον ἵνα μετὰ τῶν φίλων μου εὐφρανθῶ·
|
|
(John 5:6) Seeing this man lying down, and being
aware that he had already been [sick] a long time, Jesus said to him:
"Do you want to become sound in health?"
τοῦτον ἰδὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς κατακείμενον καὶ γνοὺς ὅτι
πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον ἔχει, λέγει αὐτῷ· θέλεις ὑγιὴς γενέσθαι;
|
|
(John 14:9) Jesus said to him: "Have I been
with YOU men so long a time, and yet, Philip, you have not come to know me? He
that has seen me has seen the Father [also]. How is it you say, ‘Show us the
Father’?
λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· τοσούτῳ χρόνῳ μεθʼ ὑμῶν εἰμι
καὶ οὐκ ἔγνωκάς με, Φίλιππε; ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμὲ ἑώρακεν τὸν πατέρα· πῶς σὺ λέγεις·
δεῖξον ἡμῖν τὸν πατέρα;
|
|
(John 15:27) and YOU, in turn, are to bear witness,
because YOU have been with me from when I began
καὶ ὑμεῖς δὲ μαρτυρεῖτε, ὅτι ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς μετʼ ἐμοῦ ἐστε.
|
|
(Acts 15:21) For from ancient times Moses has
had in city after city those who preach him, because he is read aloud in
the synagogues on every Sabbath."
Μωϋσῆς γὰρ ἐκ γενεῶν ἀρχαίων κατὰ πόλιν τοὺς κηρύσσοντας αὐτὸν ἔχει ἐν
ταῖς συναγωγαῖς κατὰ πᾶν σάββατον ἀναγινωσκόμενος. |
|
(2 Corinthians 12:19) Have YOU been
thinking all this while that we have been making our defense to YOU? It is
before God that we are speaking in connection with Christ. But, beloved ones,
all things are for YOUR up building.
Πάλαι δοκεῖτε ὅτι ὑμῖν ἀπολογούμεθα. κατέναντι θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ λαλοῦμεν·
τὰ δὲ πάντα, ἀγαπητοί, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν οἰκοδομῆς
|
|
(1 John 3:8) He who carries on sin
originates with the Devil, because the Devil has been sinning from
[the] beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was made manifest, namely, to
break up the works of the Devil.
ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστίν, ὅτι ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ὁ διάβολος
ἁμαρτάνει. εἰς τοῦτο ἐφανερώθη ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, ἵνα λύσῃ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ
διαβόλου. |
Attempting to identify Jesus with Jehovah, some say that ἐγὼ εἰμί is the equivalent of the Hebrew expression ’ani′ hu’, “I am he,” which is used
by God. However, it is to be noted that this Hebrew expression is also used by
man.—See 1Ch 21:17 ftn.
Further attempting to identify Jesus with Jehovah, some try to use Ex 3:14 (LXX)
which reads: ᾿Εγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν (Ego′ eimi ho on), which means “I am The Being,” or,
“I am The Existing One.” This attempt cannot be sustained because the expression
in Ex 3:14 is different from the expression in Joh 8:58. (See Ex 3:14 ftn.)
Throughout the Christian Greek Scriptures it is not possible to make an
identification of Jesus with Jehovah as being the same person.
|
(Ezekiel 34:22-23)
And I will save my sheep, and they will no longer become something for
plunder; and I will judge between a sheep and a sheep. And I (Jehovah)
will raise up over them one shepherd (Jesus) and he must feed them,
even my servant David. He himself will feed them, and he himself will become
their shepherd. |
|
(Hosea 3:5 Writing Completed (B.C.E.):
a. 745; Time Covered (B.C.E.): b. 804–a. 745 )
Afterwards the sons of Israel will come back and certainly look for Jehovah
their God, and for David (died 1037 BCE) their king (Jesus);
and they will certainly come quivering to Jehovah and to his goodness in the
final part of the days. |
|
(Matthew 4:10)
Jesus said to him: "Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘It is (the
LORD) Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you
must render sacred service.’" |
|
(Acts 3:13)
The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our forefathers, (Jehovah)
has glorified his Servant, Jesus, whom YOU, for YOUR part, delivered up
and disowned before Pilate’s face, when he had decided to release him. |
|
