Present tense copulative verbs

Presept presept at earthlink.net
Fri Aug 21 22:11:15 EDT 1998


I have two reasons why EIMI in Jn 8:58 is not a Perfective Present (IMHO).  One, Burton in his Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of  New Testament Greek states that Perfective Presents are,"...accompanied by an adverbial expression denoting duration and referring to past time."(10, section 17)  Examples of true Perfective Presents and their adverbial expressions are: "so many years" (TOSAUTA ETH, Luke 15:29); "a long time" (POLUN HDH CRONON, Jn 5:6); "so long a time" (TOSIUTWi CRONWi, Jn 14:9); "from the beginning" (AP ARCHS, Jn 15:27); and "from ancient times" (EK GENEWN ARCAIWN, Acts 15:21).  As can be seen from these examples,  you have an event in the past which has present results.  The movement of time is the past to the present.  In Jn 8:58, the movement of time is in the opposite direction. It starts at Abraham's existence and points before it.  It is pointing to the past.  Two, a couple of texts from the LXX which are true parallels to Jn 8:58 are Psalm 90:2 and Proverbs 18:13.
                                                  -James Stewart 
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