John 8:58 (I am, I have been, I was?)

Steven Craig Miller scmiller at www.plantnet.com
Wed Dec 22 13:48:22 EST 1999


To: Carl W. Conrad,

<< One could say, "I was," but I think that "I am" captures the paradoxical 
sense that the statement presents. If one is willing to sacrifice the 
structure of the Greek and reformulate the content, I think one might 
write, "My existence antedates the birth of Abraham." Come to think of it, 
that reformulation fits the old observation (which is at least partly true, 
as anyone who has had to memorize Greek verb paradigms is well aware) that 
English tends to express major notions with nouns while Greek tends to 
express major ideas with verbs. >>

Perhaps, but EGW EIMI is just a common phrase which often in both Classical 
Greek and the NT simply means nothing more than "I am he" (assuming a male 
speaker). There is nothing in the Grammar of this Greek text which 
necessarily demands understanding this text to suggests pre-existence. One 
could just as easily interpret this passage to mean (something like): 
"before Abraham was, I was appointed to this task" (literally: "Before 
Abraham was, I am he").

On the other hand, I will concede the fact that the phrase PRIN ABRAAM 
GENESQAI makes understanding the text somewhat difficult. Exactly what was 
before Abraham? Your interpretation assumes that it was the individual or 
person of Jesus which preexisted before Abraham. My interpretation merely 
assumes that the appointment of the person Jesus for God's task preexisted 
before Abraham.

-Steven Craig Miller
Alton, Illinois (USA)
scmiller at www.plantnet.com
Disclaimer: "I'm just a simple house-husband (with no post-grad degree), 
what do I know?"




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