John 8:58 (I am, I have been, I was?)
Ilvgrammta at aol.com
Ilvgrammta at aol.com
Wed Dec 22 13:58:05 EST 1999
Dear Grant,
In an article "EGW EIMI in John 1:20 and 4:25" Edwin D. Freed addresses the
issues surrounding the so-called absolute use of EGW EIMI and whether this
employment of the term ever occurs in the Johnannine literary corpus. He
repeatedly demonstrates how a predicate could be supplied each time EGW EIMI
appears in the Gospel of John. In spite of Freed's treatment, however, most
commentators admittedly understand EGW EIMI in John 8:58 to be absolute and
they subsequently insist that Jesus was calling himself God in the Johannine
Gospel. In the excellent work Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
Based on Semantic
Domains, Louw and Nida that John 8:58 give the following: "before Abraham
came into existence, I existed" (Louw-Nida 158). IMHO, this rendering more
accurately reflects the meaning of Jesus' words recorded in John 8:58. It
also helps us to understand that Jesus was evidently not speaking in a
metaphysical sense, when he said PRIN ABRAAM GENESQAI EGW EIMI. This reading
can be supported by the normal usage of EGW EIMI in times of antiquity and
the ancient writings about the Messiah.
Edgar Foster
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