prin abraam genesthai.....

awohili at aol.com awohili at aol.com
Fri Apr 26 10:43:21 EDT 2002


Of course, I meant to write John 8:58.

Though there are indeed some parallels between Psalm 89:2 (LXX) and John 8:58, there are also important differences due to the semantics of the temporal descriptions given.  If anything, the different translations of both verses by recognized scholars illustrate the point you made that we cannot "pigeonhole" the meaning of John 8:58.  But of course, that works both ways.  K. L. McKay ("I have been in existence since before Abraham was born") and Charles B. Williams ("I existed before Abraham was born," _New Testament in the Language of the People_), among others, understood that the imperfective aspect of EIMI could signal a state lasting from the past and continuing into the present.

In other words, there is more than one valid way to view the Greek text of John 8:58.

Solomon Landers

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>Thus, John 5:8 lacks any such expression as "from >everlasting to everlasting," which would provide a true >parallel to Psalm 89:2 LXX.

Solomon Landers




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