[B-Greek] Gospel of John 6:24

Jason Hare jason at hareplay.com
Thu Sep 25 16:05:57 EDT 2003


> hOTE OUN EIDEN hO OCLOS hOTI IHSOUS OUK ESTIN EKEI
> OUDE hOI MAQHTAI AUTOU, ENEBHSAN AUTOI EIS TA PLOIARIA
> KAI HLQON EIS KAFARNAOUM ZHTOUNTES TON IHSOUN
>
> Why the present tense of ESTIN?

Indeed, as a continuative note (and sorry for the repeated use of
Wallace)....

These text does indeed seem to me to carry a historical flavor with it.

/So when the crowd saw that Jesus *was* not there, nor his disciples, they
embarked on boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus./

It indeed seems to force us to say "was" in place of "is" (the present
tense). Regarding John 5.2, Wallace said the following (p. 531):

"The text reads: ESTIN DE EN TOIS hIEROSOLUMOIS... KOLUMBHQRA ('Now there
/is/ in Jerusalem... a pool'). Since the equative verb is *nowhere else*
clearly used a historical present, the present tense should be taken as
indicating present time from the viewpoint of the speaker. The implication
of this seems to be that this Gospel was written before the destruction of
Jerusalem in 70 CE. Although many object to a pre-70 date for John's Gospel,
they must, in support of their view, reckon with this text."

Does the present verse (6.24) get us beyond this quibble? Can ESTIN be used
with a historical sense?

Regards,
Jason




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