[B-Greek] EGW EIMI in John 8:58

David C. Hindley dhindley at compuserve.com
Wed Mar 17 12:59:05 EST 2004


Tony Costa asks:

>>Dear Friends, re: EGW EIMI. I understand that EGW is a first person
singular pronoun meaning "I", and that EIMI is the first person singular
present indicative which means "I am". I was just wondering why John 8:58
(also 8:24 et al) uses EGW EIMI, literally,  "I, I am" instead of simply
EIMI, "I am". Is EGW used for the sake of emphasis?<<

That is certainly one possibility, and the answer that most seem to prefer.
Another *might* be that EGW EIMI is a shortened substitution for EGW EIMI hO
WN of Exodus 3:14. In other words, the author of the Gospel of John is
claiming Jesus is the same "god" who spoke to Moses. GJohn is full of
sayings of Jesus that start with or incorporate the phrase EGW EIMI, almost
as a formula. In the other Gospels, a substitution for the divine name might
be suggested in Jesus' answer to the high priest after his arrest, causing
him to declare that Jesus uttered a blasphemy (Mark 14:62; Luke 22:70; and
during his arrest in John 18:6, when those who arrest him fall backwards
after he says the phrase). It may also be implied in the accounts where the
disciples see Jesus walking to them on the raging waters of a storm, says
EGW EIMI and the storm instantly stops (Mat 14:25-27; Mark 6:47-50; John
6:20). Later Jewish tradition claimed that Jesus used the divine name to
perform magic.

Respectfully,

Dave Hindley
Cleveland, Ohio, USA





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