[B-Greek] John 8:58 as translation greek
Awohili at aol.com
Awohili at aol.com
Thu Feb 3 19:40:38 EST 2005
Just a few thoughts in response to very thoughtful posts:
1- Though Cassuto and others have rendered Exodus 3:14 as "I am that/who I
am," the trend in more recent Jewish scholars is to translate it as "I will
be who I will be." For example see Everett Fox and Robert Alter. Alter says:
"'I-Will-Be-Who-I-Will-Be' is the most plausible construction of the
Hebrew." (The Five Books of Moses [Norton, 2004], p. 321) Also William H. C.
Propp's translation in The Anchor Bible, volume 2 [1998], "Then Deity said to
Moses, 'I will be who I will be.'" And again, this way of translating it is
reflected in the first century C.E. Greek translations of Aquila and Theodotion,
who render the Hebrew phrase as ESOMAI hOS ESOMAI, unambiguously "I will be
who I will be."
2- While EGW EIMI may translate the Hebrew of ANI HU' in Isaiah, it is
theology, not grammar, that connects this with the EGW EIMI of John 8:58. I
would remark only that for obvious reasons such a theological connection is not
made with the EGW EIMI ("I am") of John 9:9, or even with the similar EIMI hO
EIMI ("I am what/who I am") of 1 Corinthians 15:10.
In other words, not all [EGW] EIMI's are expressions of divinity. And
grammatical constructs cannot decide where or when they are such.
Solomon
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