[B-Greek] John 8:58 PPA???
MAKARIOIOIPRAEIS at aol.com
MAKARIOIOIPRAEIS at aol.com
Fri Feb 4 01:58:19 EST 2005
Another reason the LXX of Psalm 90:2 would be a closer parrallel to John 8:58
is that the last phrase of the Psalm is also a "predicate absolute"
Ps 90:2 PRO TOU ORH GENHQNHAI..... SU EI
before the mountains were formed .....You are
John 8:58 PRIV ABRAAM GENESQAI....EGO EIMI
before Abraham was born .... I am
The LXX translation renders ATAH 'EL "You are God" simply as SU EI "absolute"
and in the present tense. According to the LXX translators, the single phrase
"You are" by itself seems to be what is used and would be understood by the
Greek speaking Jews as the equivalent and transcendant declaration for "You are
God", without even mentioing 'EL. From the debate it was mentioned that
Beduhn had argued that Ps 90:2 in the LXX was also a PPA, but the original Heb is
not saying "You have been God before the mountains..." ..that would be HAYYETA
'EL... This seems to argue in favor for the present tense meanings: "you are"
or "I am", therefore what is being refered to is not that which had entered
into existence simply before another thing came into existence (ie. the earth,
the mountains, or Abraham) but just "is".
(I think this is where the Parmenides quote comes in: "of the Eternal we
cannot say HN OUD ESTAI only ESTIV")
Richard Windisch
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