[B-Greek] John 8:58 PPA???
kgraham0938 at comcast.net
kgraham0938 at comcast.net
Sun Jan 30 22:41:50 EST 2005
@MAKARIOIOIPRAEIS:
> I've heard it explained that the EGW EIMI here is a "predicate absolute" and
> therefore must always be translated in the present tense I AM,
>
> "The Witnesses may attempt to argue, using the footnote to John 8:58 in the
> Kingdom Interlinear Translation (or Appendix 6F in the NWT with References)
> that because "before Abraham was" is an aorist infinitive clause (meaning that
> the "before" implies an indefinite action, i.e., does not specify that Christ
> has always existed), ego eimi should be translated "I have been."
> This argument can be refuted by noting that eimi appears in this verse in
> what is called a predicate absolute (a sentence structure in which the
> copulative verb is used without an object or complement ); this means that eimi
> must be
> translated in the present tense ("I AM") rather than simply referring to the
> present statement of a past action ("I have been").
> The Watchman Expositor: Vol. 16, No. 3, 1999
Kelton: Hey thanks for the info, the only problem is that I think grammatically this could be a PPA. Because I believe that BDF (along with other grammers) has it as one, the only problem for me is that it does not seem to fit into the context of the passage. I could double check the arguement if you want me to.
And the one guy who is argueing that it is a PPA thinks that even Ps 89:2 could be one as well. But that does not seem to fit with the Hebrew
I don't own a BDF, ( I am planning on buying one later) so I could be mispeaking, but i believe during Jason's arguements he uses it.
--
Kelton Graham
KGRAHAM0938 at comcast.net
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list