[B-Greek] Periphrastic construction in Jn 3:28
RRedden604 at aol.com
RRedden604 at aol.com
Fri Feb 24 20:17:34 EST 2006
Considering the nature of the question, I think Robb was hoping for more.
What is the significance of the perfect tense in John 3:28? Turner (83)
sees the abundance of perfects in John intentional. "We may ascribe this to the
peculiar style of the Fourth Gospel, its love of emphasis and solemnity, its
stress on the abiding significance of everything." To say as Morris ( 240)
that John's use of the perfect in John 3:28 "may be meant to indicate that
his permanent character was that of a man of God sent from God (1:6) to be the
forerunner of the Messiah" seems to be squeezing more out of the perfect than
is there!
I would like someone who is much more advanced than I am to point out the
meaning of the perfect tense in the GNT compared with the Classical use. Has
the perfect infringed upon the Aorist domain, and lost some of its resultant
punch by the first century? Have some of the elementary Greek grammars done
more harm than good in defining the perfect tense simply as denoting the
present state resultant upon a past action? (Machen)
Rob Redden
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