[B-Greek] Difference in tenses in Jn 4:14 and Jn 7:37
Robb Wallace
robbw at calvary-tricities.org
Thu Mar 2 20:09:48 EST 2006
Hello,
In Jn 4:13-14 John writes “…whoever drinks (present participle) of this
water will thirst again, but whoever drinks (aorist subjunctive) of the
water that I shall give him will never thirst.”
In Jn 7:37-38 John writes “…if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink
(present imperative). He who believes (present participle) in me…”
It looks to me like John is purposing to contrast the present tense aspect
of drinking (i.e. continually drinking) physical water in vs 13 with the
aorist tense aspect of drinking (only needing to drink once) water from
Jesus in vs 14. However in Jn 7:37 John uses the present tense for drinking
the water that Jesus gives and also uses the present tense for believing in
vs 38 (defining what he means by drinking). My initial thought was that
John wasn’t making any point, simply viewing the aorist as “undefined”, but
it is definitely contrasted with the present participle (in vs 13) which
would seem to me to indicate a punctiliar aspect. Any thoughts as to the
point John is making here with the aorist would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Robb Wallace
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