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December 3rd 2005, 09:30 AM #61
Re: I'm looking for an expert in Greek
Hello everyone,
I have a comment and a question.
Comment: If Jesus was not claiming to be "I AM" or God, YHVH; He was at least claiming to be the Messiah. So essentially He was saying "If you do not believe that I am the Messiah (and all that means), you will die in your sins." This is still an astonishing thing for Jesus to say. In speaking to the the Jews He was saying that they have to believe that He is the Messiah or they will die in their sins; He was saying the same thing to the Gentiles for "salvation comes through the Jews." This is a remarkable claim for Jesus to make.
Question: This is on the grammar in John 8:24. Not understanding the Greek language, could someone who does explain how the grammar works in this passage:
John 8:24, Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
To a layman it looks like the verse should read, "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am, I AM (or God), you will die in your sins."
I hope this question does not make the "one of the dumbest questions ever asked on the site." lol
Thank you.
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December 3rd 2005, 01:20 PM #62
Re: I'm looking for an expert in Greek
A cross-reference in the margin of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament at John 8:24 is Isaiah 43:10. The reason for the cross-reference is identical wording of a phrase in the Greek texts in John 8:24 and Isaiah 43:10.
Originally posted by Christian2
That phrase is [greek]oti egw eimi[/greek] (hoti egō eimi) = ‘that I am’.
Here is the context of Isaiah 43:10 in the LXX:
Compare the wording of John 8:24 to the text above:
When one ponders the texts and contexts it’s apparent that in John 8 Jesus is alluding to Isaiah 43, identifying himself to be — in the words of the ESV caption — Israel’s Only Saviour.הִנֵּה מַה־טּוֹב וּמַה־נָּעִים שֶׁבֶת אַחִים גַּם־יָחַד
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December 4th 2005, 11:40 AM #63
Re: I'm looking for an expert in Greek
Thanks, John. :)
Originally posted by John Reece
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December 6th 2005, 02:01 PM #64
Re: I'm looking for an expert in Greek
Originally posted by Christian2
Christian2,Quote: Originally posted by John Reece
John 8:12-30 (ESV) —
I Am the Light of the World
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 13 So the Pharisees said to him, "You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true." 14 Jesus answered, "Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me." 19 They said to him therefore, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
21 So he said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come." 22 So the Jews said, "Will he kill himself, since he says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?" 23 He said to them, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he [LXX: οτι εγω ειμι (hoti egō eimi)]. you will die in your sins." 25 So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him." 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him." 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
Again, look at verse 27 that simply says, They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. I AM he (JHVH).
By the time they got to verses 56-58 they understood clearly of whom He was speaking:
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw [it], and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
"I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
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December 6th 2005, 03:29 PM #65
Re: I'm looking for an expert in Greek
Seems clear to me that in verse 27 the referrence is to 'He who sent me'.26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him." 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father.
Be Well,
Bob Griffin
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December 6th 2005, 03:54 PM #66
Re: I'm looking for an expert in Greek
Yep.
Originally posted by MuggleOrSquib
The statement in verse 27 (‘They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father’) was NOT made in reference to the meaning of egō eimi (‘I am’) in verses 24, 28, and 58.
Originally posted by Daco
The statement in verse 27 (‘They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father’) refers back to the immediately preceding verse (26): ‘. . . he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him’.
That’s the way the best commentators take it:
It is strange that Jesus’ hearers did not recognize that, when he spoke of the one who had sent him, he was referring to the Father. It might have been thought that this was sufficiently clear from the words which he had spoken to them on his previous visit to the capital, when he said, for example, ‘The Father who sent me has borne witness concerning me’ (John 5:37). John may wish to emphasize a spiritual obtuseness which arose from their unwillingness to admit his claims as valid. The first hand Codex Sinaiticus and some western witnesses to the text have an addition to the wording which yields the sense: ‘They did not recognize that he was saying that God was his Father’. Such a claim from him had enraged them on the former occasion (John 5:18); perhaps because this time he used the periphrasis ‘he who sent me’, instead of saying ‘my Father’, the claim was not so explicit. But John’s readers have learned enough by this time to know very well what Jesus means.
— F. F. Bruce, The Gospel of John: Introduction, Exposition, and Notes, page 195 (Eerdmans, 1983).
27. By ‘he who sent me’ (verse 26), the Jews did not understand that he was telling them about the Father. One might have thought that the point had been pretty clear in 5:16-30. Certainly John does not report what the Jews thought Jesus actually meant. Possibly the fact that Jesus refers to God as the one who sent him instead of as his Father (cf. 5:18) confused a few of his hearers. In any case, the Evangelist leaves his readers in no doubt as to what Jesus meant, while casting doubt on the spiritual discernment of ‘the Jews’.
— D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (PNTC), pages 344-345 (Eerdmans, 1991).
27. [. . .] The Jews did not understand that Jesus had been sent from God.
— C. K. Barrett The Gospel According to St. John: An Introduction with Commentary and Notes on the Greek Text, Second Edition, page 342 (The Westminster Press, 1978).הִנֵּה מַה־טּוֹב וּמַה־נָּעִים שֶׁבֶת אַחִים גַּם־יָחַד
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February 13th 2006, 03:31 PM #67
Re: I'm looking for an expert in Greek
I know this is an old thread but I have not been here in awhile.
Originally posted by Christian2
You might be interested to know that Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich Greek Lexicon (BDAG) considers Jesus' claim to be the Messiah. It is in the entry [
[GREEK] egw [/GREEK] (I)
Note that this includes all the [GREEK] egw eimi [/GREEK] verses including John 8:58.
Cal_MinianLast edited by Cal_Minian; February 13th 2006 at 03:51 PM.
Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament by Frederick William Danker on J 1:1b; 20:28; 1 J 5:20b; Hb 1:8 -- in connection w. these four passages s. instruction by Jesus in 2 below” which is “—2 of humans who enjoy special status and esteem J 10:34, 35a.”
Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich, financed by the Lutheran Missouri Synod, eliminates many Trinitarian proofs: 1John 5:20 ;Isaiah 44:24;Romans 9:5;Rev 3:14;John 1:1;John 8:58;Titus 2:13;Col 1:15
Dan Wallace, Greek Grammar and the Personality of the Holy Spirit, page 125
Bulletin for Biblical Research 13.1 (2003):"It is not enough to say either that the Spirit is presented as personal or that he is sometimes not distinguished from God (as in Acts 5:3-4). What also must be done is (1) a clear demonstration that language about the Spirit’s personality cannot be due to figurative rhetoric or circumlocution of the divine name, and (2) that where he is viewed as personal he is also viewed as deity, yet, (3) in those same texts, is seen as distinct from both Father and Son."
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February 13th 2006, 04:37 PM #68
Re: I'm looking for an expert in Greek
Just because BDAG says it does not make it so.
For true conversion, click here.
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February 13th 2006, 04:49 PM #69
Re: I'm looking for an expert in Greek
Quite true. However it is very interesting that the conservative LCMS (Lutheran Missouri Synod) financed this and is getting royalties from it.
Cal_MinianConcise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament by Frederick William Danker on J 1:1b; 20:28; 1 J 5:20b; Hb 1:8 -- in connection w. these four passages s. instruction by Jesus in 2 below” which is “—2 of humans who enjoy special status and esteem J 10:34, 35a.”
Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich, financed by the Lutheran Missouri Synod, eliminates many Trinitarian proofs: 1John 5:20 ;Isaiah 44:24;Romans 9:5;Rev 3:14;John 1:1;John 8:58;Titus 2:13;Col 1:15
Dan Wallace, Greek Grammar and the Personality of the Holy Spirit, page 125
Bulletin for Biblical Research 13.1 (2003):"It is not enough to say either that the Spirit is presented as personal or that he is sometimes not distinguished from God (as in Acts 5:3-4). What also must be done is (1) a clear demonstration that language about the Spirit’s personality cannot be due to figurative rhetoric or circumlocution of the divine name, and (2) that where he is viewed as personal he is also viewed as deity, yet, (3) in those same texts, is seen as distinct from both Father and Son."
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April 20th 2007, 10:14 AM #70
Re: A Look at Texts:
Hello again, John.
I used the two quotes above in a discussion I'm having -- the one from Bruce and Carson.
This is my latest response:
.Christian2 is really irritating me with the following, which he has repeated a few times now:
Quote:
Comment by Bruce (brackets and bold color added):8:57, 58 [. . .]Jesus’ reply to their protest repeats the affirmation ‘I am He’ (egō eimi), used twice already in this chapter (verses 24, 28), and does so in a way which underlines the magnitude of the claim it expresses. He echoes the language of the God of Israel, who remains the same from everlasting to everlasting: ‘I, the Lord, the first and the last, I am He’ (Isaiah 41:4), How can a man who is ‘not yet fifty years old’ speak like that? Only if he speaks as the Word that had been with God from the beginning and was now incarnate on earth. Abraham looked forward to the time of his incarnation, but he himself existed before his incarnation, before Abraham was born (genesthai), before the worlds were made. The Word of the eternal God cannot be other than eternal. So much in this context is conveyed by egō eimi. And if we suppose that the conversation was carried on in Aramaic or even Hebrew, then Jesus could have uttered the very words ’ ani hu’ [אני היא], as though he were applying them to himself.— F. F. Bruce, The Gospel of John: Introduction, Exposition, and Notes, pages 205-206 (Eerdmans, 1983).
Ani hu is not the the name of God , neither is ego eimi. These are common identifiers in both languages. F.F. Bruce is a real piece of work, really
I need some help in replying to my "piece of work."
Thanks.
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April 20th 2007, 06:36 PM #71
Re: A Look at Texts:
הִנֵּה מַה־טּוֹב וּמַה־נָּעִים שֶׁבֶת אַחִים גַּם־יָחַד
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April 21st 2007, 05:51 PM #72
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April 21st 2007, 06:56 PM #73
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April 22nd 2007, 08:43 AM #74
Re: A Look at Texts:
I was referring to me, John. lol
I'm going to work something up for this guy but my heart isn't in it. Probably because I know it won't matter what I say or what evidence I present, this guy will believe what he wants to believe or has to believe.
But all is not lost because I will have gained knowledge for myself and it might come in handy in the future.
Best wishes. :)
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April 22nd 2007, 10:12 AM #75
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