From: Carl W Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Mon Aug 21 1995 - 19:26:32 EDT
On 21 Aug 1995, Ron Skrabanek wrote:
> I am studying the stated purpose for the writing of the Gospel of John and have
> a question about the verb tenses involved.
>
> In verse 31, I see two purpose clauses . . .
>
> 1. that you may believe (Aorist Subjunctive) and
>
> 2. that you may have (Present Subjunctive)
>
> Am I correct that this is a dual purpose statement? I've checked a few
> commentaries, but see no reference to such an understanding of the text. This
> makes me suspicious of my conclusion.
>
> Secondly, what is the exegetical significance of the switch in tense from aorist
> to present? I read in Robertson's grammar that the Present Subjunctive is not
> common, but am not sure what to make of it's usage here.
It appears that nobody has yet tackled this one, so I'll have a crack at it.
Yes, it is indeed a double purpose clause. I think it should be noted
that the text of John 20:30 actually shows the sigma of PISTEU[S]HTE in
brackets, meaning, unless I have misunderstood the editorial procedures,
that the editorial committee deemed the aorist-tense form less likely and
indicated this by bracketing the sigma, but left the bracketed sigma in
the text because it has almost as good MS support as the present-tense
form. Therefore, it may very well be that the original text DID have both
subjunctive verbs in the present tense.
Nevertheless, if the aorist form of PISTEUSHTE is indeed correct and is
then followed by PISTEUONTES ZWHN EXHTE, I would understand the
relationship of the tenses as follows: the aorist PISTEUSHTE would be
used to indicated the one-time action of arriving at belief, while the
present ZWHN EXHTE would indicate the ongoing possession of Life. The
distinctive notion of ZWH AIWNIOS in John's gospel is precisely that
everlasting life, once gained, continues onward. That is precisely the
sense of the present tense in its aspect. The linguists on the list may
be able to phrase this with considerably more precision, but that seems
to me the implication of these tense differences. Note that the
participles accompanying ZWHN EXHTE, PISTEUONTES, is also in the present
tense. Therefore, in what is perhaps an overdramatized translation of the
phrasing of John 20:31, I would offer:
"But this has been written so that you may come to believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that, as you continue
to believe, you may continue to possess life everlasting in his
name."
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, USA 63130
(314) 935-4018
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwc@oui.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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