From: Presept (presept@earthlink.net)
Date: Fri Aug 21 1998 - 22:11:15 EDT
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<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>I have two reasons why EIMI in Jn 8:58 is not a
Perfective Present (IMHO). One, Burton in his <U>Syntax of the Moods and
Tenses of New Testament Greek</U> states that Perfective Presents
are,"...accompanied by an adverbial expression denoting duration and
referring to past time."(10, section 17) Examples of true Perfective
Presents and their adverbial expressions are: "so many years" (TOSAUTA
ETH, Luke 15:29); "a long time" (POLUN HDH CRONON, Jn 5:6); "so
long a time" (TOSIUTWi CRONWi, Jn 14:9); "from the beginning" (AP
ARCHS, Jn 15:27); and "from ancient times" (EK GENEWN ARCAIWN, Acts
15:21). As can be seen from these examples, you have an event in the
past which has present results. The movement of time is the past to the
present. In Jn 8:58, the movement of time is in the opposite direction. It
starts at Abraham's existence and points before it. It is pointing to the
past. Two, a couple of texts from the LXX which are true parallels to Jn
8:58 are Psalm 90:2 and Proverbs 18:13.</FONT></DIV>
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size=2>
-James Stewart </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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