From: Neil Booth (neilbooth@bbb.ndirect.co.uk)
Date: Wed Sep 02 1998 - 18:03:06 EDT
> The grasmmar here is very mysterious, and properly so, imho. How
> could it be otherwise? If I were to say to you, "Before yesterday
> occurred, I am existing," I would expect you to look at me very
> strangely and rather askance. The Jews were so askanced that they
> threw rocks!
>
I venture out of lurking mode only with the greatest trepidation, but
surely the one thing of which we can be almost certain is that Jesus
never said EGW EIMI at all. If so, how is the mysteriousness of the
*Greek* grammar relevant. Assuming that Jesus spoke in Aramaic (as most
experts seem to believe) is it not the Aramaic phrase and its
grammatical construction on which our interest should be focussed
(though not, of course, on b-Greek)? It seems to be assumed by everyone
participating in this thread that EGW EIMI is a precise equivalent of
whatever Jesus said rather than just a Greek approximation of the
Aramaic by the author of John's Gospel, but do we know that that is so?
If it is not considered to be off-limits, would anyone care to express
their approach to this whole business of Jesus speaking Aramaic but his
words being recording by the Evangelists in Greek. This particular
thread serves to highlight a problem of approach that has troubled me
for some time.
Neil Booth
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