From: Stevens, Charles C (Charles.Stevens@unisys.com)
Date: Wed Dec 22 1999 - 18:47:58 EST
On 22 December 1999 at 2:41PM, Edgar Foster wrote:
<<The article I was quoting from is "Ego Eimi in John 1:20 and 4:25." Edwin
D. Freed. CBQ 41, 1979.>>
Don't have access to the article.
<<And yes, when I speak of an implied predicate, I am saying that the
predicate has to be supplied from the context. E.g., I am [the Messiah].>>
I agree that the predicate has to be supplied from context, but the
*immediate* context is the question asked in John 8:57 and the reaction to
the response to that question as described in John 8:59, and I would contend
that there is no *explicit* predicate to be found in that immediate context.
In particular, I don't see evidence specifically for a *messianic* claim
here, certainly as it would have been understood in Judaism at the time.
Absent such an obvious predicative reference, I have to give considerable
weight to the extreme reaction to the answer to the question asked. The
inquisitors found it *really* offensive, based on their actions as described
in 8:59.
It thus seems to me extremely likely that the implied predicate is supplied
by "common knowledge" between Jesus and the inquisitors, in particular to
the likes of LXX Exodus 3:14 "EGW EIMI hO WN" (IMHO echoed several times in
LXX Isaiah, for example 43:25, 45:18, 45:19, 46:4, 48:12). The implied
predicate in this case would be "hO WN", and the audience knowing that
reference would *reasonably* respond in the manner described.
In other words, ISTM the most probable explanation for the reaction of the
scribes and pharisees to Jesus' ambiguous statement is that *they* took the
implied predicate as "hO WN", and were outraged at the implications (a claim
to identity with the speaker in Exodus 3:14), whether Jesus could be
demonstrated to have meant it that way or not!
-Chuck Stevens
--- B-Greek home page: http://sunsite.unc.edu/bgreek You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu] To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-329W@franklin.oit.unc.edu To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:40:51 EDT