From: Paul Schmehl (pschmehl@sbcglobal.net)
Date: Tue Apr 16 2002 - 22:09:25 EDT
OK. Now I'm thoroughly confused. If I understand Wallace, he is saying
this cannot be a historical present. What does that have to do with
Burton's "Present of Past Action still in Progress"? Furthermore, what *is*
the correct translation of this odd collection of Greek words?
Paul Schmehl pauls@utdallas.edu
pschmehl@sbcglobal.net
http://www.utdallas.edu/~pauls/
----- Original Message -----
From: <Polycarp66@aol.com>
To: "Biblical Greek" <b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 8:33 PM
Subject: [b-greek] Re: prin Abraam genesthai egw eimi
In a message dated 4/16/2002 5:33:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
s351016@student.uq.edu.au writes:
in John 8:58 the following well known phrase appears:
prin Abraam genesthai egw eimi
Does the following statement by Burton apply to this phrase?
"The Present of Past Action still in Progress. The Present Indicative,
accompanied by an adverbial expression denoting duration and referring to
past time, is sometimes used in Greek ... to describe an action which,
beginning in past time, is still in progress at the time of speaking.
English idiom requires the use of the Perfect in such cases." (e.a.)-Ernest
De Witt Burton, Syntax of the Moods And Tenses in New Testament Greek, p.
10, section 17."
If Burton's comments do apply to this passage, what is your opinion on his
accuracy? Hence, can it be said that "ego eimi" (present tense) linked with
the adverbial past-tense phrase "prin Abraam genesthai" implies that ego
"was" in the past "prin Abraam genesthai" and has continued to "be" until
the time of speaking?
______________________
Rather than comment myself, I append Wallace's discussion from _Greek
Grammar
Beyond the Basics_.
III. Special Uses of the Present Tense
Five uses of the present tense do not easily fit into the above categories.
These include the historical present, perfective present, conative present,
futuristic present, and present retained in indirect discourse. The first
four may be viewed temporally for pragmatic purposes (as most of them occur
only in the indicative), moving from simple past (historical present), to
past + present result (perfective present), to presently incomplete or
potential (conative present), to futuristic (futuristic present). The fifth
category, the present retained in indirect discourse, is technically not a
syntactical category but a structural one.
A. Historical Present (Dramatic Present)
1. Definition
The historical present is used fairly frequently in narrative literature to
describe a past event.
2. Amplification/Semantics
a. Reason for Use: Vivid Portrayal
The reason for the use of the historical present is normally to portray an
event vividly, as though the reader were in the midst of the scene as it
unfolds. Such vividness might be rhetorical (to focus on some aspect of the
narrative) or literary (to indicate a change in topic). The present tense
may
be used to describe a past event, either for the sake of vividness or to
highlight some aspect of the narrative. It may be intentional (conscious) or
unintentional (subconscious) on the part of the speaker. If intentional,
then
it is probably used to show the prominence of the events following. If
unintentional, then it is probably used for vividness, as if the author were
reliving the experience.
b. Time Vs. Aspect
The aspectual value of the historical present is normally, if not always,
reduced to zero. The verbs used, such as LEGEI and ERXETAI, normally
introduce an action in the midst of aorists without the slightest hint that
an internal or progressive aspect is intended. The historical present has
suppressed its aspect, but not its time. But the time element is rhetorical
rather than real.
The Force of the Historical Present
c. Usage and Genre
The historical present occurs mostly in less educated writers as a function
of colloquial, vivid speech. More literary authors, as well as those who
aspire to a distanced historical reporting, tend to avoid it. John has it
162
times, Mark 151 times. Matthew has 93 at most, while Luke has a mere 11,
mostly found in the parables of Jesus (with another 13 in Acts). The
historical present is preeminently the storyteller’s tool and as such occurs
exclusively (or almost exclusively) in narrative literature.
3. Clarification/Semantic Situation
Although the historical present has already been defined, it needs to be
clarified here—in terms of the semantic situation in which it occurs.
a. With Reference to Person
The only person in which the historical present occurs is the third person
(either singular or plural). Cf., e.g., John 4:11, 15, 19, 21, 25, 26, 28,
34, 49, 50; 20:1 (twice), 2 (thrice), 5, 6, 13 (twice), 14, 15 (twice), 16,
18, 19, 26, 27, 29, etc.
529
b. With Reference to Types of Verbs
Because the historical present occurs in narrative, it is natural that it be
used only in the third person. As well, since it is used for vividness or
highlighting, it is equally natural that it use verbs of action. LEGW is by
far the most predominant verb used as a historical present (in fact, in the
references mentioned above [i.e., from John 4 and 20], fifteen of the
twenty-three historical presents are the verb LEGW). ERXOMAI comes in a
distant second (in the references mentioned above from John 4 and 20, of the
eight non-LEGW historical presents, five are ERXOMAI).
The one verb that is not used as a historical present is the equative verb
(EIMI). Also, when GINOMAI functions as an equative verb, it is not used as
a
historical present. However, it may function as other than an equative verb
at times.
c. With Reference to Mood
Since time is an element of tense only absolutely in the indicative, it
stands to reason that the historical present can only legitimately be used
in
the indicative mood. Since the participle takes its cue from the main verb
with reference to time, it is not really correct to say that the participle
can be a historical present—even when it is related to a historical present
main verb.
4. Illustrations
a. Clear Examples
Matt 26:40
ERXETAI PROS TOUS MAQHTAS KAI hEURISKEI AUTOUS KAQEUDONTAS, KAI LEGEI
he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said …
Mark 1:41
AUTOU hHYATO KAI LEGEI AUTWi
he touched him and said to him …
Other examples of LEGEI include Matt 4:6, 10; 8:4, 7, 20; 12:13; 16:15;
Mark
6:31, 38; 9:5; 10:23; Luke 11:45; John 1:21; 2:4, 5, 7, 8, 10; 4:7, 9, 11,
15; 18:4, 5, 17; 19:4, 5, 6, 9, 10.
Mark 6:1
ECHLQEN EKEIQEN KAI ERXETAI EIS THN PATRIDA AUTOU, KAI AKOLOUQOUSIN AUTWi
hOI
MAQHTAI AUTOU
he went out from there and came into his homeland, and his disciples
followed
him
Other examples of ERXETAI include Matt 26:36; Mark 1:40; 3:20; 5:22; 10:1;
14:17; Luke 8:49.
b. Debatable Texts
1) John 8:58
The text reads: PRIN ABRAAM GESQAI EGW EIMIv (“before Abraham was, I am”).
On this text, Dennis Light wrote an article in defense of the New World
Translation in the Bible Collector (July-December, 1971). In his article he
discusses EGW EIMI, which the New World Translation renders, “I have been.”
Light defends this translation by saying, “The Greek verb eimi, literally
present tense, must be viewed as a historical present, because of being
preceded by the aorist infinitive clause referring to Abraham’s past” (p.
8). This argument has several flaws in it: (1) The fact that the present
tense follows an aorist infinitive has nothing to do with how it should be
rendered. In fact, historical presents are usually wedged in between aorist
(or imperfect) indicatives, not infinitives. (2) If this is a historical
present, it is apparently the only historical present in the NT that uses
the
equative verb EIMI. The burden of proof, therefore, lies with one who sees
EIMI as ever being used as a historical present. (3) If this is a historical
present, it is apparently the only historical present in the NT that is in
other than the third person.
The translators of the New World Translation understand the implications of
EGW EIMIv here, for in the footnote to this text in the NWT, they reveal
their motive for seeing this as a historical present: “It is not the same as
hO WN (ho ohn v, meaning ‘The Being’
gfsomsel
---
B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [pschmehl@sbcglobal.net]
To unsubscribe, forward this message to
leave-b-greek-327Q@franklin.oit.unc.edu
To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu
---
B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [jwrobie@mindspring.com]
To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-327Q@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 - 15:37:24 EDT