by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After analyzing the \u201cI AM\u201d emphatic declaration of our Lord Jesus in the Gospel of John regarding himself as the source of true light for the entire world and its related verses in both the Old Testament (OT) and New Testament (NT), we will again take a look at another declaration of \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 that is used without an explicit predicate. This is found in John 8:18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The phrase \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 as an emphatic expression would still have the English equivalent of saying: \u201cI truly am!\u201d or \u201cI really am (the one)!\u201d or depending on the specific context, \u201cI am He!\u201d But the reader is engaged by the Gospel to supply the expected and appropriate nominative predicate to complete the thought from the immediate context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The immediate context of John 8:18 revolves around the Lord\u2019s answer to the challenge of the Pharisees that he was alone in witnessing\/testifying about himself after he had declared that \u201cI AM the light of the world (John 8:12) and therefore, his testimony was not valid. John 8:14-20 should be read as the contextual unit then. Note that in verse 17, the Lord Jesus already claims that the Father sent him. And in verses 17-18 reminds the \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 that the Father and himself adequately fulfill the requirement of 2 or 3 witnesses as the Torah lays down in Deuteronomy 19:15; and 17:6 (cf. Numbers 35:30). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Greek verse of the Lord\u2019s answer in John 8:18 is presented below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u1f10\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9<\/mark> \u1f41 \u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03c5\u03c1\u1ff6\u03bd \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u1f76 \u1f10\u03bc\u03b1\u03c5\u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03c5\u03c1\u03b5\u1fd6 \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u1f76 \u1f10\u03bc\u03bf\u1fe6 \u1f41 \u03c0\u03ad\u03bc\u03c8\u03b1\u03c2 \u03bc\u03b5 \u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This verse can be formally\/literally translated as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I AM<\/mark> the one witnessing\/testifying about myself and (the) Father who sent me, witnesses\/testifies about me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Grammatically, there are four (4) verbs in this short 14-word verse. The first is the present indicative \u201cam\u201d (\u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9) of the \u201cI AM\u201d; the second verb, \u201cwitnessing\/testifying\u201d (\u1f41 \u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03c5\u03c1\u1ff6\u03bd) is a present participle; \u201cwitnesses\/testifies\u201d (\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03c5\u03c1\u03b5\u1fd6) is also a present indicative verb; while the \u201cwho sent\u201d (\u1f41 \u03c0\u03ad\u03bc\u03c8\u03b1\u03c2) is an aorist participle. Both participles are adjectival in function as they have a Greek definite article (\u1f41<\/mark> \u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03c5\u03c1\u1ff6\u03bd and \u1f41<\/mark> \u03c0\u03ad\u03bc\u03c8\u03b1\u03c2) preceding each verb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One can see in the Greek text that the verse starts off with the \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 (emphatic \u201cI AM\u201d) and ends with \u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1 (\u201cpater\u201d meaning father). If we just follow the Greek word order as is, the literal English translation can be rendered this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I AM the one witnessing\/testifying about myself and (he) witnesses\/testifies about me, (the one) who sent me – (the) Father.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As Greek word order is meant to emphasize certain words, here it seems the Apostle John has deliberately set up the last word of the verse, \u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1 (\u201cFather\u201d) as an equal counterweight to the first two (2) words spoken by the Lord Jesus, \u03b5\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 (\u201cI AM\u201d). It is as if John is telling his audience that the Lord is saying I AM an equal witness to (the) Father as we both testify about me! Later on, in John 10:30, the Lord would declare, more forcefully, in only six (6) simple, yet theologically profound Greek words that \u1f10\u03b3\u1f7c \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f41 \u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u1f74\u03c1 \u1f15\u03bd \u1f10\u03c3\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd (\u201cI and the Father are one.\u201d). And there is more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because we already know at this time the source of the \u201cI AM\u201d is from Exodus 3:14, we can review the Hebrew and corresponding English rendering of this verse as I included in the Introduction to this series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The original Hebrew of Exodus 3:14 is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b9\u05bc\u05a4\u05d0\u05de\u05b6\u05e8 \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05d4\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd\u0599 \u05d0\u05b6\u05dc\u05be\u05de\u05b9\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u0594\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b6\u05bd\u05d4\u05b0\u05d9\u05b6\u0596\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05a3\u05e8 \u05d0\u05b6\u05bd\u05d4\u05b0\u05d9\u05b6\u0591\u05d4 \u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b9\u05bc\u0597\u05d0\u05de\u05b6\u05e8 \u05db\u05b9\u05bc\u05a4\u05d4 \u05ea\u05b9\u05d0\u05de\u05b7\u05e8\u0599 \u05dc\u05b4\u05d1\u05b0\u05e0\u05b5\u05a3\u05d9 \u05d9\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05e8\u05b8\u05d0\u05b5\u0594\u05dc \u05d0\u05b6\u05bd\u05d4\u05b0\u05d9\u05b6\u0596\u05d4 \u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05dc\u05b8\u05d7\u05b7\u05a5\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9 \u05d0\u05b2\u05dc\u05b5\u05d9\u05db\u05b6\u05bd\u05dd\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hebrew passage can be translated as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And God said to Moses \u201c<\/em>I AM who <\/em>I AM\u201d; and He said, \u201cThus you shall say to the sons of Israel, \u2018<\/em>I AM has sent me to you.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Take note that the LORD, the \u201cI AM\u201d has sent Moses to his fellow Israelites (and to Pharaoh).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also saw earlier in the same Introductory piece the Greek Septuagint (LXX) translation version of Exodus 3:14 (ca. 250 B.C.) which has a slight variation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b5\u1f36\u03c0\u03b5\u03bd \u1f41 \u03b8\u03b5\u1f78\u03c2 \u03c0\u03c1\u1f78\u03c2 \u039c\u03c9\u03c5\u03c3\u1fc6\u03bd \u1f18\u03b3\u03ce \u03b5\u1f30\u03bc\u03b9 \u1f41 \u1f64\u03bd\u00b7 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b5\u1f36\u03c0\u03b5\u03bd \u039f\u1f55\u03c4\u03c9\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c1\u03b5\u1fd6\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fd6\u03c2 \u03c5\u1f31\u03bf\u1fd6\u03c2 \u0399\u03c3\u03c1\u03b1\u03b7\u03bb \u1f49 \u1f62\u03bd \u1f00\u03c0\u03ad\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03bb\u03ba\u03ad\u03bd \u03bc\u03b5 \u03c0\u03c1\u1f78\u03c2 \u1f51\u03bc\u1fb6\u03c2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It can be formally\/literally translated this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And God said to Moses \u201c<\/em>I AM the one who is;\u201d and He said, \u201cThus you shall say to the sons of Israel, \u2018The one who is has sent me to you.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Both the Hebrew and the Greek LXX texts state that the LORD, the timeless, transcendent, eternally existing \u201cI AM\u201d had sent Moses. Now, in John 8:18, the Lord Jesus is emphasizing the fact that He is the One sent (the One greater than Moses; see Deuteronomy 18:15-18 and cf. Hebrews 3:1-6) and the One who had sent Him was the same \u201cI AM.\u201d Furthermore, in John 7:28-29 during the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Lord Jesus had already declared twice that he was the one who was sent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The parallel is unmistakable and could not have been missed by the Lord\u2019s audience then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So here, a short excursion into the original Greek verse of John 8:18 yields beautiful insights into the words of our Savior who sought to let the \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 and the people know who he is actually through their Torah. Next, in following verses, the Lord would warn them of the consequences of not heeding his words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will continue next week with John 8:24 and 8:28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. After analyzing the \u201cI AM\u201d emphatic declaration of our Lord Jesus in the Gospel of John regarding himself as the source of true light for the entire world and its related verses in both the Old Testament (OT) and New Testament (NT), we will again take a look at another…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6,7,16,18,17,9,8,5],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ptr-art-calaguas","tag-church-of-the-risen-lord","tag-crl","tag-i-am","tag-jesus","tag-john","tag-spiritual-refreshment-of-the-day","tag-upcemi","tag-upcrl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}