The UASV Bible and John 8:58

 

I recently found this interesting footnote in the Updated American Standard Version online at https://www.uasvbible.org/44-gospel-of-john#_ftn32

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was I am.

The literal rendering is (Greek, ego' eimi') “I am.” However, the Greek to English grammatically correct rendering should be “… before Abraham came to be I have been in existence.” K. L. McKay, A New Syntax of the Verb in New Testament Greek (New York: Peter Lang, 1994), p. 42. Having [before Abraham / came to be / I am] as far as English word order is fine, but we are violating verb compatibility, mixing a present tense with a past tense, which is not grammatically correct. In both Greek and English, we would put or find our past tense first, followed by the present tense; logically reasoning that the past happened before the present. However, the adverb “before” affects this decision, for it informs us that the action expressed by our present tense verb (“am”) not only began in the past, but it was before our past tense verb (“came to be”), and up unto our past tense verb and still in progress at the time this clause was uttered. The other translations have been following the grammar rule known as PPA, the Present of Past Action still in progress in several other places in John’s Gospel (14:9; 15:27, etc.), wherein a present indicative (“I am” or “you are”), which is accompanied by an adverbial expression (“so much time” or “from the beginning” or "before"), is rendered with the perfect tense of “have been.” The PPA is describing an action that began in the past and has run up unto the time of writing or speaking. The question is, do we find the context of John 8:58 as being in harmony with our grammar. Well, let us look at the verse(s) that come before and after our verse. In verse 57, the Jews ask a question in reference to Jesus' statement in verse 56: “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” Thus, they reasonably ask, “You are not yet fifty years old and have you seen Abraham?” It is all too clear that we have a question that is based on age, not Jesus’ identity. Our historical-cultural question is addressed in verse 59, where we find the Jews seeking to stone Jesus for his response. What was there about Jesus’ response that would result in their attempt to stone him? First, to claim to have been in existence since before Abraham and up unto this point; would mean Jesus was/is a divine person. Bible scholar Kenneth L. McKay wrote: “to claim to have been in existence for so long is in itself a staggering one, quite enough to provoke the crowd’s violent reaction.” – McKay: The Expository Times, 1996, p. 302.

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