Notes on John 8:58

 Another explicit statement of Christ’s preexistence is found in John 8:58, The Living Bible, published 1971 translates Christ’s answer, “I was in existence before Abraham was ever born,” and the Simple English Bible published 1981 similarly reads “I was alive before Abraham was born.” In Jn. 8:58, the present tense verb eimi includes a reference to a past time, namely before the birth of Abraham. Therefore, Christ is claiming to have existed uninterrupted, before Abraham was born, down to the time when he uttered these words, as Robertson explained,

The verb εἰμί, especially ἐστί and ἐστίν, may be merely a “form-word” like a preposition and not be the predicate. Sometimes it does express existence as a predicate like any other verb, as in ἐγὼ εἰμί (Jo. 8:58 and ἡ θάλασσα οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι (Rev. 21:1). [A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament (1914), pp. 394.]

The same syntax is found elsewhere in the New Testament with the same meaning, confirming the validity of this sort of translation. [Lk. 2:48; 13:7; 15:29; Jn. 5:6; 14:9; 15:27; Ac. 15:21; 2Cor. 12:19; 1Jn. 3:8.]  Many respected New Testament scholars, such as Georg Winer, [G. B. Winer, A Grammar of the Idiom of the New Testament (Andover: Warren F. Draper 1897), pp. 267.]  James Moulton, [J. H. Moulton, N. Turner, A Grammar of the New Testament Greek, (London, New York: T & T Clark International, 1960), pp. 62.]  Joseph Sanders, [J. N. Sanders, A Commentary on the Gospel According to St. John, Edited and Completed by B.A. Mastin (London: A. & Black, 1968), pp. 158.]  and Kenneth McKay [K. L. McKay, A New Syntax of the Verb in New Testament Greek, An Aspectual Approach (New York: Peter Lang publishing, Inc., 1994), pp. 42.]  have recognized that the grammar of Jn. 8:58 signifies a claim to uninterrupted existence from before the time of Abraham.

This sort of translation also makes contextual sense, preexistence is a motif throughout this dialogue, Christ claims that he is “from above,” (Jn. 8:23) and to have been taught directly by God himself. [Using the preposition παρὰ (para) which means to be ‘alongside,’ or ‘near’ someone or something. (W. Arndt, F. Gingrich, A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, published by The University of Chicago Press in Grand Rapids, Michigan, pp. 615.) Christ learned his doctrine while he was “with” or “alongside” God himself, while his opponents were taught indirectly “from” the Devil. (Jn. 8:38)]  (8:38) He then speaks of Abraham’s rejoicing at “his day” as though he himself were present to see Abraham. (8:56) In 8:57 the Jews respond by asking Christ how he could have seen Abraham if he was not yet fifty? Christ directly answers by claiming to have existed before Abraham was born. [The Jews might have believed Christ to have been demon possessed when he claimed to have existed before Abraham. They made this accusation earlier in the dialogue, (8:48) and might have found a claim of existence before Abraham a confirmation of this. They may have reasoned that only angelic and demonic spirits could claim such a long existence.] 

The grammar of St. Joh. 8:58 is just what we would expect for a claim to have existed continuously from before Abraham to the present moment, therefore, the fifth century Syriac version renders it this way. (Francis C. Burkitt, Evangelion Da-Mepharreshe, p. 476, 477.)

"Amen, amen, I say to you that before Abraham came to be, I was."

ܐܡܪ ܠܗܘܢ ܐܡܝܢ ܐܡܝܢ ܐܡܪܢܐ ܠܟܘܢ ܕܥܕܠܐ ܢܗܘܐ ܐܒܪܗܡ ܐܢܐ ܐܝܬ ܗܘܝܬ

The present tense ειμί here includes a past tense to express an uninterrupted state of existence. Winer, a Unitarian grammarian who denied the pre-existence of Christ nonetheless admitted that the phrase πριν 'Αβραάμ γενέσθαι εγώ ειμί is best understood as describing temporal duration. The question posed to Christ in 8:57 was about his age and he responded directly to this.

 "Sometimes the Present includes also a past tense (Mdv. 108), viz. When the verb expresses a state which commenced at an earlier period but still continues, — a state in its duration; as Jno. xv. 27 απ' αρχής μετ' εμού εστέ, viii. 58 πριν 'Αβραάμ γενέσθαι εγώ ειμί." (Georg B. Winer, A Grammar of the Idiom, p. 267.)

The first two examples cited by Winer are St. Joh. 15:27 "you have been with me from the beginning," and St. Joh. 8:58 "before Abraham was I am." In St. Joh. 15:27 the present tense εστέ is used in reference to an earlier period of time and signifies the continuous presence of the disciples with Christ from the start of his ministry. This same sort of construction is found elsewhere in the Johannine corpus as well. (St. Joh. 5:6; 14:9; 15:29; Rev. 21:1) This would provide a direct answer to the query of the Pharisees, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Their objection is specifically about the age of Jesus. His response, naturally, would have been along the same lines, "Before Abraham was born, I am."