58
JesusἸησοῦςsaidεἶπενto them,αὐτοῖς“Truly,Ἀμὴνtruly,ἀμὴνI tellλέγωyou,ὑμῖνbeforeπρὶνAbrahamἈβραὰμcame to be,γενέσθαιIἐγὼam.”εἰμί
John 8:58
Study it in the app“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, before Abraham came to be, I am.””
Before Abraham came to be, he says, “I am”Who Jesus Is
With the Greek beneath
John 8:58, word by word
- JesusἸησοῦςIēsous
Jesus
Jesus, the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehoshua (Joshua), which means "YHWH saves". It is the name the angel told Joseph to give him (Matthew 1:21).
Where else “Iēsous” appears- saidεἶπενeipen
say
To express something in words to others.
Where else “eipen” appears- “TrulyἈμὴνAmēn
truly
"I assure you": Jesus says it to affirm something.
Where else “Amēn” appears- beforeπρὶνprin
before
Before, before that.
Where else “prin” appears- AbrahamἈβραὰμAbraam
Abraham
Abraham, the father of the people of Israel, to whom God promised to bless all the families of the earth through his offspring.
Where else “Abraam” appears- came to beγενέσθαιgenesthai
be made
To come into being, to be made.
Where else “genesthai” appears- amεἰμίeimi
be
To be: says who or what something is.
Where else “eimi” appears
Translation note
Abraham “came to be” (genesthai); Jesus says “I am” (egō eimi). It can be understood as an echo of Exodus 3:14, and as the reason why in 8:59 they pick up stones to throw at him.
The context
57So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham?”
58 · This verse (above)
59So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
To study John 8 in a group
1. What it says
When the woman caught in adultery is brought to him, what does Jesus say to her accusers, and what does he say to her at the end? (vv. 3-11)
2. What it means
Jesus says, “I am the light of the world” and “the truth will set you free.” What link is there between remaining in his word and freedom? (vv. 12, 31-36)
3. How I live it
The accusers left one by one when Jesus spoke about sin (v. 9). When is it your turn to look at yourself before pointing at others?