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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

John 1:15

Ἰωάννης μαρτυρεῖ περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ κέκραγεν λέγων· οὗτος ἦν ὃν εἶπον· ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν, ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν.

Ἰωάννης proper noun nominative masculine singular "John"

μαρτυρεῖ verb present active indicative 3rd singular from μαρτυρέω (I testify/I bear witness) "he testifies"

περὶ preposition with genitive "concerning"

αὐτοῦ pronoun genitive masculine singular "him"

καὶ conjunction "and"

κέκραγεν verb perfect active indicative 3rd singular from κράζω (I cry out) "he cried out"

λέγων present active participle nominative masculine singular from λέγω (I say) "saying"

οὗτος near demonstrative pronoun nominative masculine singular "this one"

ἦν verb imperfect indicative 3rd singular from εἰμί (I am) "he was"

ὃν relative pronoun accusative masculine singular "he who/ he that"

εἶπον verb aorist active indicative 1st singular from εἶπον (I said) "I said"

definite article nominative masculine singular "the"

ὀπίσω adverb "behind"

μου personal pronoun genitive masculine singular "of me"

ἐρχόμενος verb present middle deponent participle nominative masculine singular from ἔρχομαι (I am coming) "coming"

ἔμπροσθέν preposition "before"

μου personal pronoun genitive masculine singular "of me"

γέγονεν verb perfect active indicative 3rd singular from γίνομαι (I become) "he became/he came to be"

ὅτι conjunction "because"

πρῶτός adjective nominative masculine singular "before"

μου personal pronoun genitive masculine singular "of me"

ἦν verb imperfect indicative 3rd singular from εἰμί (I am) "he was"

Rough Translation:

John he testified concerning Him and cried out saying, "this one was who I said 'The one behind me coming before me came to be' because before of me He was."

Smooth Translation:

John testified concerning Him and cried out saying, "This is the one of whom I said, 'The one coming behind me came to be before me because preceeding me, He was.'"

2 comments:

Katie said...

Is μαρτυρέω where we get our English word "martyr" from? It would fit, since a martyr is one who testifies or bears witness to his faith.

I'm rusty on my verb tenses, but if I recall correctly perfect tense is the one that represents a completed action with a continuing effect. If I'm correct in this, then the fact that John cried out (κέκραγεν) was a completed action but has a continuing effect of announcing Jesus to us.

marty said...

I believe you are correct. A martyr is one who testifies by giving their life. And yes, you are also correct about the perfect tense indicating completed action with current implications.
New Testament grammar truly yields rewards by adding so much depth to our reading.
Thanks for your comments.
peace,