King James Version

John 8:58

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

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Greek

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The KJV’s Greek text (Textus Receptus) adds “the” (ὁ) before Jesus here.

εἶπενeipento sayλέγω (légō)Greek uses a different stem for this verb’s past forms.verb, aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular — “to say”, a single actionG3004(denoting speech in progress), (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.This verse uses “say”.Strong’s files this form under G2036 (ἔπω, speak/say).saidαὐτοῖςautoisunto themαὐτός (autos)personal pronoun, dative, plural, masculine — “unto them”, the to- or for-formG846he, she, it, they, them, same.This verse uses “them”.unto themἸησοῦςiēsousJesusἸησοῦςnoun, nominative, singular, masculine — “Jesus”, the subject formG2424Jesus; the Greek form of Joshua; Jesus, son of Eliezer; Jesus, surnamed Justus.ἈμὴνamēnVerilyἀμήνparticle — “Verily”G281verily, truly, amen; at the end of sentences may be paraphrased by: So let it be.This verse uses “verily”.Verilyἀμὴνamēnverilyἀμήνparticle — “verily”G281verily, truly, amen; at the end of sentences may be paraphrased by: So let it be.This verse uses “verily”.verilyλέγωlegōI sayλέγωverb, present active indicative, 1st person singular — “I say”, an ongoing or repeated actionG3004(denoting speech in progress), (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.This verse uses “say”.I sayὑμῖνhuminunto youσύ (su)personal pronoun, dative, plural — “unto you”, the to- or for-formG4771you.unto youπρὶνprinBeforeπρίνconjunction — “Before”G4250formerly, before.This verse uses “before”.BeforeἈβραὰμabraamAbrahamἈβραάμnoun, accusative, singular, masculine — “Abraham”, the object formG11Abraham, progenitor of the Hebrew race.Abrahamγενέσθαιgenesthaito beγίνομαι (ginomai)verb, aorist middle infinitive — “to be”, a single actionG1096I come into being, am born, become, come about, happen.wasἐγὼegōIἐγώpersonal pronoun, nominative, singular — “I”, the subject formG1473I, the first-person pronoun.Iεἰμίeimiamεἰμίverb, present active indicative, 1st person singular — “am”, an ongoing or repeated actionG1510I am, exist.am

Textus Receptus Words Not in the SBL Text

ὁhotheὁarticle, nominative, singular, masculine — “the”, the subject formG3588the, the definite article.

Literal (Young’s Literal Translation)

Jesus said to them, 'Verily, verily, I say to you, Before Abraham's coming — I am;'

Translation Note

The clause is πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί. γενέσθαι is a verb, aorist middle infinitive, from γίνομαι, “I come into being.” εἰμί is a verb, present active indicative, 1st person singular.

The present indicative is “I am,” which is how the King James Version reads it. “I have been” is an English perfect. That perfect is the choice in the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible); it is not the tense written on εἰμί.

King James Version. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible), this verse. “Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been.”” Watchtower Online Library

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am.

Young’s Literal Translation

Jesus said to them, 'Verily, verily, I say to you, Before Abraham's coming — I am;'

World English Bible

Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you , before Abraham came into existence, I AM . ”

Darby Translation

Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Douay-Rheims

Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am.

American Standard Version (1901)

Young’s Literal Translation

World English Bible

Darby Translation

Douay-Rheims

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