Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Psalm 83:18 That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 83:18 That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth. |
Subject: WHERE TO FIND ALL THE NAMES OF GOD |
Bible Note: (Part 3) To “know” is a state of the mind, and the Greek present must indicate a continuing state. The Hebrew perfect has exactly the same meaning. (According to H.W.F. Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, ed. E. Kautzsch, trasn. A.E. Cowley, 2d Eng. Ed.) And both in Hebrew and in Greek we find the preposition “before,” referring to a time in the past prior to the birth of Jeremiah. From this time to the time when God uttered the words, he know Jeremiah. It is similar with the parallel clause. To “sanctify” is an act leading into a state. Here a Greek perfect is used, indicating even more definitely that a clause beginning with “before” can signify a state with duration into the present. As I already mentioned, Greek has a verbal conjugation called “perfect,” which may be defined as “ a state or condition resulting from a completed action.” (Fanning, Verbal Aspect, p. 103) It is often translated with English perfect, but the two may not match exactly. As a matter of fact, the Greek eimi, being stative, has no perfect form, so John could not have chosen a perfect for eimi, but he did choose the imperfective aspect of Greek present to portray a state lasting from the past and continuing into the present. (Fanning, Verbal Aspect, p. 21 call this the “Present of Past Action Still in Progress). English has no grammaticalized imperfective aspect which may portray an action or state that began before a certain point in the past, and which continues into the present. But it does have a present tense which covers situations including the present moment. The English present tense, however, cannot be extended to include a time before a particular point in the past, so English and Greek present may be mutually exclusive in situations where both past and present are combined. Which is correct, in the light of the following parameters: “grammaticality,” “intelligibility,” “faithful conveyance of the message,” and “addition of elements.” 1) “Before Abraham came into being, I was”. This rendition is grammatically correct, it is intelligible and it does not add any elements that are not found in the text itself. But because the state is confined to the past, before Abraham came into being and Jesus still lived when he expressed his preexistence, the message is distorted. English preterite cannot include a state which is still in effect. 2) “Before Abraham came into being, I am.” This is the least attractive one, for several reasons. It is ungrammatical because English present tense cannot start before a definite point in the past. It is unintelligible and does not convey the message, because an element of mysticicism must be added to defend its place in an English translation. Since there are no mystical connotations in the Greek text, it adds foreign elements. 3) “Before Abraham came into being, I have been.” This is the rendition in the NWT and some other translations, including the early marginal reading offered by the NASB. It is ungrammatical because English perfect cannot be used to portray a state which is anchored to a particular point in the past. It is however, intelligible and therefore it conveys the message. It also does not add any mystical or foreign elements. Truthfinder |