καὶ ὑμεῖς δὲ μαρτυρεῖτε, ὅτι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς μετ’ ἐμοῦ ἐστε. (John 15:27)
And you also bear witness, because from the beginning you are with me.
The Syntax of Witness and Withness
This verse climaxes Jesus’ teaching on the coming of the Paraclete and the witness of His followers. It moves from mission to identity using a series of declined personal pronouns and prepositional phrases. Though short, the verse is rich with grammatical nuance—linking testimony not just to speech, but to a shared relational history “from the beginning.”
Declension Analysis Table
| Greek Word | Morphology | Case & Syntactic Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ὑμεῖς | 2nd person plural personal pronoun, nominative | Subject of μαρτυρεῖτε | Emphatic due to position and pronoun choice; indicates “you yourselves” |
| ἀρχῆς | 1st declension feminine genitive singular noun | Genitive object of preposition ἀπό | “From the beginning” — temporal genitive defining the witness’s origin |
| ἐμοῦ | 1st person singular personal pronoun, genitive | Object of preposition μετά | “With me” — genitive used after μετά in sense of association |
Case and Emphasis: The Force of Pronouns
– ὑμεῖς (nominative) is not required grammatically since the verb μαρτυρεῖτε already encodes 2nd person plural. Its presence here is emphatic: you also, in contrast or addition to the Spirit (v.26).
– ἐμοῦ (genitive) personalizes the association. The disciples were not merely with a teacher—they were with me.
– ἀρχῆς in the genitive after ἀπ’ pinpoints temporal origin—“from the beginning,” highlighting continuity and trustworthiness of their testimony.
Prepositional Phrases and Case Shifts
Greek prepositions govern different cases depending on their meaning and function:
– ἀπό takes the genitive to denote separation or source — here, ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς means “from the beginning.”
– μετά can take the genitive or accusative. With the genitive, as in μετ’ ἐμοῦ, it denotes association or accompaniment (“with me”). Had it been accusative, it would imply succession or after-effect.
Articles and the Absence Thereof
– No article precedes ἀρχῆς — highlighting the abstract, timeless nature of “beginning.” Greek often omits the article in temporal phrases to create generalization.
– ἐμοῦ is an anarthrous personal pronoun; its very form individualizes the closeness without the need for an article.
Declensions That Anchor Testimony
This verse grounds apostolic authority not in oratory but in relationship. The pronouns and prepositions, declined with deliberate specificity, demonstrate a theological reality: testimony arises from nearness—temporal nearness (“from the beginning”) and personal nearness (“with me”). These declensions form the grammatical backbone of Christian witness: you speak because you’ve been with Him, from the start.
