Tag Archives: John 8:18

Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ μαρτυρῶν περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ, καὶ μαρτυρεῖ περὶ ἐμοῦ ὁ πέμψας με πατήρ. (John 8:18)

I am the one bearing witness concerning myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness concerning me.

The Witness Formula in Johannine Grammar

In John 8:18, Jesus declares the legitimacy of His testimony by appealing to the principle of two witnesses — Himself and the Father who sent Him. The Greek grammar undergirds the theological weight of His words: emphatic pronouns, participial identity, and the present tense of continuous witness. Let us examine the structure closely.

1. ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ μαρτυρῶν — The Emphatic “I Am” and the Participle of Identity Parsing ἐγώ — nominative singular pronoun: “I”, used emphatically εἰμι — present active indicative, 1st singular of εἰμί: “am” ὁ μαρτυρῶν — present active participle, nominative masculine singular of μαρτυρέω: “the one testifying”

The structure literally reads: “I am the one testifying about myself.”… Learn Koine Greek