# Greek imperfect tense for was in John 1:1



## Rogerant (Apr 19, 2009)

I have a question for those who have good skills in Greek. I don't. In John 1:1 I have been taught that the word "was" ipf (strongs 2258) describes a continuous action in the PAST. In other words, "in the beginning CONTINUALLY WAS the Word, and the Word CONTINUALLY WAS with God, and the Word CONTINUALLY WAS God. But I also see that word "was" (strongs 2258) used in a number of other places that can't mean CONTINUALLY WAS in the PAST. See Acts 1:10,13,14,15 and 17 to name a few. Is there a connection with another verb or noun in John 1:1 that identifies this word "was" different than the way the word is used elsewhere in the scriptures?

Thanks, a new member to the board. I hope I have asked this question in the right place. In Christ, Roger


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## Prufrock (Apr 19, 2009)

Roger,

_Eimi_ is a unique verb in that it does not have an aorist tense (the simple past) -- in fact, it only has the present and future systems; thus, any past action is expressed with the imperfect. The verb in this context surely can't mean anything such as "started to be God," or "started to be with God," which, typical of NT Greek would probably be expressed by "egeneto" or some other word. 

Also, Welcome to the board!


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## PresbyDane (Apr 19, 2009)

Yeah  to PB


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## OPC'n (Apr 19, 2009)




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## Knoxienne (Apr 19, 2009)

to the PB!


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## rescuedbyLove (Apr 19, 2009)

Welcome!!


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## jogri17 (Jun 6, 2009)

Also in french the impefect tense is used to show a continuation to the present or a basic description of a scenario. So even if there was a simple past tense for it the usage of it in french would signify that Jesus was the lord as opposed to describe a state of being.


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