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Ἔλεγον οὖν αὐτῷ, Σὺ τίς εἶ; Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Τὴν ἀρχὴν ὅ τι καὶ λαλῶ ὑμῖν.
RBT Greek Interlinear:
Strongs 2036  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
Elegon
Ἔλεγον
Were saying
V-IIA-3P
Strongs 3767  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
oun
οὖν
therefore
Conj
Strongs 846  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
autō
αὐτῷ
self/itself/himself
PPro-DM/N3S
Strongs 4771  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
Sy
Σὺ
yourself
PPro-N2S
Strongs 5101  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
tis
τίς
who
IPro-NMS
Strongs 1510  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
ei
εἶ
you are
V-PIA-2S
Strongs 2036  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
Eipen
Εἶπεν
Said
V-AIA-3S
Strongs 846  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
autois
αὐτοῖς
to themselves
PPro-DM3P
Strongs 3588  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
ho

the
Art-NMS
Strongs 2424  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
Iēsous
Ἰησοῦς
Salvation
N-NMS
Strongs 3588  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
Tēn
Τὴν
the
Art-AFS
Strongs 746  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
archēn
ἀρχὴν
origin
N-AFS
Strongs 3754  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
ho¦ti
ὅ¦τι
that
Conj
Strongs 2532  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
kai
καὶ
and
Conj
Strongs 2980  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
lalō
λαλῶ
I chatter
V-PIA-1S
Strongs 4771  [list]
Λογεῖον
Perseus
hymin
ὑμῖν
to yourselves
PPro-D2P
RBT Hebrew Literal:
Genesis 1: He is Evening, He is Morning
They were saying therefore to self, "Who is 'you, yourself'?" The Salvation said to themselves, "The Origin/Beginning that I am also uttering to yourselves!84
Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
Then said they to him, Who art thou? And Jesus said to them, In the beginning, he which I spake to you.
LITV Translation:
Then they said to Him, Who are you? And Jesus said to them, Altogether what I also say to you.
ESV Translation:
So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.

Footnotes

84

Greek τὴν ἀρχὴν ὅ τι καὶ λαλῶ ὑμῖν

"Τὴν ἀρχὴν" (Tēn archēn): "The beginning" or "The Origin." There is no "from" preposition here and it is in the accusative, hence "The beginning/origin." It escaped notice, being a hidden mystery, that the Genesis 1 beginning "In the Head" was a "someone".

The difference between ὅ τι (two words, meaning "what" or "whatever") and ὅτι (one word, meaning "that") shifts the sense slightly. With ὅτι, the phrase suggests a statement or explanation, like "The beginning is that I also speak to you" or "That I speak to you is the beginning." It has therefore caused no small amount of confusion among scholars.

That he should say something like "What I also speak to you" or "what I have been speaking" in answer to a simple question is quite the pointless answer, and even makes him sound incapable of explaining.

  • "ὅτι" (oti):  "that".
  • "καὶ" (kai): The conjunction "also/and/even"
  • "λαλῶ" (lalō): "to utter, chatter"
  • "ὑμῖν" (hymin): The second person plural pronoun "you all/yourselves" in the dative case.