Some musings on John 3:16
A brother said:
Below is an exegesis of one arminian friend who advocate the conditionality of John 3:16.
"John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
"WHOSOEVER believeth in him . . . HAVE everlasting life."
Is the grammar correct? WRONG! Or worse yet . . .
"WHOSOEVER believeth in him SHOULD . . . HAS everlasting life."
Is the grammar correct? WRONG!
To be declarative the verse should read -
"WHOSOEVER believeth in him . . . HAS everlasting life."
Is the grammar correct? Absolutely yes!
The only problem is "HAVE" is used in the verse and not "HAS."
This is what the verse actually says:
"WHOSOEVER believeth in him SHOULD . . . HAVE everlasting life."
Is the grammar correct? Absolutely yes!. The last part of the verse, therefore, is clearly CONDITIONAL."
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I would like to hear what you have to say on this. Grammatically, it seems accurate and right, but I would like to get your inputs.
Thanks.
My comments:
Here is the well known text:
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
First,
The text says these:1. 'whosoever believeth in him should not perish'
2. 'whosoever believeth in him have everlasting life'
The text DOES NOT say:
"whosoever believeth in him SHOULD have everlasting life."
Second,
the brother asserted thus --- "WHOSOEVER believeth in him . . . HAVE everlasting life." Is the grammar correct? WRONG! Or worse yet... ---
And what is so grammatically incorrect with "whosoever believeth in him... have everlasting life"?
'Whosoever' is not necessarily singular. 'Whosoever' is often used collectively, meaning 'some of all types' or 'all'. That explains why it is followed by the plural verb 'have' and not 'has'. "Whosoever believeth" can mean "all believing ones." All the believing ones HAVE everlasting life.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3956&t=KJV
Third:
"believeth" is present active PARTICIPLE, i.e "the believing", functions like a verbal noun. 'Whosoever believeth' means "all believing ones", therefore followed by 'have'. All believing ones HAVE everlasting life... that's a declaration of fact and truth!
"HAVE" is in the present tense, active voice. "The present tense represents a simple statement of fact or reality viewed as occurring in actual time. In most cases this corresponds directly with the English present tense."
Fourth:
'Should' is a modal verb related to 'perish', indicating the consequence of believing.The consequence of believing is that the believing ones should not perish. The consequence of believing is not to have eternal life.Why?
It is eternal life ENABLES believing. Possession of everlasting life is THE reason there are believing ones. Believing is an effect of the possession of everlasting life.
Believing is OBVIOUSLY an activity of, and manifestation of the everlasting life. ONLY an insane man denies that life must precede the activities of that life. Believing is an activity of spiritual life.
Danny
Thank you brother Sing.
Is it not that "BELIEVETH" is a singular verb which stands for the modern form "believes" ?
Sing F Lau
'believeth' is a participle. Its parsing information:
Tense: Present
Voice: Active
Mood: Participle
participle |ˈpärtəˌsipəl|
noun Grammar - a word formed from a verb (e.g., going, gone, being, been) and used as an adjective (e.g., working woman, burned toast) or a noun (e.g., good breeding).
Therefore, "whosoever believeth" is a verbal noun, with the meaning, "all the believing ones."
