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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Ues of past perfect in Bible verses
Hi.
1.In John 5:6 of the New International Version of the Bible, it is written:
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
I think some past perfect tense uses indicate not what happened in the past but what had been happening upto the moment of some action or incident (or something, I am not sure) and the past perfect tense "had been" seems to do that, that is indicating that he had been in that condition for a long time up until Jesus' learning of that fact. What do you think?
2. In John 12:18 of the New International Version of the Bible, it is written:
Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.
I think we could write "they heard that he had given his miraculous sign" without making much difference in its context or intended meaning (I could very well be wrong because I think I don't know what the intended meaning or its context since I am not that good in English or in Christianity). Also, I think long ago (maybe not so long ago) it was Mr. M who mentioned something like in a sentence where there is a dependent clause and independent clause, the tense of the subordinate clause part takes precedence. (The thing I wrote about what Mr. M mentioned is from my very vague recollection and should not take it as anything more than what is based on a rough recollection.)
1.In John 5:6 of the New International Version of the Bible, it is written:
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
I think some past perfect tense uses indicate not what happened in the past but what had been happening upto the moment of some action or incident (or something, I am not sure) and the past perfect tense "had been" seems to do that, that is indicating that he had been in that condition for a long time up until Jesus' learning of that fact. What do you think?
2. In John 12:18 of the New International Version of the Bible, it is written:
Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.
I think we could write "they heard that he had given his miraculous sign" without making much difference in its context or intended meaning (I could very well be wrong because I think I don't know what the intended meaning or its context since I am not that good in English or in Christianity). Also, I think long ago (maybe not so long ago) it was Mr. M who mentioned something like in a sentence where there is a dependent clause and independent clause, the tense of the subordinate clause part takes precedence. (The thing I wrote about what Mr. M mentioned is from my very vague recollection and should not take it as anything more than what is based on a rough recollection.)
Top answer
Anonymous I think some past perfect tense uses indicate not what happened in the past but what had been happening upto the moment of some action or incident (or something, I am not sure) and the past perfect tense "had been" seems to do that, that is indicating that he had been in that condition for a long time up until Jesus' learning of that fact. What do you think? I think you're right.
- Anonymous I think some past perfect tense uses indicate not what happened in the past but what had been happening upto the moment of some action or incident (or something, I am not sure) and the past perfect tense "had been" seems to do that, that is indicating that he had been in that condition for a long time up until Jesus' learning of that fact.
- What do you think?
- I think you're right.
- This is one of the usual uses of the past perfect.
- It can be considered a backshift of the present perfect.
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2 Answers
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AnonymousI think some past perfect tense uses indicate not what happened in the past but what had been happening upto the moment of some action or incident (or something, I am not sure) and the past perfect tense "had been" seems to do that, that is indicating that he had been in that condition for a long time up until Jesus' learning of that fact. What do you think?
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AnonymousMany people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.I don't understand your point. You seem to be saying that our writing of those words would not cause
I think we could write "they heard that he had given his miraculous sign" without making much difference in its context or intended meaning
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