εἶ; (ei) in John 1:22: Verb Second Person Singular Present Active Indicative
εἶ; (ei) in John 1:22
Textual Witness
The witness reads εἶ in John 1:22, within the question Τίς εἶ; and the surrounding request for an answer to be given to those who sent them.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The verb sharpens the verse into a direct identity question, helping the reader hear the request as personal and immediate.
How To Communicate It
In translation and teaching, this form supports a clear, conversational question that asks for self-identification.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- The singular form indicates one addressee, but it does not by itself explain the speaker's full intention.
- Do not make verb form, person, or mood carry more meaning than the question and verse context support.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the form names an action or state of being, here the second person singular present indicative of eimi.
Present: often views the action as in progress, customary, or presently in view. Context decides the exact force.
Active: presents the subject as doing or carrying the action.
Indicative: presents the verbal idea as an assertion or statement in the clause.
Second person: the hearer or hearers are grammatically addressed by the verbal form.
Not applicable: this verb form is not using noun case to mark its sentence role.
Singular: the form addresses one person directly, fitting a single addressee in the question.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
Τίς
The verb completes the direct question, 'Who are you?', by supplying the state or identity being asked about.
It functions as the main finite verb in the question and carries the personal address to the one being interrogated.
It does not by itself define the speaker, add a new subject, or turn the question into a statement.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The verb completes the delegation's direct question about John's identity.
Main verb of the identity question. asks for the identity of the addressed person. Attached to the question who are you. Governed by the direct address in the dialogue. The form carries the question's verb, while John's reply supplies the substance.
What does this question request? It asks John to state who he is so the delegation can answer those who sent them.
Direct: The verb directly belongs in the rendering "who are you?"
The grammar frames the question; the answer and mission context give the verse its force.
Verb of being supplies identity content: The verb asks identity; the answer supplies the identity content.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads εἶ in John 1:22, within the question Τίς εἶ; and the surrounding request for an answer to be given to those who sent them.
The lemma εἰμι is the common verb 'to be' or 'to exist', and here it is used in a direct personal question.
The singular second person form shows that the question is aimed at one man, while the present indicative presents the inquiry in a straightforward, immediate way.
In context, the form helps communicate a simple identity question: the speakers want John to state who he is so they can report back accurately.
This use fits the wider biblical pattern where εἰμι can express being, identity, presence, or existence according to context.
For readers and translators, the form naturally supports rendering the line as 'Who are you?' rather than forcing a more technical or abstract sense.
Do not infer theology, hidden predicates, or special metaphysical claims from the grammar alone; the immediate question controls the sense.