ἦν (en) in John 1:44: Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative

Verb: the form names an action, state, or mode of existence rather than a thing or person.

Imperfect: presents the action from a past viewpoint, often with ongoing or repeated force. It is not merely an English past tense label.

Active: presents the subject as doing or carrying the action.

Indicative: presents the verbal idea as an assertion or statement in the clause.

Third person: the form speaks about someone or something rather than directly as I/we or you.

Not applicable: this verb form is not using noun case to mark its sentence role.

Singular: the verb is in the third person singular form, matching one subject or a singular implied subject in context.

Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.

ἦν δὲ ὁ Φίλιππος

The verb stands with the subject ὁ Φίλιππος and introduces a state of being or location for him in the sentence.

It tells what was true of Philip, namely that he was from Bethsaida, before the place phrase further identifies that origin.

It is not a command, not a question, and not the main source of the place information by itself.

Moderate: The verb frames Philip's origin from Bethsaida as scene-setting information in the discipleship narrative.

Third-person singular imperfect active indicative of the being verb. connects Philip with the place phrase that names his origin. Attached to Philip as the subject. Governed by the phrase identifying him as from Bethsaida. The place phrase supplies the origin; the verb links that origin to Philip.

What background detail is given about Philip? He was from Bethsaida.

Direct: The form directly supports wording such as "Philip was from Bethsaida."

The imperfect supplies past background and should not be overread as a theological signal. The origin detail comes from the prepositional phrase, not from the verb by itself. The singular form agrees with Philip in the clause.

Imperfect always signals ongoing action: In this clause the imperfect supports a past state or background identification. place detail creates hidden doctrine: The grammar gives narrative setting; interpretation should stay with the verse context.

The witness reads ἦν in John 1:44, with the Textus Receptus and Scrivener 1894 form preserved in the supplied record.

The lemma is εἰμί, the common verb of being or existence, here used in a straightforward copular or existential way.

The imperfect presents the stated fact as belonging to the past setting of the verse. In context, it supports a simple biographical description and does not by itself force a special nuance beyond that.

The verse says Philip was from Bethsaida, from the city of Andrew and Peter. The verb helps place Philip in that earlier background without drawing attention away from the relational detail that follows.

This use fits the regular biblical pattern of εἰμί for identity, existence, or circumstance. The grammar supports the narrative flow without adding theology that the sentence does not state.

For teaching or translation, the form can be rendered plainly as 'was' or 'was from.' The tense helps readers hear the statement as background information in the story.

Do not derive a special metaphysical meaning, a hidden temporal theory, or anything about gender from this verb form alone.