ἔστι. (estin) in John 1:47: Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
ἔστι. (estin) in John 1:47
Textual Witness
The witness reads ἐν ᾧ δόλος οὐκ ἔστι, so the form belongs to a short concluding clause about the one just praised by Jesus.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form sharpens the sentence into a clear present assessment of character, making the negative judgment about deceit immediate and concise.
How To Communicate It
In translation and teaching, this can be rendered naturally as 'there is no deceit' or 'deceit is not in him,' with the context guiding the wording.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Verb person, number, and tense here help the clause read smoothly, but they do not by themselves determine the full interpretation.
- Do not turn verbal grammar into a theological claim beyond what the sentence actually states.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the word expresses existence or simple being, and here it functions as the clause's finite verb.
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.
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 form is grammatically singular and matches a singular clause subject or an impersonal use in context.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ἐν ᾧ δόλος οὐκ ἔστι.
The verb is governed by the clause structure after the negative particle οὐκ, where it states the presence or absence of deceit rather than naming a separate action.
It supplies the final assertion: within this person, deceit is not present, so the clause describes moral character in a concise way.
It does not by itself identify a new subject, change the meaning of δόλος, or force a special theological reading beyond the statement.
How Much The Form Matters Here
Moderate: The verb states the absence of deceit in Jesus' description of Nathanael.
Present active indicative existential negation. states that deceit is not present in the person described. Attached to the clause about deceit not being in him. Governed by the negative statement describing Nathanael. The existential use works with the negation and prepositional phrase.
What does Jesus say is absent in this person? He says deceit is not present in him.
Direct: The verb with negation directly supports English wording such as 'there is no deceit.'
The verb states absence in the clause; the moral description should not be expanded beyond Jesus' statement.
Simple being verb proves absolute sinlessness: The statement describes absence of deceit in context and should not be inflated beyond the clause.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads ἐν ᾧ δόλος οὐκ ἔστι, so the form belongs to a short concluding clause about the one just praised by Jesus.
The lemma εἰμί is the common verb of being or existence, and in this context it carries the sense of presence or absence rather than emphasis on identity.
The singular present indicative fits a compact assertion after οὐκ, letting the clause state that deceit is not found there without needing extra explanation.
In context, the grammar supports Jesus' description of Nathanael as an honest Israelite, one in whom deceit is absent.
This use fits the wider biblical pattern of εἰμί in simple existential or descriptive clauses, where context determines whether the focus is being, presence, or identification.
For readers and speakers, the form makes the statement direct and memorable: the person under discussion is characterized by the absence of deceit.
Do not derive a hidden doctrine from the tense alone, and do not treat singular agreement as if it adds information beyond the clause's straightforward claim.