εἶ (ei) in John 1:49: Verb Second Person Singular Present Active Indicative
εἶ (ei) in John 1:49
Textual Witness
The witness reads "σὺ εἶ" in John 1:49, with the form appearing twice in the verse and each time before a predicate title.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form keeps the verse focused on direct confession and identity, helping the reader hear the statement as present and personal.
How To Communicate It
In translation and teaching, it may be rendered simply as "you are," preserving the direct, conversational force of the sentence.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- This verb form does not by itself define the meaning of the predicate titles that follow.
- Do not turn second person singular or present tense into a larger doctrinal claim than the verse supports.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the word expresses being or existence, and here it functions as a simple copula in speech.
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 is second person singular and addresses one person directly in this utterance.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
It belongs with the direct address, "σὺ ...", and links that subject to the predicate nouns that follow.
It is governed by the speaker's statement to Nathanael and serves the clause as a present indicative assertion.
It states identity or relation in the sentence, connecting "you" with the titles "the Son of God" and "the King of Israel."
It is not itself the titles being spoken, and it does not by grammar alone decide how those titles should be theologically expanded.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The verb links Jesus to Nathanael's confession, Son of God and King of Israel.
Present active indicative confession copula. connects Jesus as addressee with the confessed titles. Attached to the titles Son of God and King of Israel. Governed by Nathanael's direct confession to Jesus. The verb supplies the link, while the titles and narrative context carry the confession's theological weight.
What titles does Nathanael connect to Jesus? He confesses Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel.
Direct: The second-person singular form directly supports the confession wording 'you are.'
The verb itself is not the title; the titles and context define the confession.
Present tense of to be proves the whole theological claim by itself: The present form links subject and predicate; the predicate words, clause, and context carry the full theological claim.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads "σὺ εἶ" in John 1:49, with the form appearing twice in the verse and each time before a predicate title.
The lemma is εἰμί, a common Greek verb of being that can function as a copula, not a word that changes identity here.
In this context the form joins the pronoun to the predicate nouns, so the force is relational and declarative rather than descriptive of action.
Nathanael is directly confessing Jesus as the one identified by the titles that follow, using the plain present tense of address.
Within the Gospel, this kind of direct identification language contributes to confession about Jesus without requiring the grammar to supply the full doctrine by itself.
For readers and speakers, the form supports a clear, immediate statement of recognition and affirmation: one person is being addressed as the one named by the predicates.
Do not derive extra meaning from the tense or person beyond what the clause carries, and do not turn verbal grammar into a standalone theological conclusion.