Luke 22

Read Luke 22 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.

I have done my own translation from the Greek of the Textus Receptus into English, to clear up a point that always bothered me:

Then they all said, “Are You then the Son of God?” And He said to them, “You yourselves are saying that – I Myself AM.” Luk 22:70 Greek TR into English

Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. Luk 22:70 KJV

Then they all said, “Are You then the Son of God?” So He said to them, “You rightly say that I am.” Luk 22:70 NKJV

The way it has been traditionally rendered into English – “You say that I am” – always sounded like a deflection to me. That is, “Hey, don’t pin that on Me; I’m not the one saying it, you are!”

The Greek of Jesus’ response is: Ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι.

Ὑμεῖς λέγετε means “You say,” a plural subject but in an emphatic voice. This is because the word λέγετε in the Greek already means “You say;” according to Greek grammar the additional “You” is unnecessary. That Luke records it this way stresses the “You,” making it emphatic: “You yourselves are saying (that very thing).”

ὅτι ἐγώ εἐμι means “that I am,” but uses the emphatic pronoun ἐγώ, “I Myself,” with εἐμι “am,” echoing the divine name:

And God said to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exo 3:14

In other words, Jesus applied the personal name of God, I AM, to Himself. He was not deflecting their accusation, as there is no negation present in the Greek grammar, which would be required if that were the case. He was affirming their accusation. And the council’s reaction?