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In 1 John 4:8 what is the role of ἐστίν?

Posted: August 2nd, 2019, 11:25 am
by Bill Ross
This question arose here: https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/ ... r-god-is-l

While I have an intuitive sense of what this might mean I am wondering how it would be explained using a proper linguistic analysis:

[1Jo 4:8 MGNT] (8) ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν οὐκ ἔγνω τὸν θεόν ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη [b]ἐστίν[/b]

Re: In 1 John 4:8 what is the role of ἐστίν?

Posted: August 2nd, 2019, 1:04 pm
by Barry Hofstetter
It's simply the man verb in the ὅτι clause. The use is copulative, equating θεός with ἀγάπη.

Re: In 1 John 4:8 what is the role of ἐστίν?

Posted: August 2nd, 2019, 2:20 pm
by Bill Ross
Thanks Barry. So would you say that ἐστίν indicates that "love" is just another name for God? IE: There is no other way to read this other than a marker of identity?