John 4:26
I that speak unto thee am he.
To the Samaritan woman after she says the Anointed will come and explain everything.
John 4:26 I that speak unto thee am he.
John 4:26 I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
I myself am the one going to proclaim to you.
Greek
Greek Word Order
Jesus is the one that the people should expect to explain all things.
Lost in Translation
These translation reverse the order of what Jesus said and change the tense of the verb "speak/speaking". It is in the future tense, not the present. It is not either of the common words translated as "speak." It is also a participle, introduced by an article, "the one going to transmit" noun. We cannot use the participle form of "will" to indicate the future tense because "willing" means a willingness rather than the future tense.
The word the woman uses to refer to the role of the Anointed means "to carry tiding", "to report" and "to proclaim". It is similar to the English word "announce". It is not the word Jesus uses, which is a lighter, more casual word. Jesus often uses this word about his speaking as a humble way of referring to his words.
Vocabulary (Greek word by word)
ἐγὼ [162 verses](pron 1st sg masc nom) "I" is ego, which is the first-person singular pronoun meaning "I". It also means "I at least," "for my part", "indeed" and for myself.
εἰμι [614 verses](3rd sg pres ind act) "Am" is eimi, which means "to be", "to exist", "to be the case", of circumstance and events "to happen" and "is possible". With the genitive object, the sense is "belongs to". It can also mean "must" with a dative.
ὁ [821 verses](article sg masc nom) "That" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").
λαλῶν ( [49 verses]part sg fut act masc nom) "Speak" is laleo, which means "to talk", "to speak", "to prattle", "to chat" and [for oracles] "to proclaim". It also means "chatter" as the opposite of articulate speech. However, Jesus seems to use in in the sense of "relaying" information gained from another.
σοὶ [81 verses](pron 2nd sg dat) "Unto thee" is soi which is the singular, second-person pronoun, "you", in the form of an indirect pronoun.
KJV — word by word
I -- The pronoun "I" is used here. Since, as the subject of the sentence, it is part of the verb, its explicit use accentuates who is speaking "I". Saying "I myself" captures this feeling in English.
missing "myself" -- (MW) The subjective pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "I myself".
that -- The word translated as "that" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one". The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those") than the English "the". See this article for more.
speak -- (CW, WF, WT) The Greek word translated as "speak" is not the ordinary "to say" or "to speak" in Greek. This word means both "idle chatter", "gossip" and "the proclamations of an oracle". Jesus uses it to capture the idea of "pass on" or "relay" information because that captures both someone gossiping and what an oracle does. The word is somewhat self-effacing. The form is not an active verb, but a participle, and the tense is not the present but the future tense.
unto -- This word "unto" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object.
thee . -- The word for "thee" is the indirect object form of the singular, second-person pronoun in the form of an indirect object, which usually requires a preposition in English, like "to you".
am -- (WP) The verb "am" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. This word doesn't appear here but right after the "I" pronoun.
he. -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "he" in the Greek source.
NIV — word by word
I -- The pronoun "I" is used here. Since, as the subject of the sentence, it is part of the verb, its explicit use accentuates who is speaking "I". Saying "I myself" captures this feeling in English.
missing "myself" -- (MW) The subjective pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "I myself".
the one -- The word translated as "the one" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one". The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those") than the English "the". See this article for more.
speaking -- (CW,WT) The Greek word translated as "speaking" is not the ordinary "to say" or "to speak" in Greek. This word means both "idle chatter", "gossip" and "the proclamations of an oracle". Jesus uses it to capture the idea of "pass on" or "relay" information because that captures both someone gossiping and an oracle does. The word is somewhat self-effacing. The tense is no the present but the future tense.
to -- This word "to" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object.
you . -- The word for "you" is the indirect object form of the singular, second-person pronoun in the form of an indirect object, which usually requires a preposition in English, like "to you".
I -- This is from the first-person, singular form of the verb.
am -- (WP) The verb "am" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. This word doesn't appear here but right after the "I" pronoun.
he. -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "he" in the Greek source.