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Greek Lessons
- Seeking the Signs or the Bread? A Grammatical and Stylistic Journey through John 6:26
- Worry and Worth: A Greek Look at Matthew 6:25
- Indirect Discourse and the Weight of Silence: The Interrogative Mood in Mark 6:24–25
- Tense That Breathes Eternity: The Aorist Imperative and Eschatological Joy in Luke 6:23
- Sent with Purpose: Subjunctive Aims and Pastoral Comfort in Ephesians 6:22
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Category
Category Archives: Grammar
Aorist Indicative: The Inceptive Aorist
(1) The Aorist of a verb whose Present denotes a state or condition, commonly denotes the beginning of that state.
2 Cor. 8:9; δι’ ὑμᾶς ἐπτώχευσεν πλούσιος ὤν, though he was rich, for your sakes he became poor. See also Luke 15:32; John 4:52; Acts 7:60; Rom. 14:9.
REMARK. The Aorist of such verbs is not, however, necessarily inceptive. The same form may be in one sentence inceptive and in another historical. Cf. Luke 9:36 with Acts 15:12, the verb , being in the former historical, in the latter probably inceptive.… Learn Koine Greek
Aorist Indicative: The Historical Aorist
(1) The Aorist Indicative is most frequently used to express a past event viewed in its entirety, simply as an event or a single fact. It has no reference to the progress of the event, or to any existing result of it.
John 1:11; εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθεν, καὶ οἱ ἴδιοι αὐτὸν οὐ παρέλαβον, he came unto his own and they that were his own received him not.
(2) Since any past event without reference to its duration or complexity may be conceived of as a single fact, the Historical Aorist may be used to describe
(a) A momentary action.
Acts 5:5; ἐξέψυξεν, he gave up the ghost.… Learn Koine Greek
The Aorist Indicative
(1) The constant characteristic of the Aorist tense in all of its moods, including the participle, is that it represents the action denoted by it indefinitely; i.e. simply as an event, neither on the one hand picturing it in progress, nor on the other affirming the existence of its result. The name indefinite as thus understood is therefore applicable to the tense in all of its uses.
As respects the point of view from which the action is looked at, however, we may distinguish three functions of the tense common to all of its moods.
First, it may be used to describe an action or event in its entirety.… Learn Koine Greek
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Tagged Aorist Indicative, διακονεῖνῆσαι, εἰπεἴν, ἐξήγαγεν, ἐπτώχευσεν, κωλύειν, κωλυσαι, νομίσαντες, ποιήσας, ποιων, σιγαν, σιγῆσαι
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Imperfect Indicative: Periphrastic Form Of Imperfect
PERIPHRASTIC FORM OF THE IMPERFECT
Periphrastic Imperfects, formed by adding a Present Participle to the Imperfect of the verb eivmi,, are frequent in the New Testament, especially in the historical books. The large majority of these forms denote continued action.
Mark 10:32; καὶ ἦν προάγων αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς, and Jesus was going before them. So also Luke 1:10, 22; John 13:23; and probably Mark 2:18. In a few instances repeated action is referred to, as Luke 5:16; 19:47; Gal. 1:23. Cf. The Predicative Adjective Participle (3).… Learn Koine Greek
Imperfect Indicative: The Imperfect Of Repeated Action
THE IMPERFECT OF REPEATED ACTION
The Imperfect is used of customary or repeated action in past time.
Acts 3:2; ὃν ἐτίθουν καθ’ ἡμέραν πρὸς τὴν θύραν τοῦ ἱεροῦ, whom they used to lay daily at the gate of the temple.
(1) For the use of the Imperfect, Aorist, or Pluperfect in a condition contrary to fact, or its apodosis, see B. Supposition contrary to Fact.
(2) The Imperfect and Aorist with a;n are used in classical Greek to denote a customary past action taking place under certain circumstances. In the New Testament this usage never occurs in principal clauses. The use of the Imperfect and Aorist with a;n in conditional relative clauses is possibly a remnant of the usage.… Learn Koine Greek
Posted in Grammar
Tagged Imperfect Indicative, ἐβουλόμην, εἰ γὰρ, εἶθε, ἠθέλησα, ὸφεἱλω, ὄφελον, ῶφελον
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Imperfect Indicative: The Conative Imperfect
THE CONATIVE IMPERFECT
The Progressive Imperfect is sometimes used of action attempted, but not accomplished. Cf. THE CONATIVE PRESENT.
Matt. 3:14; ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης διεκώλυεν αὐτὸν, but he would have hindered him.
See also Luke 1:59, ἐκάλουν; 15:16, ἐδίδου; Acts 7:26, συνήλλασσεν; 26:11, ἠνάγκαζον.
Luke 1:59 Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἦλθον περιτεμεῖν τὸ παιδίον, καὶ ἐκάλουν αὐτὸ ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ Ζαχαρίαν.
Luke 15:16 καὶ ἐπεθύμει γεμίσαι τὴν κοιλίαν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν κερατίων ὧν ἤσθιον οἱ χοῖροι, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐδίδου αὐτῷ.
Acts 7:26 τῇ τε ἐπιούσῃ ἡμέρᾳ ὤφθη αὐτοῖς μαχομένοις καὶ συνήλλασσεν αὐτοὺς εἰς εἰρήνην εἰπών Ἄνδρες, ἀδελφοί ἐστε ἱνατί ἀδικεῖτε ἀλλήλους;
Acts 26:11 καὶ κατὰ πάσας τὰς συναγωγὰς πολλάκις τιμωρῶν αὐτοὺς ἠνάγκαζον βλασφημεῖν, περισσῶς τε ἐμμαινόμενος αὐτοῖς ἐδίωκον ἕως καὶ εἰς τὰς ἔξω πόλεις.… Learn Koine Greek
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Tagged Conative Imperfect, Progressive Imperfect, ἐδίδου, ἐκάλουν, ἠνάγκαζον, συνήλλασσεν
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Imperfect Indicative: The Progressive Imperfect
THE PROGRESSIVE IMPERFECT
The Imperfect is used of action in progress in past time.
Mark 12:41; καὶ πολλοὶ πλούσιοι ἔβαλλον πολλά, and many that were rich were casting in much.
Luke 1:66; καὶ γὰρ χεὶρ κυρίου ἦν μετ’ αὐτοῦ, for the hand of the Lord was with him.
John 11:36; Ἴδε πῶς ἐφίλει αὐτόν, behold how he loved him.
The statement respecting the translation of the Progressive Present (cf.THE PROGRESSIVE PRESENT), applies to the Imperfect also. Notice the third example above, and see also Luke 2:51, his mother kept [διετήρει] all these things in her heart; in Luke 24:32, A.V., did not our heart burn within us, is better than R.V.,… Learn Koine Greek
Present Indicative: Periphrastic Form Of The Present
PERIPHRASTIC FORM OF THE PRESENT
One of the clearly marked peculiarities of the Greek of the New Testament is the frequency with which periphrastic forms composed of a Present or Perfect Participle (Luke 23:19 is quite exceptional in its use of the Aorist Participle; cf. Ev. Pet. 23), and the Present, Imperfect, or Future Indicative, or the Present Subjunctive, Imperative, Infinitive, and even participle, of the verb εἰμί, (rarely also ὑπάρχω), are used instead of the usual simple forms. Cf. The Predicative Adjective Participle, and see the full discussion with examples in B. pp. 308-313, and the list (not quite complete) in S.… Learn Koine Greek
Present Indicative: The Present Of Past Action Still In Progress
The Present Of Past Action Still In Progress
The Present Indicative, accompanied by an adverbial expression denoting duration and referring to past time, is sometimes used in Greek, as in German, to describe an action which, beginning in past time, is still in progress at the time of speaking. English idiom requires the use of the Perfect in such cases.
Acts 15:21; Μωϋσῆς γὰρ ἐκ γενεῶν ἀρχαίων κατὰ πόλιν τοὺς κηρύσσοντας αὐτὸν, for Moses from generations of old has had in every city them that preached him. See also Luke 13:7, ἔρχομαι, 15:29, δουλεύω, John 5:6, ἔχει; 2 Tim. 3:15, οἶδας.… Learn Koine Greek
Posted in Grammar
Tagged Aorist Indicative, Present Indicative, δουλεύω, ἔρχομαι, ἔχει, οἶδας, πάρλαι, πάρος, ποτὲ
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Present Indicative: The Present For The Future
The Present For The Future
In a similar way the Present Indicative may be used to describe vividly a future event.
Mark 9:31; Ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων, the Son of man is delivered into the hands of men. See also Matt. 26:18, ποιῶ; 27:63, ἐγείρομαι; Luke 3:9, ἐκκόπτεται.
REMARK. The term “Present for Future” is sometimes objected to, but, without good reason. The arguments of Buttmann, pp. 203f., and Winer, WT. pp. 265 ff.; WM. pp. 331 ff., are valid only against the theory of an arbitrary interchange of tenses. It is indeed not to be supposed that Greek writers confused the Present and the Future tenses, or used them indiscriminately.… Learn Koine Greek
