BBG 21: Imperfect Indicative « Previous  •  Next » BBG 23: 1st Aorist

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Review and Addenda

Review Imperfect Indictative

  • Imperfect Tense: Aspect = Continuous, Time = Past
    • As you would expect, there are 3 different Greek tenses which express action in past time, one for each aspect: Imperfect (Continuous), Aorist (Simple), and Pluperfect (Completed) [rarely used]
    • Aspect is usually the most important element of the Greek verb. The Future Tense is the exception to this rule.
  • The Imperfect tense occurs only in the Indicative Mood
  • Formed with: Augment (ε) + Present Tense Stem + Connecting Vowel + Secondary endings
  • Augement ε (21.3)
    • The Augment prefix in Greek is similar to the -ed suffix in English, in that it indicates Past Time.
    • When tense stem begins with a vowel, the vowel lengthens, e.g. ἠγάπων. (21.10 b)
    • When tense stem begins with diphthong, first vowel lengthens, or it remains unchanged. (21.10 c)
    • In compound verbs the Augment comes after the preposition, e.g ἐκέβαλλον
      • if the preposition ends with a vowel, that final vowel will usually drop out. (21.20)
      • Preposition ἐκ changes to ἐξ before the Augment ε
  • Present Tense Stem (1st Principal Part)
    • Verbs that are deponent in the Present are also in the Imperfect, since they use the same stem
  • Connecting Vowel ο/ε (same as Present and Future) – follow the same rules – almost always visible in Imperfect
  • Secondary Personal Endings (Active or Middle/Passive)
  • Note similarities between Primary and Secondary personal endings. See 12.15
  • 2nd Sing. Middle/Passive contracts similar to Present e.g. ἐλυ ε σο → ἐλύου
  • Learn the Imperfect Paradigms in 21.7, 21.9 and 21.22 (Contract)
  • Memorize the Imperfect of εἰμί in 21.23
  • The Imperfect forms, if they occur, are listed in parentheses in the vocabulary.
  • Read Exegetical Insight — different uses of the Imperfect. See Wallace for detail.
  • See Smyth on the Present and Imperfect Systems of the Verb

    Review Verb endings

    • You have now learned all the personal endings for the verbs, so you can choose:
      • Either learn around 200 verb paradigms by rote, or
      • Learn these 4 sets of endings, and the 6 principal parts
      • Verb forms using Primary Endings do not use an augment
      • Verb forms using Secondary Endings do use an augment
      • Therefore you can determine whether or not a verb has an augment, by learnooking at which ending it is using. This is very helpful in parsing.

    Master Verb Ending Chart (BBG p.352)

    Voice Primary
    Tenses
               Secondary
    Tenses
     
     
    Active          
      λύ ω (-)   ἔ λυ ο ν (ν)
      λύ εις (ς)   ἔ λυ ε ς (ς)
      λύ ει (ι)   ἔ λυ ε(ν) (-)
     
      λύ ο μεν (μεν)   ἐ λύ ο μεν (μεν)
      λύ ε τε (τε)   ἐ λύ ε τε (τε)
      λύ ουσι(ν) (νσι)   ἐ λυ ο ν (ν)
     
    Middle & Passive
     
     
      λύ ο μαι (μαι)   ἐ λυ ό μην (μην)
      λύ ῃ (σαι)   ἐ λύ ου (σο)
      λύ ε ται (ται)   ἐ λύ ε το (το)
     
      λυ ό μεθα (μεθα)   ἐ λυ ό μεθα (μεθα)
      λύ ε σθε (σθε)   ἐ λύ ε σθε (σθε)
      λύ ο νται (νται)   ἐ λύ ο ντο (ντο)

    The Second Aorist

    • Read Exegetical Insight
      • Is Matthew 24.24 an Ingressive Aorist?
      • Why is this important?
    • Definition of Aorist (ἀορίστος) : Undefined aspect usually in past time
      • The Aorist is not punctiliar by nature (22.19)
      • Etymology of “Aorist”
        • Alpha privative (negation) examples (atheist, agnostic, amoral, etc.)
        • verb ὁρίζω – determine, appoint, fix, set limits to, define
        • α + ὁριστος = undefined
      • Translate as English simple past tense, e.g. “I ate” “I ran”
      • Indefinite – states only the fact that the action occurred, and nothing else
      • Compare with Imperfect which says something very definite about the action, viz. that its aspect is continuous
    • Aorist Indicative Active is the 3rd Principal Part (or Tense Form) of 6 (22.8)
      • Verbal roots and Principal Parts must be memorized exactly
      • See Previous Words on page 200
      • 2nd Aorist deponents – the 3rd Principal Part has Middle/Passive ending
    • 2 ways of forming the Aorist: 1st Aorist (regular) (chapter 23) and the 2nd Aorist (irregular)
      • Greek verb will have one or the other form, but not both (a few exceptions)
      • There is no difference in meaning between 1st and 2nd Aorist
      • 1st Aorist is considered regular, cf. in English, look, looked
      • 2nd Aorist is considered irregular, cf. in English swim, swam
      • 2nd Aorist is identical to the Imperfect in formation, except for the tense stem
    • Formation of the 2nd Aorist Active (22.5-6)
      • Augment ε – follows the same rules as for the Imperfect
      • 2nd Aorist Tense Stem (unmodified Verbal Root)
      • Connecting Vowel (same as the Present Tense, cf 16.5)
      • Secondary Active Endings (why? because this tense uses the augment)
        • 2nd Aorist has no Tense Formative
    • Formation of the 2nd Aorist Middle (22.14-15)
      • Augment ε – follows the same rules as for the Imperfect
      • 2nd Aorist Tense Stem (unmodified Verbal Root)
      • Connecting Vowel (same as the Present Tense, cf 16.5)
      • Secondary Middle/Passive Endings (why? because this tense uses the augment)
        • 2nd Aorist has no Tense Formative
        • 2nd Aorist deponents – the 3rd Principal Part has Middle/Passive ending
        • As with the Future, the Aorist has a different Tense stem for the Passive (the 6th Principal Part) (22.17)
    • 2nd Aorist & Present Active tense stems will ALWAYS be different (22.8)
      • Verbal Root is always modified to form the present, e.g βαλ → βαλλ and λαβ → λαμβαν.
        • See other examples in 22.8
      • The 2nd Aorist Tense Stem almost always uses the unmodified Verbal Root for its tense stem
      • This is how you can distinguish an Imperfect from a 2nd Aorist, which both have the augment and secondary endings – The 2nd Aorist looks like the Imperfect except for the Tense Stem (22.6,11,15)
      • Compare λαμβάνω in Imperfect and 2nd Aorist: ἐλαμβάνον vs. ἔλαβον, ἔβαλλον vs. ἔβαλον. Which is which?
      • When translating, focus on the Tense Stem first to avoid confusing the Imperfect with the 2nd Aorist
      • See page 397 of all verbs occurring > 50 times in NT, which have 2nd Aorists
    • List of most common 2nd Aorist verbs on pp. 382-383
    • Exegesis Section – Different uses of the Aorist
    • See Smyth on the 2nd Aorist

    Master Indicative Verb Chart (BBG p.354)

    Verb Tense Augment/
    Reduplication
    Tense
    Stem
    Tense
    Formative
    Connecting
    Vowel
    Personal
    Endings
    1st Person
    Singular
     
    Present Active Present ο/ε Primary Active λύω
    Present Middle/Passive Present ο/ε Primary Middle/Passive λύομαι
     
    Imperfect Active ε Present ο/ε Secondary Active ἔλυον
    Imperfect Middle/Passive ε Present ο/ε Secondary Middle/Passive ἐλυόμην
     
    Future Active Future Active σ ο/ε Primary Active λύσω
    Liquid Future Active Future Active εσ ο/ε Primary Active μενῶ
    Future Middle Future Active σ ο/ε Primary Middle/Passive πορεύομαι
    Liquid Future Middle Future Active εσ ο/ε Primary Middle/Passive μενοῦμαι
    1st Future Passive Aorist Passive θησ ο/ε Primary Middle/Passive λυθήσομαι
    2nd Future Passive Aorist Passive ησ ο/ε Primary Middle/Passive ἀποσταλήσομαι
     
    1st Aorist Active ε Aorist Active σα Secondary Active ἔλυσα
    1st Aorist Middle ε Aorist Active σα Secondary Middle/Passive ἐλυσάμην
    1st Aorist Passive ε Aorist Passive θη Secondary Active ἐλύθην
    Liquid Aorist Active ε Aorist Active α Secondary Active ἔμεινα
    2nd Aorist Active ε Aorist Active ο/ε Secondary Active ἔλαβον
    2nd Aorist Middle ε Aorist Active ο/ε Secondary Middle/Passive ἐγενόμην
    2nd Aorist Passive ε Aorist Passive η Secondary Active ἐγράφην
     
    1st Perfect Active λε Perfect Active κα Primary Active λέκυκα
    2nd Perfect Active λε Perfect Active α Primary Active γέγονα
    Perfect Middle/Passive λε Perfect Passive Primary Middle/Passive λέκυμαι

    Review New Vocabulary et. al.

    • Note all the new verbs have 2nd Aorists
    • Remember to learn the principal parts, especially for verbs that are irregular (2nd Aorists are considered irregular, which is why we don’t use λύω in the paradigm)
    • What kind of future does ἀποθνῄσκω have?
    • What kind of future does βάλλω have?
    • What are some English derivatives of γῆ ?
    • What voice is γίνομαι in the Present? the Future? the Aorist?
    • Note the Principal Parts of compound verbs like ἐξέρχομαι
    • Note the obvious meanings of the compound verbs εἰσ έρχομαι ἐξ έρχομαι and προσ έρχομαι (Appendix II Lexical Aids)
    • Note the formation of the Future Deponent in γίνομαι and λαμβάνω
    • Note the conjugation of the 2nd Aorist for γινώσκω
    • Note the “Imperfect” conjugation of οἶδα, which is actually Pluperfect in form (22.18)

    Look at chapter 22 workbook exercises

    Assignments

    • Continue your life habit of reading Greek aloud from the Greek New Testament
    • Complete workbook exercises for chapter 22
    • Prepare for quiz next week on chapter 22 on 2nd Aorist
      • All vocabulary to date
      • The meaning of the Aorist, and how it is formed
      • Know 3rd Principal part (Aorist Active Indicative) for any given verb
      • Parsing, especially 2nd Aorists
      • Translation
      • All memory verses to date
    • Study chapter 23 on the 1st Aorist
    • Learn 3rd principal part (Aorist Indicative Active) for all verbs
    • Lexical Aids: Appendix II pp 79-85 on compound verbs. Part I pp.1-10 – make sure you know all words with NT occurrences > 150. Pay special attentive to the derivatives
    • Continue taking your Greek NT to church with you, and follow along

    The Lord’s Prayer (Listen)

    Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·
    ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου· ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου· γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
    τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον· καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν·
    καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.
    ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν.

    χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη