THE VERB: VOICE, PERSON, AND NUMBER
Voice
7.1. The voice system in NT Greek indicates the author’s perspective on the relationship of a grammatical subject to the process expressed by the verb.1 That is, voice indicates the role the subject of a clause plays with respect to the verb’s action. Like other elements of the Greek verb (tense, mood, person, and number), voice is indicated by the inflectional endings. Koine Greek offers a choice of two or three sets of endings to designate three voices: active, passive, and middle (sometimes the same set of endings does double-duty for the passive and middle). The grammatical subject, usually indicated by a nominal form in the nominative case,2 can be the agent of the action in the verb (i.e., the active voice), the recipient or patient of the action in the verb (i.e., the passive voice), or in some way directly involved in or participating in the action of the verb (i.e., the middle voice).3 The passive and middle voices place particular focus on the subject, whereas the active voice does not. Many verbs offer the choice of all three voices, but some verbs do not (so-called deponent verbs; see below). Analyzing the voice of Greek verbs is often significant for interpretation.
In discussing voice, we find it useful to distinguish the grammatical function from the semantic function of substantives or nominals related to the verb. Many verbs, called transitive, take a grammatical subject and an object; some, called intransitive, take only a subject. The subject is usually a substantive in the nominative case, and the object is usually a substantive in the accusative case (see chap. 1, on cases). Subject and object are grammatical categories indicated by the case endings of substantives. However, subjects and objects can also be considered from the standpoint of their semantic function. The agent is the producer or initiator of the action of the verb, while the patient or goal is the recipient of the action. Thus, when the grammatical subject plays the role of the agent, we have an active-voice verb (e.g., “The student studied Greek”). The direct object (“Greek”), then, plays the role of the patient or recipient of the action. However, when the grammatical subject plays the role of the patient or goal, we have a passive-voice verb (e.g., “The buildings were destroyed”), and the agent, if indicated, is expressed by a prepositional phrase (“The buildings were destroyed by vandals”).
Below we have largely avoided the traditional labels for further divisions of the voices found in most grammars: simple active, causative active, reflexive active, direct middle, indirect middle, permissive middle, simple passive, divine passive, permissive passive, and the like.4 These categories reflect more the meanings of the verbs and their function in the contexts than the meanings of the voice forms themselves.
Transitivity and Intransitivity
7.2. It is important to distinguish between transitive and intransitive verbs. Transitive verbs take two constituents, a subject and object, while intransitive verbs take only one constituent, a subject.5 Technically, transitivity is a separate issue from voice and is concerned with the meaning of the verb itself.6 Active- and middle-voice verbs may be either transitive or intransitive, while passive verbs are usually intransitive.
The Active Voice
7.3. The active voice indicates that the grammatical subject of the clause is the agent, the producer or initiator of the verbal process or state. The subject performs, carries out, or causes the action of the verb (causation runs from subject to verb). The active voice is the most common voice in the NT and is therefore the least semantically significant (or unmarked; Porter 63). It occurs about 20,697 times in the NT.
| Στέφανος δὲ πλήρης χάριτος καὶ δυνάμεως ἐποίει τέρατα καὶ σημεῖα μεγάλα (Acts 6:8) | And Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great wonders and signs. | |
| Τεκνία μου, ταῦτα γράφω ὑμῖν ἵνα μὴ ἁμάρτητε. (1 John 2:1) | My little children, I am writing these things to you in order that you might not sin. (active-voice verbs in both the main clause and the subordinate clause) | |
| Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν πέμπτην σφραγῖδα, εἶδον ὑποκάτω τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἐσφαγμένων διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἣν εἶχον. (Rev. 6:9) | And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw beneath the altar the souls of those slain because of the word of God and the testimony that they had. (all three active voice verbs are transitive) |
7.4. In the passive voice, the grammatical subject is the patient, the recipient of the action of the verb, rather than the agent, the performer of the action (as in the active voice). If agency is expressed with passive verbs in Greek, it is usually in the form of a prepositional phrase (see below). With the passive voice, emphasis is placed on the grammatical subject as the recipient of the action, and the agent is backgrounded. In comparison with the active voice, the passive occurs only about 3,933 times in the NT. The passive voice allows the author to maintain “topic continuity”;7 that is, it often functions to maintain the topic or subject of the previous clause (Young 135; see Mark 1:9 below). It is also used to foreground or highlight the introduction of a new participant into a scene that is about someone or something else (see Rev. 13:5 below).
| μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται. | Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. | |
| μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται. | Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. | |
| μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται. | Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. | |
| μακάριοι οἱ εἰρηνοποιοί, ὅτι αὐτοὶ υἱοὶ θεοῦ κληθήσονται. (Matt. 5:4–9) | Blessed are those who make peace, for they will be called children of God. |
The passive-voice forms in the Beatitudes of Matt. 5 keep attention on the recipients of the action (αὐτοί) rather than on the agent (which in all these instances presumably is God).
| ἦλθεν Ἰησοῦς ἀπὸ Ναζαρὲτ τῆς Γαλιλαίας καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην ὑπὸ Ἰωάννου (Mark 1:9) | Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. |
The passive voice keeps the focus on Jesus rather than on John.
7.5. Passives and accusatives. While verbs in the passive voice are usually intransitive (i.e., they do not take a direct object), a few take an object in the accusative case. These verbs are typically associated with two accusatives in the active voice (see chap. 1, on cases). When such verbs occur in the passive, one of the accusatives (the personal object) becomes the subject, and the other (the impersonal object) is retained in the accusative case (BDF §159). In English, for example, “He gave her fresh flowers” becomes “She was given fresh flowers.”
| καὶ κρατεῖτε τὰς παραδόσεις ἃς ἐδιδάχθητε (2 Thess. 2:15) | And hold on to the traditions that you were taught. |
If the relative clause were transformed into an active construction, it would be “We taught you that [i.e., the traditions].” In a passive construction, “you” (supplied by the verb ending) becomes the subject, and “that” (the traditions) remains as the direct object of the verb.
| ἰδόντες ὅτι πεπίστευμαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς ἀκροβυστίας (Gal. 2:7) | Seeing that I was entrusted [with] the gospel for the uncircumcision. (from “he entrusted me [with] the gospel”) |
A number of examples seem to reveal a slightly different phenomenon. Most of these are translated in English with a preposition, such as with (see also the previous example).
There are two ways to understand these examples. It may be that the accusatives are actually functioning as accusatives of respect: for example, “in order that you might be filled with respect to the knowledge of his will”; “people were burned with respect to great heat” (see Porter 66). Alternatively, the accusatives with the passive constructions would replace genitive or dative cases in the active counterparts: for example, “He might fill you with the knowledge [dative] of his will.” When turned into a passive construction (“You might be filled with the knowledge”), the object “you” becomes the subject, and the noun “knowledge,” which would be in the dative case expressing means, advances, so to speak, to the direct object slot and takes the accusative case,8 though we should still translate it as indicating means.
7.6. Expressions of agency. In passive-voice constructions the agent, if it is expressed, usually takes the form of a prepositional phrase. The following are the most common.
1. Personal agency is often expressed by the preposition ὑπό + genitive.
| ἦλθεν Ἰησοῦς . . . καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην ὑπὸ Ἰωάννου. (Mark 1:9) | Jesus came . . . and was baptized in the Jordan by John. |
2. Secondary or intermediate agency is often expressed by διά + genitive or ἐκ + genitive.
| ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑπὸ κυρίου διὰ τοῦ προφήτου (Matt. 2:15) | In order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled. |
Here the author seems to distinguish between the direct agent (ὑπὸ κυρίου) and the intermediate agent (διὰ τοῦ προφήτου).
3. Impersonal means is often expressed either by ἐν + dative or by the simple dative.
| ἐν ᾧ καὶ περιετμήθητε περιτομῇ ἀχειροποιήτῳ (Col. 2:11) | In whom also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands. |
7.7. Agency is often left unexpressed and must be inferred from the context, although at times it may be unnecessary to speculate about the agent of a passive verb. The “divine passive,” a label employed by most grammars and commentaries, should probably not be treated as a category of usage separate from that of unexpressed agency.
| Καὶ ἐδόθη μοι κάλαμος ὅμοιος ῥάβδῳ (Rev. 11:1) | And a reed like a rod was given to me. |
The agent could be the one who commands John to arise and measure, though the identity of the voice is unclear.
The Middle Voice
7.8. For many students, the middle voice will prove the most difficult to conceptualize since the English language does not exhibit a middle-voice form. Because of this, it is impossible at times to bring out its force in translation. Most grammars are now agreed that the reflexive sense, where the subject acts upon itself (it is both the agent and the patient; e.g., “he washed himself” in English), is not the essential or most common meaning of the middle voice in NT Greek (often called the “direct middle” in grammars), and therefore translating with a reflexive sense should generally be avoided by the Greek student unless context clearly warrants it.9 It is best to understand the Greek middle voice semantically as expressing “more direct participation, specific involvement, or even some form of benefit of the subject doing the action.”10 Rutger Allan says that the semantic feature of the middle is “subject-affectedness.”11 Or as Robertson (804) says, “The middle calls special attention to the subject.” Often the action of middle verbs is internally caused (with no outside agent; e.g., “I rise” in English), in contrast to active or passive verbs, which have an external agent (e.g., “he raised him” or “he was raised”). The middle is the most semantically significant of the three voices. It is the least frequent in the NT, occurring about 3,500 times.
The student should maintain a fair amount of flexibility when translating the middle voice. Much of the time our English translation will not fully capture its force. Often translations for the subject such as “himself” (reflexive), “each other” (reciprocal), “to herself,” “for herself,” or “by himself” (intensive) will prove adequate. At other times these glosses will seem to be too much, and the middle will be translated just like an active voice. It must be remembered that the notion of the direct involvement or participation of the subject in the action of the verb is present irrespective of how we translate it.
1. Reflexive (though rare)
| καὶ ἀπʼ ἀγορᾶς ἐὰν μὴ βαπτίσωνται οὐκ ἐσθίουσιν (Mark 7:4) | And they do not eat from the market unless they wash themselves. (The subjects act upon themselves.) |
| καὶ σὺ φυλάσσου, λίαν γὰρ ἀντέστη τοῖς ἡμετέροις λόγοις. (2 Tim. 4:15) | And you guard yourself, for he strongly opposed our words. |
2. Intensive (emphasizes the subject’s interest in the action)
| Οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἐκτήσατο χωρίον ἐκ μισθοῦ τῆς ἀδικίας (Acts 1:18) | Therefore, this one [i.e., Judas] purchased [for himself] a field with the wages of his wickedness. |
| ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Οὐκ οἴδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε· (Mark 10:38) | And Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask.” |
The middle voice here, in contrast to the active voice referring to asking (αἰτήσωμεν) in verse 35, may draw attention to the disciples’ inappropriate asking for themselves.
In these two clauses both the middle and active forms occur, suggesting that the shift to the middle is indeed intentional. The middle, emphasizing the subject’s heightened involvement in the action, seems to be used to emphasize the reasons for not receiving—not asking or asking incorrectly.
3. Reciprocal (when plural)
| καὶ συνεβουλεύσαντο ἵνα τὸν Ἰησοῦν δόλῳ κρατήσωσιν καὶ ἀποκτείνωσιν· (Matt. 26:4) | And they counseled one another that they should cunningly seize Jesus and put him to death. |
| ἤδη γὰρ συνετέθειντο οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἵνα ἐάν τις αὐτὸν ὁμολογήσῃ χριστόν, ἀποσυνάγωγος γένηται. (John 9:22) | For the Jews had already agreed with one another that if anyone confessed him as the Christ, he/she would be expelled from the synagogue. |
7.9. Often the middle voice turns a transitive verb (i.e., one that takes an object) into an intransitive one (i.e., one that does not take an object). For example, in English we “set” something on the table, or we “seat” someone (both are transitive, with direct objects), but we “sit” down (intransitive, without an object). In Greek αὐξάνω is transitive and means “to increase or grow (something).” However, the middle αὐξάνομαι is intransitive and means “to grow.” The actions of such verbs are usually internally caused (e.g., “he appeared”) rather than externally caused by an agent.
| ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου φαίνεται κατʼ ὄναρ τῷ Ἰωσὴφ (Matt. 2:13) | Look, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. |
The active φαίνω has a causative meaning: “to cause to appear” or “to show.” The middle emphasizes that the action is internally caused.
The verb παύω in the active is transitive (“to stop something”), but in the middle (παύομαι) it becomes intransitive (“to cease”). Therefore, this verse cannot be used to argue for a distinction between what happens to tongues and what happens to prophecy and knowledge, as if tongues will cease in a different way—by themselves, or they will cease themselves, or they will die off. The middle here turns a transitive verb into an intransitive one and tells us that tongues will cease, with the point being the subject’s heightened participation in the process, but it does not tell us how (or when) tongues will cease.
7.10. The middle voice can also change the meaning of a verb. In the active voice, ἄρχω means “I rule,” but in the middle voice, ἄρχομαι means “I begin.”
Person
7.11. Greek verbs grammaticalize three persons by their inflected endings: first, second, and third persons. All three occur in the singular and plural.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| First | I | we |
| Second | you | youa |
| Third | he/she | they |
| aUnlike English, Greek distinguishes formally between “you [sg.]” and “you [pl.]” by its endings. Some have suggested that the closest English equivalent to the second-person plural is the colloquial “you all.” | ||
There is a close relationship between the first and second person, since they refer to the author and readers. The third person indicates someone or something outside of the author-reader relationship (i.e., the author addresses the readers about an “outside” person or entity; Porter 77).
First Person
7.12. First-person forms are used when authors or speakers refer to themselves alone (in the first-person singular) or include themselves in the action (in the first-person plural).
| Τοῦτο οὖν λέγω καὶ μαρτύρομαι ἐν κυρίῳ (Eph. 4:17) | Therefore, I say and I witness this in the Lord. |
The author identifies himself in the discourse as addressing his hearers. In an epistle, when the author refers to himself in the first person after introducing himself in the greeting (Eph. 1:1), the reference is usually emphatic.
| Οἶδα τὰ ἔργα σου, καὶ τὸν κόπον καὶ τὴν ὑπομονήν σου (Rev. 2:2) | I know your works, and your labor and endurance. |
John is recording the words of the risen Christ, who refers to himself in the first person while addressing the church at Ephesus.
Plural first-person forms are used when the author refers to a group of participants of which the author is a part or when for some reason the author wants to include others (e.g., the readers) with himself/herself.
| Εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ θεῷ πατρὶ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Col. 1:3) | We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
The plural probably refers to Paul and Timothy (see Col. 1:1).
| καὶ ἡμεῖς, τοσοῦτον ἔχοντες περικείμενον ἡμῖν νέφος μαρτύρων . . . τρέχωμεν τὸν προκείμενον ἡμῖν ἀγῶνα (Heb. 12:1) | And we, having such a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, . . . let us run the race placed before us. |
The first-person plural includes the readers with the author, which is also supported with first-person plural pronouns.
Second Person
7.13. Second-person forms are used when the author or speaker refers to the readers/hearers.
| Οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ναὸς θεοῦ ἐστε καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν; (1 Cor. 3:16) | Do you not know that you are also the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you? | |
| φυλάξατε ἑαυτὰ ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων. (1 John 5:21) | Guard yourselves from idols. | |
| πλὴν ὃ ἔχετε κρατήσατε ἄχρι οὗ ἂν ἥξω. (Rev. 2:25) | However, what you have, hold on to [it] until I come. |
Third Person
7.14. Third-person forms are used when an author or speaker refers to an “outside party,” that is, someone or something other than the speaker and hearers. At times the subject may be ambiguous or indefinite (BDF §130).
The subject of the verb is indefinite or impersonal and could be translated with the passive: “in order that she might be nourished.”
Number
7.15. Concerning number, Greek verb endings indicate singularity and plurality.12 All verb forms in Greek, except for the infinitive, are inflected for number. The general rule is that the number of the Greek verb ending will agree with the subject (whether the subject is specified or not). However, there are a number of exceptions to this.
Number Agreement
7.16. It is easy to find examples where the rule is followed: singular subject with singular verb ending, and plural subject with plural verb ending.
| Καὶ οἱ πατριάρχαι ζηλώσαντες τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἀπέδοντο εἰς Αἴγυπτον· (Acts 7:9) | And the patriarchs being jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. (plural subject with plural participle and indicative verb) | |
| ἐγὼ Παῦλος ἔγραψα τῇ ἐμῇ χειρί, ἐγὼ ἀποτίσω· (Philem. 19) | I, Paul, write in my own hand, I will pay back. (singular subjects and verbs) | |
| ἀπεκρίθη εἷς ἐκ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων λέγων μοι· (Rev. 7:13) | One of the elders answered, saying to me. |
7.17. However, this pattern is not always followed, and the careful reader will notice a number of exceptions.
1. The most obvious exception is when a neuter plural subject occurs with a singular verb ending, though grammars do not agree on why this is the case. Wallace says, “Since the neuter usually refers to impersonal things (including animals), the singular verb regards the plural subject as a collective whole” (399), but collective wholes can be found with plural verbs (see Mark 3:11; Luke 24:11), and persons, not just impersonal things, can also be conceived of as a collective whole with a singular verb.
| καὶ τὰ ἐμὰ πάντα σά ἐστιν (John 17:10) | And all my things are yours. |
| μηκέτι ὑμᾶς περιπατεῖν καθὼς καὶ τὰ ἔθνη περιπατεῖ ἐν ματαιότητι τοῦ νοὸς αὐτῶν (Eph. 4:17) | You should no longer walk as the gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind. (a personal plural neuter subject with a singular verb) |
| Καὶ ὅταν τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη, λυθήσεται ὁ Σατανᾶς ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς αὐτοῦ (Rev. 20:7) | And whenever the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison. |
Moreover, there are numerous examples where this exception is not observed and neuter plural subjects are found with plural verb endings. In contrast to Wallace’s statement above, Robertson (403) has suggested that “usually a neuter plural in the NT that has a personal or collective meaning has a plural verb,”13 though this is only a tendency.14
The neuter subject is impersonal, but perhaps it was regarded as personal due to being equated metaphorically with “the children of the evil one.”
| καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια πιστεύουσιν καὶ φρίσσουσιν. (James 2:19) | The demons also believe, and they shudder. |
| καὶ ἑπτὰ λαμπάδες πυρὸς καιόμεναι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου, ἅ εἰσιν τὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα τοῦ θεοῦ (Rev. 4:5) | And [I saw] seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. |
The neuter relative pronoun refers back to ἑπτὰ λαμπάδες, which are metaphorically equated with the Spirits of God.
2. Another exception is the use of singular subjects with plural verb endings. This often occurs with nouns that are collective in meaning (e.g., ὄχλος, πλῆθος).15 Though the word fish in English is not always collective, it can serve as an example: “The fish in this lake are plentiful.”
| ὁ δὲ πλεῖστος ὄχλος ἔστρωσαν ἑαυτῶν τὰ ἱμάτια ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ (Matt. 21:8) | And most of the crowd spread out their own garments on the way. |
| καὶ πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος ἐζήτουν ἅπτεσθαι αὐτοῦ (Luke 6:19) | And the whole crowd was seeking to touch him. |
| φωνὴν μεγάλην ὄχλου πολλοῦ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ λεγόντων· (Rev. 19:1) | A great voice of a great crowd in heaven saying. |
3. A further exception to the agreement in number between subject and verb is the use of a singular verb with multiple singular subjects (which in English we would treat together as a plural subject). There have been various explanations for this phenomenon. The two most common tendencies are (1) for the singular verb to be used when multiple subjects are treated as a totality or single entity16 or (2) for a singular verb to be either at the beginning of a group of singular subjects or in between subjects but to agree with the first subject.17 At times this may be due to the author’s desire to highlight the first subject (Wallace 401). However, this does not account for all the exceptions; there are no hard-and-fast rules.
| ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν, ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ (Matt. 5:18) | For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away. |
Most likely heaven and earth are being treated as a totality.
| Ἀβραὰμ ἀπέθανεν καὶ οἱ προφῆται (John 8:52) | Abraham and the prophets died. |
The singular verb splits the two subjects and agrees with the first one.
| καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ αὐτοῦ πάντες παραχρῆμα (Acts 16:33) | And he was baptized and all his family immediately. (the more important item, αὐτός, is the focus) | |
| νυνὶ δὲ μένει πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη· τὰ τρία ταῦτα (1 Cor. 13:13) | Now remains faith, hope, love, these three. |
It is possible that the author wants to treat these as a totality; more likely the singular has been determined by the first subject, just as in our English translation (Robertson 405; see also the KJV).
7.18. An interesting example of number disagreement is found in Rev. 9:12: ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται ἔτι δύο οὐαὶ μετὰ ταῦτα (Behold, two more woes are still coming after these things). While some have argued that the woe was understood as neuter, so that the neuter plural takes a singular verb, the feminine Ἡ οὐαὶ ἡ μία right before it makes this unlikely. It is possible, then, that the author treats the two woes as a totality. A further possibility, following David Aune, is that we should see δύο as multiplicative, meaning “twice.”18 If this is the case, οὐαί is considered singular (G. Mussies translates it as “there is to come yet twice a Woe”).19
For Practice
7.19. Analyze the voice of the verbs in the following passage.
37Ἀκούσαντες δὲ κατενύγησαν τὴν καρδίαν, εἶπόν τε πρὸς τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀποστόλους· Τί ποιήσωμεν, ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί; 38Πέτρος δὲ πρὸς αὐτούς· Μετανοήσατε, καὶ βαπτισθήτω ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ λήμψεσθε τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος· 39ὑμῖν γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπαγγελία καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς εἰς μακρὰν ὅσους ἂν προσκαλέσηται κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν. 40ἑτέροις τε λόγοις πλείοσιν διεμαρτύρατο, καὶ παρεκάλει αὐτοὺς λέγων· Σώθητε ἀπὸ τῆς γενεᾶς τῆς σκολιᾶς ταύτης. 41οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀποδεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθησαν, καὶ προσετέθησαν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ψυχαὶ ὡσεὶ τρισχίλιαι. (Acts 2:37–41)