INFINITIVES
9.1. Like the participle, the infinitive is a nonfinite verb form. While participles are classified as verbal adjectives, infinitives are generally classified as indeclinable verbal nouns. As verbs they have tense/aspect and voice, but no person or mood (in parsing, “infinitive” is used to fill the mood slot; e.g., λέγειν: to speak/speaking, present active infinitive of λέγω). As nouns they are singular in number (even with a plural “subject,” e.g., ἐν τῷ λέγειν αὐτούς), neuter in gender (which is obvious only when they are preceded by the nominative or accusative article), can take an article, and though indeclinable themselves, may be considered to have case when they are articular (e.g., ἐν τῷ λέγειν). None of these attributes of nouns (gender, number, and case) are included in the parsing of an infinitive, however. The substantival properties of infinitives become clear when we begin to examine their usage. Infinitives can be subjects, direct objects, or complements of verbs; objects of prepositions; appositives; or adjectival modifiers. Not surprisingly, infinitives also have some verbal and adverbial functions. It is worth stressing with Robertson that although “in this or that example the substantival or verbal aspect of the hybrid form may be dominant,” an infinitive “is not just a substantive, nor just a verb, but both at the same time” (1057).
Like finite verbs and participles, infinitives are found in all three aspects (imperfective in the present tense-form, perfective in the aorist tense-form, stative in the perfect tense-form. In addition there are five aspectually vague, future infinitives in the NT). Aorist forms, which view actions/states as complete wholes, make up the majority (1,241) of NT infinitives; present forms, viewing actions/states as unfolding, follow (996); and perfect forms, focusing on existing states of affairs, occur only 49 times. All four tense-forms of the infinitive may often be translated as “to . . .”; the future infinitive does indicate expectation, however, and the perfect could be translated as “to have ______ed” in certain contexts. Thus it is especially important for the interpreter to identify the aspect of an infinitive, because, though it will affect meaning, that meaning may be impossible to bring out in translation. Overall, interpreters must be flexible in how they translate infinitives.
The “Subject” of the Infinitive
9.2. Because infinitives are nonfinite verbs, they do not have personal endings. Therefore, there is some debate regarding whether or not they can have subjects at all. Strictly speaking, they cannot; that is, infinitives are not limited by grammatical subjects, “the doer[s] of the action or the possessor[s] of the condition expressed by the infinitive.”1 They do, however, have logical “subjects.” Much of the time (about 48 percent in the NT), the nominative subject of the main verb in the sentence in which an infinitive is found is also the logical “subject” of the infinitive.
| Διὸ καὶ ἐνεκοπτόμην τὰ πολλὰ τοῦ ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς· (Rom. 15:22) | For this reason also I was many times prevented from coming / prevented to come to you. |
Paul (I) is the “subject” of “prevented” and “coming / to come.”
Moreover, there are a significant number of datives (indirect objects and datives of reference) that function as the logical subjects of infinitives.2 There are numerous occasions when the logical subject of an infinitive is not in the accusative case. For example, the nominative subject of the main verb and the subject of the infinitive may be the same or the subject of the infinitive may also be a direct object (but not accusative), indirect object, or some other part of speech. However, when the subject of the infinitive is not the same as that of the main verb, a very common phenomenon is to find the subject of the infinitive expressed in the accusative case. There is debate as to whether this is a true subject or an accusative of reference (i.e., the action of the infinitive happens “with reference to someone,” which is to say that they perform the action). We will simply refer to the accusative as functioning as the subject of the infinitive.
Some of the time, the logical subject of the infinitive is also the direct object (in either the accusative or genitive case) of its governing verb. However, when a noun or pronoun other than the accusative direct object of the main verb is “explicitly stated within the infinitive clause”3 as the producer of the action or state of the infinitive (608× in NT), it is always in the accusative case (e.g., Τί οὖν οἱ γραμματεῖς λέγουσιν ὅτι Ἠλίαν δεῖ ἐλθεῖν πρῶτον; “Why then do the scribes say that it is necessary for Elijah to come first / that Elijah come first?” [Matt. 17:10]). At this point it probably is good to mention that in cases where the infinitive has both a subject and a direct object in the accusative case, word order is helpful in determining which is which: in about 70 percent of NT occurrences, the first accusative is the subject. With the verb εἶναι (to be), the same considerations we discussed in chapter 1 must be kept in mind.
Two Main Functions of the Infinitive
9.3. Our division and discussion of infinitives will take as its point of departure the common description of infinitives as “verbal nouns.” Therefore, we will discuss their substantival and verbal functions.
Substantival Function
Here we examine those uses of the infinitive in which their substantival, or nominal, character is paramount.
9.4. Subject. An infinitive or infinitive clause may be the subject of a verb.
1. With personal verbs
“To sit” is the simple subject of the verb “is”; the infinitive clause “to sit at my right or left” is the complete subject, or nominal clause.
2. With impersonal verbs. Infinitives usually follow δεῖ and ἔξεστιν, but regardless of word order, they could also be understood as grammatical subjects (“to boast is necessary”), even though they make sense as complements (“it is not lawful to have”; Wallace 601). The verb γίνομαι is also sometimes used with infinitives when it is found in the introductory formula “It came to pass / it happened . . .” (“to stay came to pass / staying happened”).
| ἔλεγεν γὰρ αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰωάννης· Οὐκ ἔξεστίν σοι ἔχειν αὐτήν· (Matt. 14:4) | Because John had said to him, “For you to have her is not lawful.” |
| ἐγένετο δὲ ἡμέρας ἱκανὰς μεῖναι ἐν Ἰόππῃ παρά τινι Σίμωνι βυρσεῖ. (Acts 9:43) | And it happened that he stayed for some days in Joppa with a certain Simon, a tanner. |
Another rendering that reflects the Greek syntax more closely is, “Staying for some days in Joppa with a certain Simon, a tanner, happened.”
| Εἰ καυχᾶσθαι δεῖ, τὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας μου καυχήσομαι. (2 Cor. 11:30) | If to boast is necessary / it is necessary to boast, I will boast in the things that show / of my weakness. |
9.5. Predicate complement. The infinitive can function as the predicate complement of a linking verb (e.g., εἰμί).
| καὶ τὸν λόγον ἐκράτησαν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς συζητοῦντες τί ἐστιν τὸ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆναι. (Mark 9:10) | And they kept the word to themselves, discussing what it is to be raised from the dead. |
This rather wooden translation preserves the Greek structure: “what” is the subject, and “to be raised” the predicate complement.
9.6. Complement. The infinitive can function as the complement of a verb in a number of ways.
1. Direct object
| νυνὶ δὲ καὶ τὸ ποιῆσαι ἐπιτελέσατε, ὅπως καθάπερ ἡ προθυμία τοῦ θέλειν οὕτως καὶ τὸ ἐπιτελέσαι ἐκ τοῦ ἔχειν. (2 Cor. 8:11) | But now also finish doing [it], so that just as [is] your eagerness to want [to do it], so also [may be] the completion from what you have. |
According to Boyer, τὸ ποιῆσαι is one of two or three true direct object uses.4 Consider how Paul uses the other infinitives in the verse as you continue to read this chapter.
2. Catenative/complementary (after certain verbs). Complementary infinitives can also be considered as direct objects. Certain Greek verbal ideas (as well as their cognate nouns and adjectives) are frequently completed by infinitives. To put it slightly differently, some verbs leave us hanging and require a complement. Other verbs need a complement in certain contexts. Because complementary infinitives do not always immediately follow (and may occasionally precede; e.g., 2 Thess. 1:3) the verbs they complete, we offer the following chart. Whenever one encounters one of these verbs, it is well worth a few seconds to skim the rest of the sentence in search of an infinitive. For example, in 1 John 2:6 the infinitive περιπατεῖν, which completes ὀφείλει, is the last word in the sentence: ὁ λέγων ἐν αὐτῷ μένειν ὀφείλει καθὼς ἐκεῖνος περιεπάτησεν καὶ αὐτὸς περιπατεῖν, “The one claiming to remain in him ought also himself/herself to walk just as that one walked.”
Verbs Often (at Least 20 Times) Followed by Complementary Infinitives
| ἄρχομαι | I begin | ζητέω | I seek/try |
| βούλομαι | I want/desire | θέλω | I wish/will |
| δύναμαι | I am able | μέλλω | I am about to |
| ἔχω | I have | ὀφείλω | I ought |
| καὶ ζητοῦντες αὐτὸν κρατῆσαι ἐφοβήθησαν τοὺς ὄχλους, ἐπεὶ εἰς προφήτην αὐτὸν εἶχον. (Matt. 21:46) | And seeking to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds, since they regarded him as a prophet. |
| ἰδοὺ μέλλει βάλλειν ὁ διάβολος ἐξ ὑμῶν εἰς φυλακὴν (Rev. 2:10) | Look, the devil is about to throw [some] of you into prison. |
3. Indirect discourse. In indirect discourse, certain verbs of verbal or mental communication or perception are completed by infinitives. Because these infinitives express the content of speech (either spoken or heard), thought, belief, or feeling, they may also be viewed as introducing direct-object clauses. Another chart may be helpful.
Verbs Followed (at Least 10 Times) by Infinitives in Indirect Discourse
| δοκέω | I think | κρίνω | I judge |
| ἐλπίζω | I hope | λέγω | I say/claim |
| ἐρωτάω | I ask | νομίζω | I think |
| κελεύω | I order/command | παρακαλέω | I urge/exhort |
| καὶ διεστείλατο αὐτοῖς πολλὰ ἵνα μηδεὶς γνοῖ τοῦτο, καὶ εἶπεν δοθῆναι αὐτῇ φαγεῖν. (Mark 5:43) | And he strictly ordered them that no one should know this and said to give her [something] to eat. |
In direct discourse, Jesus said, “Give her something to eat.”
| περισσοτέρως δὲ παρακαλῶ τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, ἵνα τάχιον ἀποκατασταθῶ ὑμῖν. (Heb. 13:19) | And I strongly urge [you] to do this, so that I may be restored to you more/very quickly. |
9.7. Appositive. Most of the appositional infinitives in the NT define demonstrative pronouns.
| ὁ δὲ θεός ἃ προκατήγγειλεν διὰ στόματος πάντων τῶν προφητῶν παθεῖν τὸν χριστὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπλήρωσεν οὕτως. (Acts 3:18) | But what God predicted through the mouth of all the prophets, his Messiah [was] to suffer, he fulfilled thus. (“what” is in apposition to “to suffer”) | |
| Μηκέτι οὖν ἀλλήλους κρίνωμεν· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο κρίνατε μᾶλλον, τὸ μὴ τιθέναι πρόσκομμα τῷ ἀδελφῷ ἢ σκάνδαλον. (Rom. 14:13) | Therefore let’s no longer judge one another, but rather decide this, not to place an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother or sister’s way. (“this” is in apposition to “not to place”) |
With Prepositions (Preposition + Article + Infinitive)
9.8. We have placed the use of infinitives with prepositions between the more obviously substantival and the more obviously verbal uses simply because we think they fit this in-between spot. Objects of prepositions are substantives; thus, when infinitives act as prepositional objects, they are in one sense substantival.5 They also take an article when used with prepositions. However, infinitives are still verbal forms, and when they occur in prepositional phrases, they often must be translated as finite verbs in English. Finally, the prepositional phrases in which infinitives occur fill an adverb slot. But it must be stressed that it is the entire prepositional phrase, not just the infinitive, that functions adverbially. Thus the Greek infinitive construction (preposition + articular infinitive) that is least like any English infinitive construction is also the most multifaceted (substantival, verbal, and adverbial). The following chart summarizes the primary categories of infinitives in prepositional phrases.
Prepositions with Infinitives
1. Time (subsequent, simultaneous, and antecedent)
| μαρτυρεῖ δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, μετὰ γὰρ τὸ εἰρηκέναι· Αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι πρὸς αὐτοὺς μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας (Heb. 10:15–16) | And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days.” (subsequent time) |
| καὶ ἐν τῷ κατηγορεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων οὐδὲν ἀπεκρίνατο. (Matt. 27:12) | And while he was being accused by the high priests and elders, he answered nothing. (simultaneous time) |
| καὶ νῦν δόξασόν με σύ, πάτερ, παρὰ σεαυτῷ τῇ δόξῃ ᾗ εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί. (John 17:5) | And now you glorify me, Father, in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world was. (antecedent time) |
2. Purpose/result
| βαλοῦσα γὰρ αὕτη τὸ μύρον τοῦτο ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματός μου πρὸς τὸ ἐνταφιάσαι με ἐποίησεν. (Matt. 26:12) | For she, pouring this ointment on my body, did [it] in order to prepare me for burial. |
| μετανοήσατε οὖν καὶ ἐπιστρέψατε πρὸς τὸ ἐξαλειφθῆναι ὑμῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας (Acts 3:19) | Therefore, repent and turn back so that your sins are erased. |
3. Cause/reason
| ἡλίου δὲ ἀνατείλαντος ἐκαυματίσθη καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν ῥίζαν ἐξηράνθη. (Matt. 13:6) | And the sun having risen, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they were dried out. |
| ἐν τῷ γὰρ ὑποτάξαι τὰ πάντα οὐδὲν ἀφῆκεν αὐτῷ ἀνυπότακτον. (Heb. 2:8) | For in/by subjecting all things he left nothing not subjected to him. |
5. Substitution. This category is not listed in the table above because there is only one NT example.
| ἀντὶ τοῦ λέγειν ὑμᾶς· Ἐὰν ὁ κύριος θελήσῃ, καὶ ζήσομεν καὶ ποιήσομεν τοῦτο ἢ ἐκεῖνο. (James 4:15) | Instead of your saying, “If the Lord wills, we will both live and do this or that.”a |
| aScot McKnight, The Letter of James, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011), 374. | |
Verbal Function
The infinitive can sometimes modify a verbal element or even act as a finite verb.
9.9. Adverbial. Infinitives may modify verbs directly, with the conjunctions ὡς and ὥστε, after articles, or, as we saw above, in prepositional phrases.
1. With verbs. The simple (anarthrous and without conjunction) infinitive indicates the purpose or result of a verb, most often in the NT with ἔρχομαι and its compounds and with ἀποστέλλω. The genitive articular infinitive along with ὡς and ὥστε also indicates purpose or result.
According to Boyer, this is the only “infinitive without a preposition functioning in the adverbial sense of cause” in the NT.6
| καὶ ἐξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσι γωνίαις τῆς γῆς (Rev. 20:8) | And he will go out in order to / to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth. |
2. With adjectives. Infinitives modify adjectives about 40 times in the NT.7 In more than half of these instances, the adjectives are cognates of verbs that can govern complementary infinitives (e.g., δυνατός and ἄξιος).
9.10. Verbal
1. Imperatival. Rarely in the NT (it did occur in Classical Greek), and not without dispute, the infinitive can issue commands or exhortations.8 Imperatival infinitives are to be found only in clauses with no main verb. That is, they fill the main-verb slot in a sentence. Wallace (608) follows BDF in finding only three, all of which occur in two verses.
| χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων, κλαίειν μετὰ κλαιόντων. (Rom. 12:15) | Rejoice with those rejoicing; cry with those crying. |
These seem to be legitimate commands/exhortations after the imperatives in verse 14.
| πλὴν εἰς ὃ ἐφθάσαμεν, τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν. (Phil. 3:16) | Only, to what we have reached, let’s / we must walk in it. |
Again, this infinitive could be either a command or an exhortation, but it is probably the latter in light of verse 15.
2. Absolute. Like the genitive absolute, the infinitive absolute is grammatically independent of the main clause to which it is loosely attached. The infinitive absolutes in the NT primarily function as interjections and are all forms of the verb χαίρω, the imperatives of which were also used in greetings.
| Κλαύδιος Λυσίας τῷ κρατίστῳ ἡγεμόνι Φήλικι χαίρειν. (Acts 23:26) | Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent [i.e., His Excellency] governor Felix: Greetings! |
9.11. Infinitives that modify nouns do not impress us as being either more substantival or more verbal; they simply limit or restrict nouns, especially nouns of power, authority, ability, desire, obligation, need, and time.9 As we saw with adverbial infinitives that modify adjectives, the most commonly occurring adjectival infinitives (88, by Boyer’s count) may restrict nouns whose cognate verbs govern complementary infinitives (most notably ἐξουσία).10 Adjectival infinitives may be either arthrous—with the genitive or, less frequently, accusative article—or anarthrous.11
| ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης διεκώλυεν αὐτὸν λέγων· Ἐγὼ χρείαν ἔχω ὑπὸ σοῦ βαπτισθῆναι, καὶ σὺ ἔρχῃ πρός με; (Matt. 3:14) | But John tried to prevent him saying, “I have need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?” | |
| καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ κρίσιν ποιεῖν, ὅτι υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν. (John 5:27) | And he gave him authority to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man. | |
| νυνὶ δὲ μηκέτι τόπον ἔχων ἐν τοῖς κλίμασι τούτοις, ἐπιποθίαν δὲ ἔχων τοῦ ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ ἱκανῶν ἐτῶν (Rom. 15:23) | And now no longer having a place in these parts, but having a desire to come to you for many years. | |
| ἢ μόνος ἐγὼ καὶ Βαρναβᾶς οὐκ ἔχομεν ἐξουσίαν μὴ ἐργάζεσθαι; (1 Cor. 9:6) | Or do only Barnabas and I not have the right not to work? | |
| καὶ τὰ ἔθνη ὠργίσθησαν, καὶ ἦλθεν ἡ ὀργή σου καὶ ὁ καιρὸς τῶν νεκρῶν κριθῆναι καὶ δοῦναι τὸν μισθὸν τοῖς δούλοις σου τοῖς προφήταις καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ τοῖς φοβουμένοις τὸ ὄνομά σου, τοὺς μικροὺς καὶ τοὺς μεγάλους, καὶ διαφθεῖραι τοὺς διαφθείροντας τὴν γῆν. (Rev. 11:18) | And the nations were enraged, and your wrath has come and the time for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to your servants, the prophets and the saints and those fearing your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those destroying the earth. |
9.12. Analyze the infinitives (in bold) in the following texts.
17Ἐγένετο δὲ μετὰ ἡμέρας τρεῖς συγκαλέσασθαι αὐτὸν τοὺς ὄντας τῶν Ἰουδαίων πρώτους· συνελθόντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἔλεγεν πρὸς αὐτούς· Ἐγώ, ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί, οὐδὲν ἐναντίον ποιήσας τῷ λαῷ ἢ τοῖς ἔθεσι τοῖς πατρῴοις δέσμιος ἐξ Ἱεροσολύμων παρεδόθην εἰς τὰς χεῖρας τῶν Ῥωμαίων, 18οἵτινες ἀνακρίναντές με ἐβούλοντο ἀπολῦσαι διὰ τὸ μηδεμίαν αἰτίαν θανάτου ὑπάρχειν ἐν ἐμοί· 19ἀντιλεγόντων δὲ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἠναγκάσθην ἐπικαλέσασθαι Καίσαρα οὐχ ὡς τοῦ ἔθνους μου ἔχων τι κατηγορεῖν. 20διὰ ταύτην οὖν τὴν αἰτίαν παρεκάλεσα ὑμᾶς ἰδεῖν καὶ προσλαλῆσαι, ἕνεκεν γὰρ τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τὴν ἅλυσιν ταύτην περίκειμαι. (Acts 28:17–20)
10Ἐχάρην δὲ ἐν κυρίῳ μεγάλως ὅτι ἤδη ποτὲ ἀνεθάλετε τὸ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ φρονεῖν, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ καὶ ἐφρονεῖτε, ἠκαιρεῖσθε δέ. 11οὐχ ὅτι καθ᾽ ὑστέρησιν λέγω, ἐγὼ γὰρ ἔμαθον ἐν οἷς εἰμι αὐτάρκης εἶναι· 12οἶδα καὶ ταπεινοῦσθαι, οἶδα καὶ περισσεύειν· ἐν παντὶ καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν μεμύημαι, καὶ χορτάζεσθαι καὶ πεινᾶν καὶ περισσεύειν καὶ ὑστερεῖσθαι. (Phil. 4:10–12)