15
VERBS: PART 5
PASSIVE VOICE AND MIDDLE-ONLY VERBS
15.1. Picture in your mind the following event. You are at a track and field tournament. The current event is the hammer throw. You have just witnessed a throw of over 260 feet. The woman who threw that distance may have set a world record. Describe what you saw by creating two different sentences that include the following grammatical elements:
What is the grammatical difference between the two sentences that you just created?[1] It is the voice of the verb: active voice versus passive voice.
| Active: | threw | The subject, “woman,” is doing the action. | |
| Passive: | was thrown | The subject, “hammer,” is receiving the action rather than doing it. The doer of the action is expressed by the prepositional phrase “by the woman.” | |
In contemporary English the passive voice is often denigrated as a sign of weak writing—but the passive is still alive and well, even in good English. It is even more common in Greek.
15.2. You will remember from chapter 13 that passive voice means that the grammatical subject of the sentence is receiving the action described by the verb; the subject is not doing the action of the verb. The verbs in this section will be present tense-form, passive voice, and indicative mood. The aspect is imperfective, the same as present active indicative verbs and present middle indicative verbs. The time will often be present time. A common way to express this in English is “he is being loosed.” The passive voice uses the same set of endings as the present middle indicative verbs that you learned in chapter 14 (set C).
Formula for Present Passive Indicative Verbs
stem + connecting vowel + C personal endings
Example: λυ + ο + μαι ► λύομαι
Present Passive Indicative of λύω
| Form | c.v. + C p.e. | Gloss | c.v. | p.e. | |
| 1S | λύομαι | ομαι | I am being loosed | ο | μαι |
| 2S | λύῃ | ῃ | You are being loosed | ε | σαι |
| 3S | λύεται | εται | He/she/it is being loosed | ε | ται |
| 1P | λυόμεθα | ομεθα | We are being loosed | ο | μεθα |
| 2P | λύεσθε | εσθε | You are being loosed | ε | σθε |
| 3P | λύονται | ονται | They are being loosed | ο | νται |
Notice that the form of the passive is identical to the middle. The same formula and endings are used. The English gloss, however, is quite different. Remember: you must always keep form and function distinct. The form for passive voice is the same as middle, but the function of the passive is different.
Since English does have a passive form (in contrast to the middle voice, which is not used in English), we can express this fairly directly in the English language. You will remember from our earlier discussions that a passive verb describes a situation in which the grammatical subject of the sentence is not doing the action but rather is the recipient of the action—the action of the verb is being performed upon the subject. The focus is on the subject, not on the action per se. In our paradigm verb, λύω, the subject (“I”) is no longer performing the action of the verb (“untying,” e.g., someone’s shoes). Rather, someone else (from the verb alone we do not know who) is performing the action to or on the subject—which we express in English, using a helping verb, as “I am being untied/loosed.”
Examples of the Present Passive Indicative
15.3. Here are several sample passive sentences to get you started. For the moment, do not worry about how we know they are passive rather than middle. Just take my word for it now, and try to understand what meaning is being communicated by the use of the passive voice. In the next section, we will come to the question of how we know they are passive.
| Mark 10:38, ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι. | I am being baptized. |
| Mark 4:15, οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν· ὅπου σπείρεται ὁ λόγος. | These are the ones along the road where the word is sown. |
| Mark 12:25, ὅταν γὰρ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῶσιν οὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὔτε γαμίζονται, ἀλλ᾿ εἰσὶν ὡς ἄγγελοι ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. | For when they rise from the dead they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but they will be like angels in heaven. |
| Gen. 43:18, Διὰ τὸ ἀργύριον ἐν τοῖς μαρσίπποις ἡμῶν ἡμεῖς εἰσαγόμεθα. | Because of the money in our bags we are being brought in. |
How to Distinguish Passive from Middle
15.4. The logical question, then, is this: How can you tell middle and passive verbs apart if the forms are the same? The answer is, once again: Context! There are two key context clues that will often help you resolve this question. The first—and by far the most common and clear clue—is a statement of agency in the sentence other than the subject.
1. Often a passive verb in Greek has the equivalent of by following it to specify “who done it” (“Elementary, my dear Watson!”). This is called an agent construction. In Greek this is most often expressed by the preposition ὑπό, which, when used with a genitive-case object of the preposition, tells us who the personal agent is who performs the action referenced by the verb.
| 2 Cor. 1:4, παρακαλούμεθαa αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ. | We ourselves are being comforted by God. |
a παρακαλούμεθα is a contract verb; ε + ο = ου. |
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| Isa. 45:17, Ἰσραὴλ σῴζεται ὑπὸ κυρίου. | Israel will be saved by the Lord. |
There are other possibilities for indicating the agent, but they are less common. One is a dative substantive alone that expresses the agent. In this case it is not usually a person but rather an impersonal instrument that is said to perform the action.
| Matt. 13:40, τὰ ζιζάνια πυρὶ κατακαίεται. | The tares are burned with fire. |
| Prov. 6:2, παγὶς γὰρ ἰσχυρὰ ἀνδρὶ τὰ ἴδια χείλη, καὶ ἁλίσκεταιa χείλεσινb ἰδίου στόματος. | His own lips are a strong snare to a man, and he is caught by the lips of his own mouth. |
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a ἁλίσκεται ► ἁλίσκομαι, “I am caught” b χείλεσιν, neut. pl. dat. ► χεῖλος, ους, τό, “lip” |
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Or you may find ἀπό + genitive.
| James 1:13, Ἀπὸ θεοῦ πειράζομαι. | I am being tempted by God.a |
a This is only part of the verse. Read the rest in a Greek NT or an English Bible before you draw too many conclusions. |
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Or διά + genitive may be used, often indicating intermediate agency.
| 1 Tim. 4:5, ἁγιάζεται γὰρ διὰ λόγου θεοῦ καὶ ἐντεύξεως. | It is made holy through the word of God and prayer. |
There are also a few other less common agent markers, including παρά + genitive, ἐν + dative, and ἐκ + genitive.
2. The second context clue is if there is a direct object in the sentence. If so, the verb is probably middle. Passive verbs do not usually have direct objects.[2] For example, in the following statement ἐντέλλομαι is not a passive verb, since it has a direct object, ταῦτα.
| John 15:17, ταῦτα ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν. | I am commanding you these things. |
Middle voice verbs do not require a direct object; it is possible to have an intransitive middle verb that does not take an object.
Passives without an Agent Marker
15.5. There are some instances where there is no specific contextual marker for a passive other than common sense and a knowledge of the real world as to how things happen. Be careful, however, not to appeal to this explanation too quickly; middle voice is more common than passive.
| Rev. 8:11, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ ἀστέρος λέγεται ὁ Ἄψινθος (Wormwood). | The name of the star isa Wormwood. |
a Formally λέγεται would be glossed “is named,” but to say that “the name is named” is redundant in English. |
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| Matt. 2:4, ἐπυνθάνετο (he inquired) παρ᾿ αὐτῶν ποῦ ὁ Χριστὸς γεννᾶται.a | He inquired from them where the Messiah was to be born. |
a γεννᾶται is a contract verb; α + ε = α. |
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| 1 Cor. 2:15, ὁ δὲ πνευματικὸς ἀνακρίνει τὰ πάντα, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπ᾿ οὐδενὸς ἀνακρίνεται. | Note the contrast between active and passive forms of the same verb in this verse. |
| Heb. 7:7, χωρὶς δὲ πάσης ἀντιλογίας τὸ ἔλαττον ὑπὸ τοῦ κρείττονος εὐλογεῖται.a | What is the subject? Is χωρίς functioning as an adverb or preposition? What case are πάσης and ἀντιλογίας? Why? |
a εὐλογεῖται is a contract verb. |
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| Heb. 9:22, ἐν αἵματι πάντα καθαρίζεται κατὰ τὸν νόμον. | Is there an explicit, nominative-case subject in this verse? |
| Exod. 3:2, ὤφθη (he appeared) δὲ αὐτῷ ἄγγελος κυρίου ἐν φλογὶ πυρὸς ἐκ τοῦ βάτου, καὶ ὁρᾷ (he observed) ὅτι ὁ βάτος καίεται πυρί, ὁ δὲ βάτος οὐ κατεκαίετοa (it was not consumed). | Who appeared? How did he appear? Where did he appear? What does ὅτι tell you? What is being burned? What case is πυρί, and why is it that case? |
a καίω, “I burn,” but κατακαίω, “I burn up, consume” |
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Do You Understand?
15.7. Is the boldface form in each verse below functioning as a middle- or a passive-voice verb? How do you know? (They are listed in NT order, and several examples are given of each voice.)
| Mark 10:38, ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν (he said) αὐτοῖς, Οὐκ οἴδατεa τί αἰτεῖσθε.b | |
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a οἶδα, “I know” b αἰτέω, “I ask” |
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| Mark 15:24, σταυροῦσινa αὐτὸν καὶ διαμερίζονταιb τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ. | |
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a σταυρόω, “I crucify” b διαμερίζω, “I divide” |
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| Rom. 8:14, ὅσοι γὰρ πνεύματι θεοῦ ἄγονται,a οὗτοι υἱοὶ θεοῦ εἰσιν. | |
a ἄγω, “I lead” |
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| Heb. 3:4, πᾶς γὰρ οἶκος κατασκευάζεταιa ὑπό τινος. | |
a κατασκευάζω, “I build” |
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| James 1:14, ἕκαστος δὲ πειράζεταιa ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας. | |
a πειράζω, “I tempt” |
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In the example from Gal. 3:3 below, be careful: not every dative indicates the agent of a passive verb. In this example, who is finishing? The flesh (the dative), or the Galatians?
| Gal. 3:3, οὕτως ἀνόητοίa ἐστε, ἐναρξάμενοι (having begun) πνεύματι νῦν σαρκὶ ἐπιτελεῖσθε;b | |
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a ἀνόητος, ον, “foolish” (adj.) b ἐπιτελέω, “I finish” |
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The verb that is parallel to ἐπιτελεῖσθε is a participle (ἐναρξάμενοι) and can only be middle, never passive, since in aorist there are separate forms for middle and passive, in contrast to the present forms we are working with now, which use the same form for both voices.
15.8. Here is something a bit different. Parse this word: ἔρχονται. Would you suggest a third plural present middle indicative form of ἔρχω? I thought so. At least at this point in your exposure to Greek, that would be the expected answer. But now look up ἔρχω in your lexicon. (Do this before reading further.)
Figure 15.1. 𝔓21 (POxy 1227), a Fifth-Century Papyrus Fragment with Matthew 12:24–26
Robert C. Horn Papyri Collection, Trexler Library, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania
You did not find it, did you? (And if you did not look it up, then shame on you! Go look it up anyway, just to see for yourself that it really is not there. Do not take my word for it—besides, it is good practice.) What you will find is the form ἔρχομαι, not ἔρχω. Note the different ending. The stem is the same, but instead of having the usual first singular ending from set A (an omega), in the lexicon it has the first singular ending from set C (-ομαι).
15.9. There are some verbs that always occur in the middle form; they use only the C personal endings, never the A set. These verbs do not have an active form. That is, you will never see them with active personal endings (set A). For this reason they are called middle-only verbs.
This is a set of verbs that typically has an inherent middle meaning in the very lexis of the word itself. That is, the meaning of the word makes the subject focus of the middle form very natural. For example, think about the meanings of these words. Can you envision it being done to someone other than the subject?
μασάομαι, “I bite my lips or tongue” (Rev. 16:10)
κτάομαι, “I get, acquire” (Acts 22:28)[3]
γεύομαι, “I taste” (John 2:9)[4]
κοιμάομαι, “I fall asleep, die” (Acts 12:6)
δέχομαι, “I welcome” (Mark 6:11)
When a verb does not use active endings, the lexical form ends with -ομαι rather than the usual omega. For example, λέγω is a regular verb in that it has active endings (as well as middle), but ἔρχομαι never uses active endings. Any time you find a lexical form with this -ομαι ending, you know that it is a middle-only verb and never has the A set of endings. Most such verbs that have an -ομαι ending in the lexical form are middle voice, though they may sometimes be used as passives. (This depends on the context; look for the passive clues given above.)
These verbs are parsed like any other verb. The only difference is that the lexical form that you list in your parsing will have an -ομαι ending. For example, if I asked you to parse ἔρχεσθε, you would tell me: second plural present middle indicative from ἔρχομαι, “I come.” Or, if you are parsing a word in context and there is a passive marker, then it is parsed as passive.
15.10. Examples of Middle-Only Verbs
| Mark 1:7, ἐκήρυσσεν λέγων (saying), Ἔρχεται ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου ὀπίσω μου. | He preached, saying, “The one stronger than me is coming behind me.” |
| Mark 2:18, οἱ μαθηταὶ Ἰωάννου καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι ἔρχονται καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, Διὰ τί οἱ μαθηταὶ Ἰωάννου καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ τῶν Φαρισαίων νηστεύουσιν, οἱ δὲ σοὶ μαθηταὶ οὐ νηστεύουσιν; | The disciples of John and the Pharisees came and said to him, “Why are the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fasting, but your disciples are not fasting?” |
| Mark 8:1–2, λέγει αὐτοῖς, Σπλαγχνίζομαι ἐπὶ τὸν ὄχλον. | He said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd.” |
| Gen. 2:10, ποταμὸς δὲ ἐκπορεύεται ἐξ Ἐδὲμ ποτίζειν τὸν παράδεισον. | Now a river went out from Eden to water the garden. |
| 2 Esd. 16:6 (Neh. 6:6 Eng.), Ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἠκούσθη (it was heard) ὅτι σὺ καὶ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λογίζεσθε ἀποστατῆσαι,a διὰ τοῦτο σὺ οἰκοδομεῖς τὸ τεῖχος,b καὶ σὺ γίνῃ (would become) αὐτοῖς εἰς βασιλέα. | Among the nations it was heard that you and the Judeans intend to rebel, (that) for this reason you are building the wall, and (that) you would become their king. |
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a ἀποστατέω, “I revolt, rebel” b τεῖχος, ους, τό, “wall” |
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| John 5:17, ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἀπεκρίνατοa αὐτοῖς, Ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι· | |
a ἀποκρίνομαι often means “I answer,” but it sometimes refers to a response to a situation where no question is in view. In these instances “I respond” is often a good English equivalent. |
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| John 10:4, ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν πορεύεται, καὶ τὰ πρόβατα αὐτῷ ἀκολουθεῖ, ὅτι οἴδασιν (they know) τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ. | |
| Rom. 1:16, Οὐ γὰρ ἐπαισχύνομαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, δύναμις γὰρ θεοῦ ἐστιν εἰς σωτηρίαν. | |
| Rom. 7:22, συνήδομαι γὰρ τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον. | |
| Gen. 31:35, εἶπεν τῷ πατρὶ αὐτῆς, Μὴ βαρέως φέρε,a κύριε· οὐ δύναμαιb ἀναστῆναιc ἐνώπιόν σου. | |
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a μὴ βαρέως φέρε, “do not be annoyed/upset” b See the vocabulary list for this chapter. c aor. act. inf. ► ἀνίστημι, “I rise” |
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| 1 Clem. 8.2, λέγει κύριος, οὐ βούλομαι τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ. |
| Rom. 1:18–20, Ἀποκαλύπτεται γὰρ ὀργὴ θεοῦ ἀπ᾿ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ἀσέβειαν καὶ ἀδικίαν ἀνθρώπων τῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐν ἀδικίᾳ κατεχόντων (ones who suppress), διότι τὸ γνωστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φανερόν ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς· ὁ θεὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐφανέρωσεν. τὰ γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασιν νοούμενα (being understood) καθορᾶται,a ἥ τε ἀΐδιος αὐτοῦ δύναμις καὶ θειότης, εἰς τὸ εἶναιb αὐτοὺς ἀναπολογήτους. | |
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a καθοράω is a contract verb; α + ε = α. b One way that Greek can indicate a statement of purpose is to use εἰς τό + an infinitive, here εἰς τὸ εἶναι. |
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15.13. Advanced Information for Reference:
Diagramming Passive Verbs
| 2 Cor. 1:4, παρακαλούμεθα αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ. | We ourselves are being comforted by God. |
Figure 15.2
The agent marker in a passive construction is diagrammed as a modifier. The usual agent marker, ὑπό with the genitive, is diagrammed as any other prepositional phrase. Do you remember why αὐτοί cannot be the subject in this statement?
15.14. Reading Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:35–44
How Are the Dead Raised?
35Ἀλλὰ ἐρεῖ (will ask) τις, Πῶς ἐγείρονται οἱ νεκροί; ποίῳ δὲ σώματι ἔρχονται; 36ἄφρων, σὺ ὃ σπείρεις, οὐ ζῳοποιεῖται ἐὰν μὴ ἀποθάνῃ (it should die)· 37καὶ ὃ σπείρεις, οὐ τὸ σῶμα τὸ γενησόμενον (which will be) σπείρεις ἀλλὰ γυμνὸν κόκκον εἰ τύχοιa σίτου ἤ τινος τῶν λοιπῶν· 38ὁ δὲ θεὸς δίδωσιν (gives) αὐτῷ σῶμα καθὼς ἠθέλησεν, καὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν σπερμάτων ἴδιον σῶμα. 39οὐ πᾶσα σὰρξ ἡ αὐτὴ σὰρξ ἀλλὰ ἄλλη μὲν ἀνθρώπων, ἄλλη δὲ σὰρξ κτηνῶν, ἄλλη δὲ σὰρξ πτηνῶν, ἄλλη δὲ ἰχθύων. 40καὶ σώματα ἐπουράνια, καὶ σώματα ἐπίγεια· ἀλλὰ ἑτέρα μὲν ἡ τῶν ἐπουρανίων δόξα, ἑτέρα δὲ ἡ τῶν ἐπιγείων. 41ἄλλη δόξα ἡλίου, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα σελήνης, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα ἀστέρων· ἀστὴρ γὰρ ἀστέρος διαφέρει ἐν δόξῃ.
42Οὕτως καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις τῶν νεκρῶν. σπείρεται ἐν φθορᾷ, ἐγείρεται ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ· 43σπείρεται ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ, ἐγείρεται ἐν δόξῃ· σπείρεται ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ, ἐγείρεται ἐν δυνάμει· 44σπείρεται σῶμα ψυχικόν, ἐγείρεται σῶμα πνευματικόν. εἰ ἔστιν σῶμα ψυχικόν, ἔστιν καὶ πνευματικόν.
a εἰ τύχοι, “perhaps”
15.15. Vocabulary for Chapter 15
| Part of Speech | Definition | Possible Glosses | Frequency | |
| Word | NT | LXX | ||
| Adjectives | ||||
| πονηρός, ά, όν | Morally or socially worthless, by either social or divine standards; deficient in quality so as to be worthless (of physical goods); unhealthy | evil, wicked, bad; worthless; sick | 78 | 381 |
| αἰώνιος, ον | Describing a period of time as being a long time ago or as being without boundaries or interruption or as of unending duration | long ago; eternal | 71 | 153 |
| Verbs | ||||
| ἔρχομαι | To move from one point to another (geographical or temporal), which may be described from the perspective of either the origin or destination (“come” is the usual equivalent; “go” is less common in Koine) | I come, arrive; I go | 634 | 1,054 |
| ἐξέρχομαι | To move away from a location | I go/come out/away | 218 | 742 |
| εἰσέρχομαι | To enter into a space or into an event or state | I come/go in(to), enter | 194 | 700 |
| ἀπέρχομαι | To depart from a place | I go away, depart | 117 | 229 |
| προσέρχομαι | To approach a person, move toward someone/something; to approach a deity in worship, fellowship, or prayer | I come/go to, approach | 86 | 113 |
| διέρχομαι | To travel/move in or through an area | I go/pass (through); I come, arrive | 43 | 146 |
| δύναμαι | To be capable of doing something (used with an infinitive to specify what is done) [See the “Vocabulary Notes.”] | I am able | 210 | 332 |
| κάθημαι | To be in a seated position; to take a seated position; metaphorically, to be a resident in a place | I sit; I sit down, take a seat; I live, reside (metaphorical) | 91 | 180 |
| προσεύχομαι | To address a deity in prayer (a general term for presenting requests, worship, etc.) | I pray | 85 | 107 |
| ἀσπάζομαι | To address someone hospitably, either in person (whether arriving or departing) or in correspondence | I greet, welcome, say good-bye | 59 | 10 |
| δέχομαι | To accept the presence of a person or the arrival of a thing, often with connotations of enthusiasm or joy; to readily receive information and to regard it as true | I receive, welcome, take; I accept, receive readily | 56 | 62 |
| ἐργάζομαι | To engage in activity that involves effort; to do or accomplish something through work (the result of the activity) | I work; I do, accomplish, carry out | 41 | 122 |
| λογίζομαι | To engage in numerical calculation, determine by mathematical process; metaphorically of mental activity in general: to give careful thought to a matter | I reckon, account, calculate; I think about, consider, ponder | 40 | 121 |
15.16. The verb δύναμαι, “I am able,” has a set of endings that may initially look irregular. It does not use connecting vowels, since its stem ends with alpha. The endings are normal; just think of the alpha as taking the place of the usual connecting vowel. It is declined as shown below. This verb will always have an infinitive with it to specify what it is that is able or possible. We call this a complementary infinitive, since it complements (i.e., completes) the meaning of the main verb.
| 1S | δύναμαι | 1P | δυνάμεθα | ||
| 2S | δύνασαι (or δύνῃ) | 2P | δύνασθε | ||
| 3S | δύναται | 3P | δύνανται |
15.17. Key Things to Know for Chapter 15
How does the passive voice differ in meaning from the active and middle voices?
Learn the formula for present passive indicative verbs.
If the passive voice is identical to the middle voice in spelling, how can you tell them apart? (Be specific.)
What is a “middle-only” verb?