17
VERBS: PART 7
AORIST (PERFECTIVE) INDICATIVE VERBS
17.1. You have previously met some of the most common aorist tense-forms, the first aorist active indicatives and the aorist active infinitive. In this chapter we will review those forms and meet some new forms of the aorist.
17.2. You have already learned (chap. 7) that the aorist simply refers to a situation in summary without indicating anything further about the action. In chapter 13 we studied verbal aspect and learned that it refers to the way in which a speaker or writer chooses to view a situation. The aorist tense-form identifies that perspective as perfective aspect; it describes a complete situation, referring to it as a whole without commenting on whether or not it involves a process. You have already seen many aorist verbs used in various contexts, so now it is time to learn some new forms and discover how they are used to communicate meaning in a wider variety of settings.
17.3. You already know the aorist active infinitive, λῦσαι, and the aorist active indicative forms. We will review them first and then add the aorist middle and aorist passive forms.
Formula for First Aorist Active Indicative Verbs
augment + stem + form marker σα + B personal endings
(First) Aorist Active Indicative of λύω
| Form | f.m. + B p.e. | Gloss | p.e. | |
| 1S | ἔλυσα | σα | I loosed | -[ν] |
| 2S | ἔλυσας | σας | You loosed | ς |
| 3S | ἔλυσε(ν) | σε(ν) | He/she/it loosed | -(ν) |
| 1P | ἐλύσαμεν | σαμεν | We loosed | μεν |
| 2P | ἐλύσατε | σατε | You loosed | τε |
| 3P | ἔλυσαν | σαν | They loosed | ν |
| Rom. 5:14, ἀλλὰ ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ θάνατος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι Μωϋσέως. | |
| Rom. 13:11, νῦν γὰρ ἐγγύτερονa ἡμῶν ἡ σωτηρία ἢ ὅτε ἐπιστεύσαμεν. | |
a ἐγγύτερον is a comparative form of ἐγγύς (see §6.38). |
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| John 19:10, λέγει οὖν αὐτῷ ὁ Πιλᾶτος, Ἐξουσίαν ἔχω ἀπολῦσαί σε. | |
| Gen. 2:8, ἐφύτευσεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς παράδεισον ἐν Ἐδέμ. | |
| Gen. 15:6, ἐπίστευσεν Ἀβράμ τῷ θεῷ. | |
| Gen. 37:27, ἤκουσαν δὲ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ. | |
First Aorist Middle Indicative
17.5. The (first) aorist middle indicative follows the same pattern as the aorist active indicative except that it uses the D set of endings. You have already seen all these pieces used in other forms, so the only thing you need to remember is the formula to identify this combination.
Formula for Aorist Middle Indicative Verbs
augment + stem + form marker σα + D personal endings
The forms will look like this. The last column in the chart below (“IMI endings”) gives the standard D endings as seen with the connecting vowel in the imperfect middle indicative; when added to the aorist form marker σα, the D endings produce the forms in the second column. Since the aorist form marker ends with a vowel, there is no need for a separate connecting vowel, so it is omitted.
Aorist Middle Indicative of λύω
| Form | f.m. + D p.e. | Gloss | p.e. | IMI endings | |
| 1S | ἐλυσάμην | σαμην | I loosed | μην | ομην |
| 2S | ἐλύσω | σω | You loosed | σοa | ου |
| 3S | ἐλύσατο | σατο | He/she/it loosed | το | ετο |
| 1P | ἐλυσάμεθα | σαμεθα | We loosed | μεθα | ομεθα |
| 2P | ἐλύσασθε | σασθε | You loosed | σθε | εσθε |
| 3P | ἐλύσαντο | σαντο | They loosed | ντο | οντο |
a The technical ending for second singular is -σο, but when it is added to the form marker σα, the sigma in the ending drops out when squeezed between two vowels, and the alpha from the form marker and the omicron in the ending contract to form omega. This is slightly different from what occurs in the imperfect, where the resulting form is -ου. The second person singular aorist middle form is not common in the NT or the LXX.
17.6. Examples of Aorist Middle Indicative
| Luke 14:4, ἰάσατο αὐτόν. | He healed him. |
| Acts 1:11, ἐθεάσασθε αὐτὸν πορευόμενον (going) εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. | You saw him going into heaven. |
| Acts 2:26, διὰ τοῦτο ἠγαλλιάσατο ἡ γλῶσσά μου. | On account of this my tongue rejoices. |
| Gal. 3:27, ὅσοι γὰρ εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθητε (you have been baptized), Χριστὸν ἐνεδύσασθε. | For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. |
| Gen. 24:18–19, ἐπότισεν αὐτόν, ἕως ἐπαύσατο πίνων. | She gave him a drink until he stopped drinking.a |
a This passage refers to Rebecca serving Abraham’s servant. |
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| 1 Pet. 2:2–3, ὡς βρέφη τὸ γάλα ἐπιποθήσατε (desire!), εἰ ἐγεύσασθε ὅτι χρηστὸς ὁ κύριος. | What is the subject of ἐγεύσασθε? What does the ὅτι clause tell you? What verb must you supply in the ὅτι clause? |
| John 11:53, ἐβουλεύσαντο ἵνα ἀποκτείνωσιν (they should kill) αὐτόν. | What is the subject of ἐβουλεύσαντο? What does the ἵνα clause tell you? How does αὐτόν relate to the other words in the sentence? |
| John 12:10, ἐβουλεύσαντο δὲ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς (chief priests) ἵνα καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἀποκτείνωσιν. | What is the subject of ἐβουλεύσαντο? What nuance does καί add to the second clause? |
| Gen. 11:8, ἐπαύσαντο οἰκοδομοῦντες (building) τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν πύργον. | Who is doing the action? How do you know? What is the function of καί? |
| Gen. 12:8, ἐπεκαλέσατο ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι (name) κυρίου. Gen. 26:22, ὤρυξενa φρέαρb ἕτερον, καὶ οὐκ ἐμαχέσαντο περὶ αὐτοῦ. |
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a ὀρύσσω, “I dig” b φρέαρ, ατος, τό, “a water well” |
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17.8. As you have already seen in previous chapters, there are sometimes some minor variations from what the formula predicts. Many aorist middle forms reflect one or both of the minor variations described below or are second aorist forms (described in chap. 18).
See if you can figure out some of these variations on your own before reading the explanation. The examples below are mostly aorist active forms, though the same patterns hold for aorist middle forms as well.
Think . . .
What is different about the next two aorist verb forms from what you might have expected?
The third singular aorist active indicative form of ζητέω is ἐζήτησεν.
The third plural aorist active indicative form of πληρόω is ἐπλήρωσαν.
Contract Verbs
17.9. We have already seen contract verbs in earlier chapters (for aorist contracts, see §7.18), and we will talk about them in more detail in chapter 21. For now all you need to know is that when a verb stem ends with an epsilon, omicron, or alpha, that stem vowel lengthens when a form marker is added. They lengthen as follows:
ε ► η
ο ► ω
α ► η
It does not matter which form marker is used. In the case of an aorist, the lengthening takes place when the form marker σα is added, but it will happen in other forms that use different form markers. Thus the aorist of ἀγαπάω is ἠγάπησα (not ἠγάπασα), ζητέω becomes ἐζήτησα, and πληρόω becomes ἐπλήρωσα.
| Mark 1:11, φωνὴ ἐγένετο (came) ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, Σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν σοὶ εὐδόκησα. | A voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son, with you I am pleased.” |
| Luke 20:19, Καὶ ἐζήτησαν οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἐπιβαλεῖν ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν τὰς χεῖρας. | The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him [i.e., to arrest him]. |
| Acts 5:3, εἶπεν δὲ ὁ Πέτρος, Ἁνανία, διὰ τί ἐπλήρωσεν ὁ Σατανᾶς τὴν καρδίαν σου ψεύσασθαι (to lie). | Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie?” |
| Rom. 1:19, διότι τὸ γνωστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φανερόν ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς· ὁ θεὸς γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐφανέρωσεν. | Because what is known about God is plain in them, for God has made it plain in them. |
| Gen. 1:5, ἐκάλεσεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ φῶς ἡμέραν καὶ τὸ σκότος ἐκάλεσεν νύκτα. | God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” |
There are a few contract verbs in which the stem vowel does not lengthen; καλέω is one of the most common such verbs (see also Gen. 12:8 in the previous section).
| John 3:16, Οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον. | What is the subject, verb, and object in this statement? |
| Mark 15:43, Ἰωσὴφ ὁ ἀπὸ Ἁριμαθαίαςa εἰσῆλθεν (he came) πρὸς τὸν Πιλᾶτον καὶ ᾐτήσατο τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. | Can you figure out what happened to the augment on ᾐτήσατο? What case must σῶμα be, nom. or acc.? (Remember neuter nouns have the same form in both cases.) How do you know? |
a Ἰωσὴφ ὁ ἀπὸ Ἁριμαθαίας, “Joseph, the one from Arimathea,” or simply “Joseph of Arimathea” |
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| Rom. 9:13, καθὼς γέγραπται (it is written), Τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἠγάπησα, τὸν δὲ Ἠσαῦ ἐμίσησα. | |
| Gen. 1:1, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. | |
| 1 Clem. 8.1, Οἱ λειτουργοὶ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου περὶ μετανοίας ἐλάλησαν. | |
What is different about the following aorist verb forms from what you might have expected? Do you recognize a consistent pattern of changes? (These are not contract verbs.)
The first singular aorist active indicative form of γράφω is ἔγραψα.
The third singular aorist middle indicative form of γράφω is ἐγράψατο.
The second singular aorist active indicative form of διδάσκω is ἐδίδαξας.
The third plural aorist active indicative form of διδάσκω is ἐδίδαξαν.
The Square of Stops
17.13. Do you remember the square of stops? You first met this phenomenon in connection with third-declension nouns in which certain letters combined with a sigma to produce a related hybrid letter. This time the sigma comes from the form marker σα, which is added to the stem. Whenever such a sigma is added to a stem that ends with one of the nine consonants that form the square of stops, it combines exactly the same as it did in the third declension.
| + σ = | ||||
| π | β | φ | ψ | |
| κ | γ | χ | ξ | |
| τ | δ | θ | σ |
Thus βλέπω + σα results in ἔβλεψα (not ἔβλεπσα), because π + σ = ψ. You can see these changes in the following examples. A verb whose stem ends in -ιζω or -αζω also acts like a square-of-stops form. Such verbs follow the pattern of the third row.[1]
| 1 Cor. 5:9, Ἔγραψα ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ. | I wrote to you in the letter. |
| John 7:28, ἔκραξεν οὖν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Κἀμὲ οἴδατε καὶ οἴδατε πόθεν εἰμί. | Therefore Jesus cried out in the temple, “You know me, and you know from where I am.” |
| Mark 10:20, Διδάσκαλε, ταῦτα πάντα ἐφυλαξάμην ἐκ νεότητός μου. | “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” |
| Mark 14:6, ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν, Καλὸν ἔργον ἠργάσατοa ἐν ἐμοί. | But Jesus said, “She has done a good deed for me.” |
a ἐργάζομαι; the subject of the verb is a woman. |
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| Ign. Phld. 10.2, ὡς καὶa αἱ ἔγγιστα ἐκκλησίαι ἔπεμψαν ἐπισκόπους, αἱ δὲ πρεσβυτέρους καὶ διακόνους.b | Indeed the neighboring churches sent overseers, and the [other churches sent] elders and deacons. |
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a ὡς καί introduces a decisive reason, represented in English here as “indeed.” b Ignatius has requested that the church at Philadelphia send a deacon as a messenger to the church in Syrian Antioch. This statement is part of his “encouragement” for them to do so, suggesting that if other churches have already done so, surely they could do the same. |
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| Luke 11:1, Ἰωάννης ἐδίδαξεν τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ. | What is the subject and object of ἐδίδαξεν? What is unusual about the form of the subject? |
| John 19:19, ἔγραψεν δὲ καὶ τίτλον ὁ Πιλᾶτος καὶ ἔθηκεν (he placed [it]) ἐπὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ. | Who did the writing? Where did he place the τίτλον? |
| John 13:12, ἔνιψεν τοὺς πόδαςa αὐτῶν. | To what was ἔνιψεν done? |
a πόδας ► ποῦς (a third-declension form; go by the article to identify the case) |
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| 1 Cor. 15:1, Γνωρίζω δὲ ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοί, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὃ εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν. | |
| Gen. 14:8, παρετάξαντοa αὐτοῖς εἰς πόλεμον ἐν τῇ κοιλάδιb τῇ ἁλυκῇ. | |
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a παρατάσσω, “I draw up in battle array” b κοιλάς, άδος, ἡ, “valley” |
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| Trad. Elders 2, Ποῦ οὖν ἐτέθη (he was placed) ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος; ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳa δηλονότι,b καθὼς γέγραπται (it is written)· Καὶ ἐφύτευσεν ὁ θεὸς παράδεισον ἐν Ἐδέμ.c | |
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a παράδεισος, ου, ὁ, “garden” b δηλονότι, “clearly” (adv.) c This text is sometimes cited as Papias 28.1 (some electronic editions), though it cannot be linked to Papias. It is cited here from Holmes, Apostolic Fathers, 768. |
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Advanced Information for Reference:
Homonyms
17.16. Here is a tidbit worth knowing. Some verbs have a different lexical meaning in active and middle voice. It is possible that these are actually homonyms, two different words that are spelled the same. They came to be viewed as a single word since by convention one was used only in the active voice, the other only in middle. Most Greek lexicons list them as a single entry. This is not frequent, but at least one word for which this is true is a fairly common word, ἄρχω. Another is ἅπτω, “I kindle (a fire)” and ἅπτομαι, “I touch.” The lexicon will tell you anything you need to know in regard to any other such words. Figure 17.1 shows the entry for ἄρχω in BDAG.[2]
Figure 17.1. ἄρχω in BDAG
In the case of ἄρχω, which occurs 86 times in the NT, it usually occurs as an aorist middle indicative verb (60 of the 86 instances in the NT). It occurs in the NT only once as a present middle indicative. In the middle voice ἄρχω means “I begin” (84 times), but there are two instances in the NT of the active voice, which means “I rule.” In the LXX the middle is also the most common, though the proportion is not so one-sided; the middle is used 99 times, and the active 48.
| Mark 4:1, πάλιν ἤρξατο διδάσκειν παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν. | Again he began to teach beside the lake. |
| Gen. 45:26, ἀνήγγειλαν (they reported) αὐτῷ λέγοντες (saying) ὅτι Ὁ υἱός σου Ἰωσὴφ ζῇ (is alive), καὶ αὐτὸς ἄρχει πάσης γῆς Αἰγύπτου. | They reported to him, saying, “Your son Joseph is alive, and he is ruling all the land of Egypt.” |
| Acts 2:4, ἤρξαντο λαλεῖν ἑτέραις γλώσσαις. | |
| Gen. 1:17–18, ἔθετο (he set) αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῷ στερεώματι (firmament) τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὥστε φαίνειν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἄρχειν τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ τῆς νυκτός. | |
Aorist Passive Indicative Verbs
17.19. The aorist passive forms introduce two new features. First, a new form marker, θη, and second, the use of B personal endings with passive forms (which normally use C or D endings). The formula looks like this:
Formula for Aorist Passive Indicative Verbs
augment + stem[3] + form marker θη + B personal endings
As you study this formula and the chart below, you will notice that there is no connecting vowel. That is because the form marker θη ends with a vowel (eta), so another vowel is not needed to add the personal ending. The last column in the chart below shows the standard set of B endings (including the connecting vowel) for comparison. The θη form marker is used only for aorist passive forms.[4]
Aorist Passive Indicative of λύω
| Form | (f.m.) + B p.e.a | Gloss | c.v. + p.e. | |
| 1S | ἐλύθην | ην | I was loosed | ον |
| 2S | ἐλύθης | ης | You were loosed | ες |
| 3S | ἐλύθη | η | He/she/it was loosed | ε(ν) |
| 1P | ἐλύθημεν | ημεν | We were loosed | ομεν |
| 2P | ἐλύθητε | ητε | You were loosed | ετε |
| 3P | ἐλύθησαν | ησαν | They were loosed | ον |
a This column gives the vowel from the end of the form marker with the B personal ending.
The third plural ending is -σαν. This is a variant ending used in place of the usual -ον. This verb form looks like it has two form markers: θη and σα. Technically it does not, but it may help you remember this form. (You might think of it as if the σα tells you aorist, and the θη before it tells you aorist passive.)
17.20. Examples of Aorist Passive Indicative
| Mark 9:2, μετὰ ἡμέρας ἓξ παραλαμβάνει ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τὸν Ἰάκωβον καὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην καὶ ἀναφέρει αὐτοὺς εἰς ὄρος ὑψηλὸν κατ᾿ ἰδίαν μόνους. καὶ μετεμορφώθη ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν. | After six days Jesus took Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves alone; and he was transformed before them. |
| Mark 4:41, ἐφοβήθησαν φόβον μέγανa καὶ ἔλεγον πρὸς ἀλλήλους, Τίς ἄρα οὗτός ἐστιν ὅτι καὶ ὁ ἄνεμος καὶ ἡ θάλασσα ὑπακούει αὐτῷ; | They were terrified and said to one another, “Who, then, is this that even the wind and the lake obey him?!” |
a ἐφοβήθησαν φόβον μέγαν is called a cognate accusative construction, in which the noun form of the verb follows in the accusative case. It is a very emphatic way of saying they were afraid; formally, “they were afraid with a great fear,” or in normal English, “they were terrified.” (Although Hebrew has a similar idiom, this is a native Greek construction.) |
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| Rom. 3:2, ἐπιστεύθησαν τὰ λόγια τοῦ θεοῦ. |
In this verse πιστεύω does not mean “I believe.” See your lexicon for other options.
| Heb. 11:2, ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ ἐμαρτυρήθησαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι. |
You will need to check your lexicon for translation options in this verse; two words do not have their simplest meaning that you have learned for vocabulary purposes.
| Josephus, Ant. 13.419, Τιγράνηςa [invaded] εἰς τὴν Συρίαν καί τοῦτο ἐφόβησεb τὴν βασίλισσανc καὶ τὸ ἔθνος. | |
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a This is the name of an Armenian king. b This verb is not an aorist passive; it illustrates the active meaning of φοβέω: “I cause someone else to be afraid.” (In the NT φοβέω is always passive; in the LXX only 2 of 435 instances are in active voice.) c Check the spelling of this word carefully in your lexicon. |
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Expanding the Square of Stops
17.22. With the aorist passive form marker come a few additional changes in some verbs. You will remember the square of stops from your earlier study. In all previous instances in which we used that chart it was the addition of a sigma that triggered changes in the spelling of some words. The theta in the aorist passive can result in similar changes. Here is the chart with a new column added on the right.
| + σ | + θ | |||||
| π | β | φ | ψ | φθ | ||
| κ | γ | χ | ξ | χθ | ||
| τ | δ | θ | σ | σθ |
For example, for the word διδάσκω, the stem ends with a kappa, which changes to a chi when the aorist passive form marker is added: ἐδιδάχθητε.[5] (This is the second plural form seen in the example from 2 Thess. 2:15 below.) All the changes you are used to seeing with the square of stops are relevant here also; it is just a new column. Remember that these changes affect the root of the word rather than the present stem seen in the lexical form. Thus the verb βαπτίζω forms its future passive from the root *βαπτιδ, and it is the delta that is the stop, not the zeta that appears in the lexical form. So as before, remember that verbs whose lexical form has a stem ending in zeta also act like a square-of-stops form.
| Mark 1:9, ἦλθεν (he came) Ἰησοῦς ἀπὸ Ναζαρὲτ τῆς Γαλιλαίας καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην ὑπὸ Ἰωάννου. | Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. |
| Mark 6:50, πάντες γὰρ αὐτὸν εἶδον (they saw) καὶ ἐταράχθησαν. | For everyone saw him, and they were afraid. |
| Gen. 3:7, διηνοίχθησαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ τῶν δύο, καὶ ἔγνωσαν (they knew) ὅτι γυμνοὶ ἦσαν. | The eyes of the two were opened, and they knew that they were naked. |
| Mark 1:42, καὶ εὐθὺς ἀπῆλθεν (it left) ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἡ λέπρα, καὶ ἐκαθαρίσθη. | |
| 2 Thess. 2:15, ἄρα οὖν, ἀδελφοί, στήκετε (stand firm!), καὶ κρατεῖτε (hold!) τὰς παραδόσεις ἃς ἐδιδάχθητε εἴτε διὰ λόγου εἴτε δι᾿ ἐπιστολῆς ἡμῶν. | |
Advanced Information for Reference:
θη-Middle Forms
17.25. Most verb forms that contain the form marker θη and follow the aorist passive formula (augment + stem + form marker θη + B personal endings) are, indeed, aorist passive forms. This is actually a dual-voice form similar to present and imperfect forms that are usually middle voice but that may function as passives if there is an agent marker in the context. Here the proportion is reversed, in that the middle voice is less common. When the context or the meaning of the word makes it clear that passive voice makes no sense, we call the form a θη-middle. A number of these are intransitive middles. A few examples will make this clear. Each of the forms marked in the following examples should be parsed as middle voice, not passive, despite the θη form marker.
| Mark 2:2, συνήχθησανa πολλοὶ καὶ ἐλάλει αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον. | Many gathered, and he spoke the word to them. |
a συνήχθησαν ► συνάγω; internal augment, square of stops form (γ + θ = χθ) |
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In this example, the people were not gathered by someone else; they assembled of their own volition.
| Jude 11, τῇ ὁδῷ τοῦ Κάϊν ἐπορεύθησαν. | They have traveled in the way of Cain. |
| 1 Cor. 3:1, Κἀγώ, ἀδελφοί, οὐκ ἠδυνήθηνa λαλῆσαι ὑμῖν ὡς πνευματικοῖς ἀλλ᾿ ὡς σαρκίνοις, ὡς νηπίοις ἐν Χριστῷ. | And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to fleshy people, as to babies in Christ. |
a This is the verb δύναμαι, which you learned in chap. 15. It typically has an irregular augment with an eta rather than the usual epsilon. |
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| Matt. 1:19, Ἰωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, δίκαιος ὢν (being) καὶ μὴ θέλων (wanting) αὐτὴν δειγματίσαι, ἐβουλήθη λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν. | But Joseph her husband, being righteous and not wanting to disgrace her, determined to divorce her quietly. |
| Gen. 6:5, ἐπληθύνθησαν αἱ κακίαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. | The wicked actions of people multiplied on the earth. |
Reading Passage: Revelation 9:1–6, 12–21
17.26. This passage is the longest you have had a chance to read thus far; it is not difficult. There will be many words that you do not know, but they are easy enough to identify with your lexicon. All aorist forms that you should know are marked. Any verb forms that you have not yet learned are glossed in parentheses. There are also notes on some forms explaining a few new features of forms that you have seen or that are very similar to ones you already know.
Angels with Trumpets
1Καὶ ὁ πέμπτος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν· καὶ εἶδον (I saw) ἀστέρα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πεπτωκότα (fallen) εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἐδόθηa αὐτῷ ἡ κλεὶς τοῦ φρέατος τῆς ἀβύσσου 2καὶ ἤνοιξεν τὸ φρέαρ τῆς ἀβύσσου, καὶ ἀνέβη (it went up) καπνὸς ἐκ τοῦ φρέατος ὡς καπνὸς καμίνου μεγάλης, καὶ ἐσκοτώθη ὁ ἥλιος καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ ἐκ τοῦ καπνοῦ τοῦ φρέατος. 3καὶ ἐκ τοῦ καπνοῦ ἐξῆλθον (they went out) ἀκρίδες εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἐδόθηa αὐταῖς ἐξουσία ὡς ἔχουσιν ἐξουσίαν οἱ σκορπίοι τῆς γῆς. 4καὶ ἐρρέθηb (it was told) αὐταῖς ἵνα μὴ ἀδικήσουσινc τὸν χόρτον τῆς γῆς οὐδὲ πᾶν χλωρὸν οὐδὲ πᾶν δένδρον, εἰ μὴ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οἵτινες οὐκ ἔχουσι τὴν σφραγῖδα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων. 5καὶ ἐδόθηa αὐτοῖς ἵνα μὴ ἀποκτείνωσιν (they should kill) αὐτούς, ἀλλ᾿ ἵνα βασανισθήσονται (they should be tormented)d μῆνας πέντε, καὶ ὁ βασανισμὸς αὐτῶν ὡς βασανισμὸς σκορπίου ὅταν παίσῃ (it stings) ἄνθρωπον. 6καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ζητήσουσινc οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὸν θάνατον καὶ οὐ μὴ εὑρήσουσιν (they will find) αὐτόν, καὶ ἐπιθυμήσουσινc ἀποθανεῖν καὶ φεύγει ὁ θάνατος ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν. . . .
12Ἡ οὐαὶ ἡ μία ἀπῆλθεν (has passed)· ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται ἔτι δύο οὐαὶ μετὰ ταῦτα.
13Καὶ ὁ ἕκτος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν· καὶ ἤκουσα φωνὴν μίαν ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ χρυσοῦ τοῦ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ, 14λέγοντα (saying) τῷ ἕκτῳ ἀγγέλῳ, ὁ ἔχων (one who had) τὴν σάλπιγγα, Λῦσον (Release!) τοὺς τέσσαρας ἀγγέλους τοὺς δεδεμένους (ones who are bound) ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ τῷ μεγάλῳ Εὐφράτῃ. 15καὶ ἐλύθησαν οἱ τέσσαρες ἄγγελοι οἱ ἡτοιμασμένοι (ones prepared) εἰς τὴν ὥραν καὶ ἡμέραν καὶ μῆνα καὶ ἐνιαυτόν, ἵνα ἀποκτείνωσιν (they should kill) τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀνθρώπων. 16καὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν στρατευμάτων τοῦ ἱππικοῦ δισμυριάδες μυριάδων, ἤκουσα τὸν ἀριθμὸν αὐτῶν. 17καὶ οὕτως εἶδον (I saw) τοὺς ἵππους ἐν τῇ ὁράσει καὶ τοὺς καθημένους (ones who sat) ἐπ᾿ αὐτῶν, ἔχοντας (having) θώρακας πυρίνους καὶ ὑακινθίνους καὶ θειώδεις, καὶ αἱ κεφαλαὶ τῶν ἵππων ὡς κεφαλαὶ λεόντων, καὶ ἐκ τῶν στομάτων αὐτῶν ἐκπορεύεται πῦρ καὶ καπνὸς καὶ θεῖον. 18ἀπὸ τῶν τριῶν πληγῶν τούτων ἀπεκτάνθησανe τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ τοῦ καπνοῦ καὶ τοῦ θείου τοῦ ἐκπορευομένου (which came) ἐκ τῶν στομάτων αὐτῶν. 19ἡ γὰρ ἐξουσία τῶν ἵππων ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν ἐστιν καὶ ἐν ταῖς οὐραῖς αὐτῶν, αἱ γὰρ οὐραὶ αὐτῶν ὅμοιαι ὄφεσιν, ἔχουσαι (having) κεφαλὰς καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς ἀδικοῦσιν.
20Καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οἳ οὐκ ἀπεκτάνθησανe ἐν ταῖς πληγαῖς ταύταις, οὐδὲ μετενόησαν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν, ἵνα μὴ προσκυνήσουσινc τὰ δαιμόνια καὶ τὰ εἴδωλα τὰ χρυσᾶ καὶ τὰ ἀργυρᾶ καὶ τὰ χαλκᾶ καὶ τὰ λίθινα καὶ τὰ ξύλινα, ἃ οὔτε βλέπειν δύνανται οὔτε ἀκούειν οὔτε περιπατεῖν, 21καὶ οὐ μετενόησαν ἐκ τῶν φόνων αὐτῶν οὔτε ἐκ τῶν φαρμάκων αὐτῶν οὔτε ἐκ τῆς πορνείας αὐτῶν οὔτε ἐκ τῶν κλεμμάτων αὐτῶν.
a ἐδόθη is a form you have not seen yet, but so long as you know that the stem is δο- and the lexical form is δίδωμι, you can identify it easily enough.
b ἐρρέθη is an aorist passive form, as you can tell from the form marker, but it is a second aorist (see chap. 18). Notice the ending, and do not worry about the stem for now.
c This is a form you have not had yet; if you omitted the second sigma from the end, how would you parse it? Once you have done that, then that sigma form marker tells you it is a future tense-form, not a present. Remember that any form marker will cause a short vowel at the end of the stem to lengthen.
d The verb βασανισθήσονται could be understood either as a θη-middle form (“they will suffer torment”) or as a passive (“they will be tormented”).
e The stem of ἀπεκτάνθησαν is a liquid (ends with nu), and the last vowel (a diphthong, actually) in the stem changes slightly in this form.
17.27. Vocabulary for Chapter 17
| Part of Speech | Definition | Possible Glosses | Frequency | |
| Word | NT | LXX | ||
| Adverbs | ||||
| οὔτε | A negative adverbial particle (actually οὐ τέ) that dismisses an activity or thing that follows, most often occurring in multiples | and not, neither . . . nor | 87 | 123 |
| ὅπου | An adverb of place indicating location | where; wherever (with subjunctive) | 82 | 22 |
| μᾶλλον | A comparative adverb indicating increase or addition, or marking a change in procedure | (much) more, all the more; rather, instead | 81 | 52 |
| ἔξω | Formally, an adverb of place indicating a position beyond a limit or boundary, but it can also be used as an adjective, that which does not belong; a preposition used with the genitive to indicate movement away from; a substantive (with the article), those who are not part of the referenced group | without (adv.); outer, foreign (adj.); outside (prep. + gen.); outsiders (subst. with article) | 63 | 104 |
| Particles | ||||
| ὡς | A particle used in very diverse ways (adverb, conjunction, comparative particle), typically indicating some similarity or comparison (see BDAG or CL for details) | as, like; when, after, while; (so) that, how; in order to; about, approximately (with numerals) | 504 | 1,965 |
| εἰ | A conditional particle that marks a contingency of some sort (mostly used with the indicative mood) | if, whether | 503 | 805 |
| ἤ | A particle indicating either an alternative or a series of alternatives (disjunctive, “or”), or a comparison (“than”) | or, either . . . or; than, rather than | 343 | 934 |
| τέ | An enclitic particle that marks a close relationship between sequential states or events, or between coordinate nonsequential items (often combined with other particles or conjunctions; see CL) | and (so), so, and likewise | 215 | 277 |
| μέν | A postpositive particle marking emphasis, typically used with other particles or conjunctions (e.g., μέν . . . δέ) to contrast opposing statements or sometimes to emphasize a parallela | on the one hand, indeed | 179 | 222 |
| ἄν | A particle with diverse uses, most of which nuance the verb with some element of contingency or generalization, often translated as a part of the verbal phrase rather than as a discrete element | then, would, ever, might | 167 | 619 |
| ὅταν | A temporal conjunction (or particle) that refers to a conditional or possible action, one that is sometimes repeated (“whenever”); mostly used with the subjunctive mood | when, at the time that; whenever | 123 | 210 |
| ὅτε | A temporal conjunction (or particle) that links two events either in terms of when they both occur or in terms of the temporal extent of both | when; as long as, while | 103 | 173 |
| Verbs | ||||
| ἄρχω | (1) To rule or govern (act.; only twice in the NT, more common in the LXX); (2) to initiate an action, process, or state (mid.) [probably homonyms] | (1) I rule (act.); (2) I begin (mid.) | 86 | 231 |
| εὐαγγελίζω | To pass on information that is good news to the recipient; to spread the good news of God’s provision of salvation in Jesus Christ (usually mid., sometimes pass.; rarely act.) | I announce/bring good news/the gospel | 54 | 23 |
| πείθω | Generally, to persuade, but this verb evidences the affects of voice and tense-form on meaning more than many verbs and may consist of conflated homonyms: to cause someone to come to a particular point of view or course of action (act.); to submit to, comply, conform to, follow, obey (mid.); to be persuaded or convinced by someone else (focus on the process) (pass.); to believe/trust, be confident, having been convinced (focus on the state of confidence) (pf. act. and mid.) | I persuade, appeal to, urge (act.); I submit (mid.); I am persuaded (pass.); I believe (pf. act./mid.) | 52 | 184 |
a The paired use of μέν . . . δέ (“on the one hand . . . on the other hand”), so common in the NT (as in Classical Greek), is rare in the LXX.
17.28. Key Things to Know for Chapter 17
Know the formulas for aorist active indicative, aorist middle indicative, and aorist passive indicative verbs.
What happens to the aorist middle indicative form of a contract verb?
Do you remember the square of stops? How is it relevant to aorist tense-form verbs? What new feature is added to the chart in the aorist passive?