John 16:8: KAI ELQWN EKEINOS, aorist particible
DWILKINS@ucrac1.ucr.edu
Tue, 20 Aug 1996 14:34:33 -0700 (PDT)
Jonathan,
I gather you are wondering how translators can turn an aor participle into a
present indicative. The timing is largely left to the reader to infer. "When
he comes" uses an Eng pres. indicative, but the impression we get is that the
moment of arrival is indicated, which is a "punctiliar" idea. Morever, we infer
from the context that the arrival necessarily precedes the main action of the
sentence. The aorist participle can refer to action prior to or virtually
simultaneous with the governing verb (many argue that it can also be subse-
quent action, but I would disagree, granting the possibility of some excep-
tional cases).
Don Wilkins
UC Riverside