>On Tue, 07 Oct 1997 10:41:30 -0400 (EDT), you, Jim West
><jwest@Highland.Net>, wrote:
>
>>The verb is aorist tense. The aorits, however, does not merely function as
>>a punctiliar; it can also have an ingressive sense. Thus, it would be
>>legitimate to here translate "he continuously gives..." etc.
Actually, if I remember the ingressive aorist correctly, it would mean "he
began to give (or began giving)..." The aorist, even if it were ingressive
here (which I doubt), would give no clue as to how long, after beginning, he
continued to give. The aorist could, I suppose, be used to include instances
where the giving continued even to the present day (although it could also be
used to describe action which occurred but ceased in the past, or which
occurred only once in the past), but the aorist tense could not, I think,
properly be construed to imply it.
I really think that a translation such as "he continuously gives..." would
require a present tense as the Greek present implies action which is ongoing,
continuous, repeated, customary etc.
Rev. Craig R. Harmon