From: Dale M. Wheeler (dalemw@teleport.com)
Date: Wed Sep 30 1998 - 13:53:43 EDT
Ed Gorham wrote:
>The concept of verbal aspect is a new one to me (as someone who was raised
>on "temporal significance", then Aktionsart) so please bear with me.
>I'm trying to get a handle on how aspect plays into moods such as the
>imperative, especially when you have a tense shift. For example, in
>Colossians 3:8-9, there is a shift from the aorist imperative ("put to
>death these things") to the present ("don't lie against one another").
>
>Why the shift? Is Paul using the aorist imperative of "apotithemi" as a
>backdrop against which he wants to single out lying, using the present
>imperative of "pseudomai"? Or does he want to emphasize that the not-lying
>is to be durative?
>
>Or am i just thinking about this too much?
>
>Porter's "Idioms" is a good book for showing how the tenses are not
>necessarily temporal...he catalogs many instances, for example, where the
>aorist is used in a present sense. But I wish he'd explain a little more
>on the positive side of the argument for aspect, rather than simply de-bunk
>the older paradigms.
>
>Your thoughts would be welcome, on or off list.
Ed:
Let me suggest that the model presented by Fanning (Verbal Aspect) and BDF
is very sound for understanding the Imp'v in the NT; following is the
section from my syntax notes contained in Bible Companion/GRAMCORD for
Windows on the Imp'v. Hope this helps. Also remember that when Greek
ignores the "rules" of the Imp'v listed below, there is a tendency to
choose tenses based on the inherent lexical meaning of the verb; "to kill"
is a punctual and thus the aorist is appropriate; "to lie" is a linear
concept and could be either an "activity" (ie., an unbounded action) or an
"accomplishment" (ie., an action that has a terminus), but in either case
the present is appropriate to the verb's lexical meaning. The following is
HEAVILY dependant on Fanning (my philosophy is, "if it ain't broke; don't
fix it !"; which goes hand in hand with that great universal principle, "I
wish I could go back to the beginning of the season and put some money on
the Cubbies !"...after all, I was born and raised in Chicago).
MOOD: IMPERATIVE:
I. Command: Simple, Straightforward Command to Another; Direct Attempt to
Impose the Speaker's Will upon the Hearer(s)"; Blass-Debrunner-Funk #335
state it: "The result of this distinction [between present and aorist
aspects] is that in general precepts (also to an individual) concerning
attitudes and conduct there is a preference for the present, in commands
related to conduct in specific cases (much less frequent in the NT) for the
aorist." :
A. General Precept: Present Tense NORMALLY: Translate: "Make it your
habit to...", or "Respond by doing ... whenever it is called for":
# Luke 6:27 (NASB)
B. Specific Command: Aorist Tense NORMALLY: Translate: "Perform this
entire or single act now [or at some specifically designated future point
in time]"
# 1Co 5:13 (NASB)
II. Prohibition:
A. Specific Prohibitions:
1) "Do not do... (this imminent act)!"
a) Normal Construction: mh/ + Aorist Subjunctive
# Matt 1:20 (NASB)
b) Alternate Construction: mh/ + Aorist Imperative (in 7 of the 8
"Specific" occurrences of construction in NT; only #Matt 6:3 is "General" )
# Matt 24:17; 24:18; Mark 13:15 (2x); 13:16; Luke 17:31 (2x)
2) "Stop doing... (this action presently occurring)!"
a) Normal Construction: mh/ + Present Imperative:
# John 6:43 (NIV)
b) Alternate Construction: mh/ + Aorist Subjunctive:
# John 3:7
B. General Prohibitions:
1) "Never do...!": mh/ + Aorist Subjunctive:
# 1Tim 5:1 (TLB)
2) "Make it your habit not to do...!":
a) Normal Construction: mh/ + Present Imperative:
# Mark 13:21 (NASB)
b) Alternate Construction: mh/ + Aorist Imperative (in 1 of its 8
occurrences in NT):
# Matt 6:3
***********************************************************************
Dale M. Wheeler, Ph.D.
Research Professor in Biblical Languages Multnomah Bible College
8435 NE Glisan Street Portland, OR 97220
Voice: 503-251-6416 FAX:503-254-1268 E-Mail: dalemw@teleport.com
***********************************************************************
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