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Aoristic Perfect



>        Is there really an "aoristic perfect" in Koine Greek? Answers on
>an intermediate level of Greek knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

Nigel Turner (v.3 of MHT) discusses the aoristic perfect in ch.7 sec. 3.
It is not unique to the NT.  Just as is the case in modren English, the
distinction between aorist and perfect was blurring by the 1st C., and 
thus in narrative the perfect sometimes encroaches on the aorist.  In the 
papyri in the Imperial period the two tenses are used "promiscuously" (acc.
to Moulton, in v.1 of MHT).  Turner gives several examples, e.g. Mt 25:24
(compare with 25:20) where there seems to be no semantic difference
between the perfect and the aorist.  But Turner also warns against too
facile an invocation of the "aoristic perfect" because generally the NT
writers are more careful about tenses.

I'm not completely convinced that Turner is right that the NT writers are
all that careful in matters of grammatical detail, but certainly one should 
not just assume an "aoristic" perfect without good reason.

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