John 10:38 ἵνα γνῶτε καὶ γινώσκητε

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Barry Hofstetter
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Joined: May 6th, 2011, 1:48 pm

John 10:38 ἵνα γνῶτε καὶ γινώσκητε

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Assuming that καὶ γινώσκητε is the correct reading, what do we make of this? An aorist subjunctive followed by a present subjunctive? Any aspect mavens care to comment?
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
MAubrey
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Re: John 10:38 ἵνα γνῶτε καὶ γινώσκητε

Post by MAubrey »

Given that all the rest of the coordinated instances of the same verb with a different tense always denotes a difference in meaning, it stands to reason that it is also the case here.

Most such pairs involve something contrasted a future, but John 16:32 is a respectable example: ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται ὥρα καὶ ἐλήλυθεν

As is Hebrews 11:17: Πίστει προσενήνοχεν Ἀβραὰμ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ πειραζόμενος, καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ προσέφερεν ὁ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας ἀναδεξάμενος

In the LXX, there's also Sirach 16:6: ἐν συναγωγῇ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐκκαυθήσεται πῦρ, καὶ ἐν ἔθνει ἀπειθεῖ ἐξεκαύθη ὀργή

My understanding of the semantics of γινώσκω is that there's a greater preference for stative expressions with the imperfective vs. the perfective. I'd vote for 'learn/recognize/come to know' for the perfective and something like 'be sure' for the imperfective.
Mike Aubrey, Linguist
SIL International
Koine-Greek.com
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