The present tense
Mark Wilson
emory2oo2 at hotmail.com
Tue Apr 30 14:36:22 EDT 2002
Trevor:
You wrote:
----------
>I'd be interested to see examples, but wouldn't using the aorist indicative
>produce a past-tense reference (and thus be undesirable for any type of
>present notion)?
----------
No!
You have to distinguish temporal propositions from statements
that have zero temporal aspect. Yes, an Aorist Indicative produces
a past tense reference, but only in temporal propositions.
Wallace adequately acknowledges this grammatical principle of
temporal propositions and non-temporal propositions when he explains
the Gnomic Aorist. (GGBB, pg. 562). You translate it like a present
for the very reason that it has no temporal aspect.
Implicit in such uses of the Aorist, I suppose it could be argued,
is that we know the truth of the proposition based on past experience.
So that 1 Peter 1:24 could be glossed:
As we have all observed.... the grass withers and the flower falls off
Hope that helps
Mark Wilson
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