[B-Greek] "I live" and "I lived"
Brent Hudson
brent at riveroflifembchurch.com
Mon Sep 15 14:44:46 EDT 2003
>In Greek (ancient or Biblical) the statements "I live in Athens" and "I
>lived in Athens" are morphologically identical, the difference in meaning
>being a matter of context.
>
Simply put, no. Present and Past have separate morphological forms in Greek.
Having said that, I can see a situation where someone may say that. For instance, if a present tense is used in a narrative it is sometimes best translated as a past tense in English (historical present). This does not mean the Greek Present and Past are the same, buy only that some Greek presents translate better into English as past tenses. So John 1:29: "On the next day he sees Jesus coming to him, and he says..." These present tenses would normally be translated with English past tenses. But again, the problem is translation into English not with Greek present having both past and present senses.
Also, an epistolary aorist (past tense) may be best translated as a present in English. When a person wrote a letter, often they would use the past for a present action for by the time the recipient of the letter would read the words, they would be past. So, in Philemon 21, Paul says: "I have written to you" even though he is referring to the letter he is currently writing. In English, a present would probably convey the intended meaning better. Once again, the problem is not a confusion of past and present in Greek, but that English uses the tenses a bit differently than does Greek.
Hope this helps a bit,
Brent Hudson
Brent Hudson (Rev.)
Adjunct Faculty (Biblical Languages, Religious Studies), Atlantic Baptist University
Phone: 387-7470 / 853-7796
email: brent.hudson at abu.nb.ca
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