[B-Greek] present participle
Gary Smith
logicserch at yahoo.com
Sun Dec 5 07:58:31 EST 2004
MELLONTOON (to come) in Col 2:17
Col 2:17
17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
NASU
MELLONTOON (to come) in Col 2:17
Col 2:17
17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
NASU
Col 2:16-17
17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come;
NIV
I understand a present participle has no time of itself but is dependent upon the time of the main verb
My understanding is the present participle would be of the same time as the main verb
I take the main verb to be estin (are)
Looking at the translations however most seem to treat the present participle as refering to future time some overtly speak of the future
How am I to reconcile this ?
Please help
Tom Logan
I understand a present participle has no time of itself but is dependent upon the time of the main verb
My understanding is the present participle would be of the same time as the main verb
I take the main verb to be estin (are)
Looking at the translations however most seem to treat the present participle as refering to future time some overtly speak of the future
How am I to reconcile this ?
Please help
Tom Logan
Log here:I am not so sure I agree with some of the suggested solutions. In grammare we keep the primary rules before going to secondary solutions. The present participle, like the present tense verb is continuous, progressive or repeated action. The difference in the present verb and the present pt. is that the pt. must take on the action of the main verb and agree in gender number and case with the noun. Thus the present pt. is limited by the main verb. The verse above ( Col. 2: 16,17) is correctly represented by the NIV as far as meaning. "...are a shadow of the things that were to come." However a literal rendering would be "...are a shadow of the coming things" wherein the present participle agrees with the present tense verb and indicates continuous action. But the remedy to the "problem" is to answer from what perspective? The writer is writing from the perspective of the Old Testament Prophets. When one sees that the penman is writing form the perspective of prophecy the
problem of the present pt. is solved. Furthermore mellow is an idiomatic verb that expresses guarantee and is the verb frequently chosen for the present tense to express guarantee.This view and application does no violation to the primary use of the present pt. and none to the present vb.
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