[B-Greek] EGGIZW

A. J. Birch AJBIRCH at terra.es
Wed Aug 24 07:03:38 EDT 2005


Dear 'B-Greekers',

Celia Villa-Landa wrote:
"I am trying to discover why there is so much variety in the translation of HGGIKEN, perfect tense of EGGIZW, in NT scholarship - for example, 'is at hand', 'has come', 'is near'..."

Here are a few simple thoughts on the subject:

(1) Most words (in Greek, as in most other languages) can have more than one meaning, or shade of meaning, in which case the context is probably the main determining factor.

(2) The specific example you refer to seems to be more a case of virtual synonyms, than of different meanings as such.

(3) The perfect tense in Greek tends (as a general rule - there are always some exceptions) to refer to 'an action in the past whose effects or consequences continue in the present'. In some translations, the focus is on the past action (e. g. 'has come'), and in others it's on the present consequences (e. g. 'is at hand').

(4) EGGIZW is one of the (presumably many) verbs which are used both literally and metaphorically. Doubtless this, too, affects the way the use of the word is handled by translators.

Hopefully, someone who knows more will be able to add to these basic thoughts.

Andrew J. Birch
Palma de Mallorca, Spain


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