[B-Greek] Re.. Imperfect and Aorist Aspects!
Paul F. Evans
pastorpaul1957 at bellsouth.net
Wed Sep 6 09:12:40 EDT 2006
Elizabeth,
Thank you for your reply.
<Cut>
Some linguists use the terms marked/unmarked to identify forms that
are default (unmarked) in contrast with forms that carry
additional significance (marked). I suspect that "undefined" is
probably a synonym for unmarked.
<Cut>
Machen calls the aorist the “simple ‘preterit’ (simple past tense).” He
says that the aorist and imperfect both refer to past time. While the
imperfect refers to continuous past action, the aorist refers to simple
past action. He goes on to observe, as Mounce, that the present tense
does not distinguish aspect, by which he means continuous or simple
action. But he asserts that “...in past time the distinction, is very
carefully made; the Greek language shows not tendency whatsoever to
confuse the aorist with the imperfect.”
I can read that two ways...
1. “Simple” means unmarked or undefined (probably the correct way)
2. That the imperfect and aorist refer to continuous and non-continuous
aspect.
My point is that Machen seems to use “simple” in the sense that the aspect
of the aorist is usually quite different from the imperfect in that it is
decidedly not continuous. I know the aorist can and does sometimes refer
to continuous action. I guess I want to know if the aorist in and of
itself seems to carry some definite aspectual weight, since undefined, and
unmarked imply an absence of any aspectual emphasis.
I have known (theological and hermeneutical) arguments to be made to hang
on the aspectual weight of the aorist (specifically the idea of non-
continuous action in the past0. Some of these have been made by popular
preachers, but others have come from reputable scholars.
Remember, I am just a novice, so you folks who deal with this
continually... please be gentle!
Paul F. Evans
Pastor
Wilmington First Pentecostal Holiness Church
http://www.wilmingtonfirst.org
PastorPaul1957 at bellsouth.net
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.11.7/437 - Release Date: 9/4/2006
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list