[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

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