[B-Greek] Middle voice and passive construction

David E. Kiefer, Registrar dkiefer at fuller.edu
Fri Feb 9 01:21:23 EST 2007


You're quite right that Greek textbooks tend to oversimplify the concept 
of "deponent," though you are also overgeneralizing the meaning of 
middle voice when you say "it affects me."

Many "deponent verbs" are intransitive (have no object), like POREUOMAI, 
which is often not far from middle in meaning. For example, in English, 
a verb like "wash" can be transitive, e.g. "I washed something," but 
when intransitive it is reflexive (just one meaning of middle voice), 
e.g. "I washed."

Greek textbooks and teachers often oversimplify "deponent" by simply 
saying "middle or passive forms, but active meanings." In my own 
textbook, I describe eight different manifestations or categories of 
so-called "deponent" verbs.

Andy Kaylor wrote:
> I'm in the very early stages of trying to learn Greek on my own from Bill Mounce's book (I just finished with indicative verbs), so whatever I say is likely to be full of misconceptions.  That said, the middle voice really makes a lot of intuitive sense to me.  I can understand it (as much as I understand anything), even if I can't represent it in English.
>
> In fact, as I've been working through Mounce's book, it has at times struck me that things he calls deponent make sense to me as middle. For instance, POREUOMAI he says is deponent and therefore simply means "I go" (or proceed or live or whatever else) as though it were purely active, but it's obvious that when I go it affects me.
>
> And so, if I've got this right, it seems to me that just as many prepositions make more sense if I picture them spacially than if I try to memorize a list of their English equivalents, verbs make more sense if I try to understand them from within the shoes of the subject than if I try to picture them in an English sentence, particularly with the middle voice.
>
> Of course, all of this is from the perspective of someone who has to take a minute to figure out the meaning of a simple nominative subject, indicative verb, accusative direct object sentence.  My opinion may change when I get to the point of being able to read and comprehend with any speed.
>
>
> Andy Kaylor
> Beaverton, Oregon
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: JFS <bigjfs at hotmail.com>
> Subject: [B-Greek] Middle voice and passive construction
>
> ...
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__________________________

David E. Kiefer, Registrar
Fuller Theological Seminary
135 N Oakland Ave
Pasadena, CA  91182
 
dkiefer at fuller.edu
Phone 626-584-5409
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