[B-Greek] PEPOIHKEN in Heb. 11:28

Elizabeth Kline kline_dekooning at earthlink.net
Mon Jun 4 16:29:18 EDT 2007


On Jun 4, 2007, at 9:43 AM, Webb wrote:

> PISTEI PEPOIHKEN [MWUSHS] TO PASCA KAI THN PROSCUSIN TOU hAIMATOS  
> (Heb.
> 11:28).
>
>
>
> Zerwick-Grosvenor says that PEPOIHKEN, as perfect, refers to  
> "inauguration
> of a rite still observed". This seems reasonable to me, but I also  
> find
> perfect forms tossed in as though they were aorists occasionally in  
> the GNT.
> Is Zerwick-Grosvenor over-interpreting the perfect here?

It is possible that Z-G is over-interpreting the perfect. Westcott  
(Ep.Hebrews p.177) gives a list of perfects in Hebrews which he  
considered significant and PEPOIHKEN in 11:28 is on the list.  
Ellingworth (Hebrews NIGTC) "... the perfect in contrast to the  
aorists in vv. 27 and 29, marks the establishment of the passover as  
a permanent institution ..." C.Koester (Heb.AB) "he kept the  
passover" with no comment on tense/aspect.

In narrative the relative levels of markedness for verb tense/aspect  
looks something like:

aorist [perfective] -- imperfect/present [imperfective] -- perfect  
[stative]

I searched the LXX for non-aorist forms of POEIW within 10 words of  
PASCA. There were NO perfects, one present and several futures. The  
aorist was found nearly twice as often as all other forms combined.  
This makes sense if the aorist is the unmarked tense/aspect.

Porter (Idioms NTG, p23) breaks down narrative prominence into three  
layers aorist [perfective, background], imperfect/present  
[imperfective, foreground], perfect [stative, front-ground]. The  
perfect is the most marked. I think this is what Ellingworth is  
driving at with his "the perfect in contrast to the aorists in vv. 27  
and 29" statement. The perfect stands out against a background of  
aorists. That doesn't necessarily mean that PEPOIHKEN in 11:28 "marks  
the establishment of the passover as a permanent institution ...".

What is required is a study of the perfect in Hebrews which means  
looking at about 40 finite verbs, Westcott included in his list only  
half that number. Westcott claims that the "full force" of the  
perfect is felt in "every case." I suspect once could come up with  
some exceptions, however I am inclined to agree with Westcott and  
Ellingworth that PEPOIHKEN in 11:28 is marked relative to the aorist.


Elizabeth Kline







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