[B-Greek] Matt 3:17 - import of 1 per sing aorist EUDOKHSA

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Wed Nov 28 17:30:24 EST 2007


Robertson considers it a gnomic aorist, an aorist which expresses a general truth.  I tend to agree.  I've made a break in the text to set off the citation of this passage, but it should all be one paragraph.

(β) The Gnomic Aorist. Jannaris calls this also “empiric aorist,” while Gildersleeve uses “empirical” for the aorist with a negative or temporal adverb, a rather needless distinction. The real “gnomic” aorist is a universal or timeless aorist and probably represents the original timelessness of the aorist indicative. This aorist is common in Homer in comparisons and general sayings. The difference between the gnomic aorist and the present is that the present may be durative. But general truths may be expressed by the aoristic present. Gildersleeve (Syntax, p. 109) compares this use of the aorist to the generic article. Winer denies that this idiom occurs in the N. T., but on insufficient grounds. Abbott rather needlessly appeals to the “Hebrew influence on Johannine tense-construction” to explain ἐβλήθη καὶ ἐξηράνθη. (Jo. 15:6) after ἐὰν μή τις μένῃ ἐν
 ἐμοί . It is a general construction here and is followed by three presents (aoristic). This is a mixed condition certainly, the protasis being future [Page 837] (third class, undetermined with some likelihood of determination). But ἐδοξάσθη (Jo. 15:8) is possibly also gnomic. Cf. πάντες ἥμαρτον καὶ ὑστεροῦνται (Ro. 3:23). But in Jo. 15:6, 8, we may have merely the “timeless” aorist, like ὅταν θέλῃς, ἐξῆλθες, in Epictetus, IV, 10, 27. Radermacher (N. T. Gr., p. 124) so thinks and adds, what I do not admit: “The genuine gnomic aorist appears to be foreign to the Hellenistic vernacular.” It survives in modern Greek, according to Jannaris, Hist. Gk. Gr., p. 436. Moulton (Prol., pp. 135, 139) admits it in N. T., but (p. 134) considers Jo. 15:6 the “timeless” aorist, like ἀπωλόμην εἴ με λείψεις in Eur., Alc., 386. There are other examples, like ἔκρυψεν
 (Mt. 13:44) which is followed by presents ὑπάγει, πωλεῖ, ἠγόρασεν (13:46), συνέλεξαν—ἔβαλον (13:48), ὡμοιώθη (18:23), ἐκάθισαν (23:2), εὐδόκησα (Lu. 3:22), ἐδικαιώθη (7:35), ἐδίδαξεν (Jo. 8:28), ἀνέτειλεν and the other aorists in Jas. 1:11, ἐκάλεσε—ἐδόξασε (Ro. 8:30), ἐξηράνθη—ἐξέπεσεν (1 Pet. 1:24; LXX, Is. 40:7). It is true that the timeless Hebrew perfect is much like this gnomic aorist, but it is a common enough Greek idiom also. Cf. further Lu. 1:51–53. It is not certain that εὐδόκησα 

(Mt. 3:17; 

17:5; Mk. 1:11; Lu. 3:22) belongs here. It may be merely an example of the timeless aorist used in the present, but not gnomic. See under (ε). Burton (N. T. Moods and Tenses, p. 29) finds it difficult and thinks it originally “inceptive” (ingressive). 

Robertson, A. (1919; 2006). A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research (836). Logos.

 
george
gfsomsel
 
Therefore, O faithful Christian, search for truth, hear truth, 
learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth, 
defend the truth till death.
 
- Jan Hus
_________



----- Original Message ----
From: Carl W.Conrad <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
To: B-Greek B-Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: Delwyn X. Campbell <dxcj4life at hotmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 2:10:34 PM
Subject: [B-Greek] Matt 3:17 - import of 1 per sing aorist EUDOKHSA

CWC note: This message got waylaid on its course to the list; I've  
reformatted the Greek text to conform to BG usage:
===========
From: "Delwyn X. Campbell" <dxcj4life at hotmail.com>
Date: November 28, 2007 10:50:59 AM EST

Greetings:

I do not post often, being mostly content to glean from others.  This  
morning I was reading Chapters 3 and 4 of Matthew, and I am curious  
about the construction of the Father’s statement at the end of Matt  
3:17.  Please explain the significance, if any, (language, not  
theological) to the use of the aorist rather than either the perfect  
or present tense in this statement:

καὶ ἰδοὺ φωνὴ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν  
λέγουσα· οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ  
ἀγαπητός, ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα.
KAI IDOU FWNH EK TWN OURANWN LEGOUSA: hOUTOS ESTIN hO hUIOS MOU hO  
AGAPHTOS, EN hWi EUDOKHSA.

Delwyn X. Campbell
dxcj4life at hotmail.com

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