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

Randall Buth randallbuth at gmail.com
Thu Nov 29 15:19:45 EST 2007


campbell egrapse
>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.
>

This is a Greek word that was popular in the LXX and Jewish religious
contexts. However, Josephus, Philo, and Plutarch do not use the word.

The aorist is easily explained as a carryover from Hebrew where
ratsiti and Hafatsti (he`avar, typically past tenses) were used for
present situations (like the Greek perfect PARAKEIMENOS). One could
call these Semitisms or perfective aorists.

A contributing factor in the choice of the aorist is the irregularity
and rarity of the perfect form of this verb.
would one say EYDEDOKHKA? EYDEDOGMAI? HUDOKHKA?
The simple choice for the ancient author was to use a form in current
use in their circles and this was the aorist.




-- 
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicalulpan.org
χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη πληθυνθείη
שלום לכם וברכות
ybitan at mscc.huji.ac.il
randallbuth at gmail.com


More information about the B-Greek mailing list