[B-Greek] Function of the Greek aorist
Don Dwight
dddwight1234 at sbcglobal.net
Thu Mar 27 23:05:25 EDT 2008
Thank you for your comments on the gnomic aorist.
I see the gnomic aorist as just one of many characterizations of the
subject by the aorist predicate.
After reading what H.W.Symth, FBAD, M.Zerwick, M.Z. & M.Grosvenor, and
contributors to this list have to say about the Greek aorist, I am still
confused by the various explanations.
This seemingly endless application of the aorist is what motivated me to
think outside the predicate, so to speak. In my mind, the Greeks must
have had a simpler notion of the aorist to use it in everyday speech.
Once I found this notion, I could get past this stumbling block and get
on with my study of Greek.
Let me explain my limited understanding of the aorist.
The notion of characterization of the subject by the aorist predicate
accounts for the numerous uses of the aorist. The aorist makes the
predicate a versatile modifier of the subject, more so than the
non-aorist predicate.
What is the difference between the characterization of the subject by
the aorist predicate and by the non-aorist predicate? In my humble
opinion, focus makes the difference.
The characterization of the subject by the aorist predicate focuses
attention on the meaning the whole predicate. The characterization may
include the kind and time of activity, but is not limited by them. The
characterization can go beyond the kind and time of activity to a
changeless and timeless place in the mind of the author. The aorist, of
course, is limited by place, that is, by context.
An example of the aorist which includes the time of activity is the
historic aorist. An example of where the characterization goes beyond
time is the gnomic aorist.
The characterization of the subject by the non-aorist predicate focuses
attention on the kind and time of activity, and is limited by them, that
is, cannot go beyond them. The meaning of the predicate as a whole is
not excluded from the characterization, but the whole is not the focus
of attention.
Focusing on just the time of activity is what leads to the function of
the predicate as a modifier of the subject being all but forgotten.
Obsession with the time of activity carries over to the treatment of the
kind of activity and of the aorist. The "kind of activity" is reduced to
the beginning, middle or ending of the time of activity. The "aorist" is
reduced to a point at the beginning, middle or ending of the "kind of
activity", or to a point which includes the whole time of activity.
In my mind, the aorist focuses attention on the meaning of the whole
predicate as a characteristic of the subject.
Donald D.Dwight
Monterey, California
George F Somsel wrote:
> I think what you are referencing is the gnomic aorist which sets forth a customary situation. E.g. cf Jas 1.11
>
> ἀνέτειλεν γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος σὺν τῷ καύσωνι καὶ ἐξήρανεν τὸν χόρτον καὶ τὸ ἄνθος αὐτοῦ ἐξέπεσεν καὶ ἡ εὐπρέπεια τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ ἀπώλετο· οὕτως καὶ ὁ πλούσιος ἐν ταῖς πορείαις αὐτοῦ μαρανθήσεται.
>
>
>
> ANETEILEN GAR hO hHLIOS SUN TWi KAUSWNI KAI ECHRANEN TON CORTON KAI TO ANQOS AUTOU ECEPESEN KAI hH EUPREPEIA TOU PROSWPOU AUTOU APWLETO; hOUTWS KAI hO PLOUSIOS EN TAIS PREIAIS AUTOU MARANQHSETAI.
>
> Note what Robertson says regarding this
>
> (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.
> Robertson, A. (1919; 2006). A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research (836). Logos.
>
> Note especially the last sentence in the quoted portion.
>
> There are also other useS of the aorist. E.g. Robertson notes the ingressive use of the aorist
>
> (β) Ingressive Aorist. This is the inceptive or inchoative aorist. It is not, however, like the “constative” idea, a tensenotion at all. It is purely a matter with the individual
> verb. Thus ἐπτώχευσεν [EPTWXEUSEN], 2 Cor. 8:9, is ‘became poor’; ἔζησεν [EZHSEN], Ro. 14:9, is ‘became alive’ (cf. ἀπέθανεν [APEQANEN] just before).
> Robertson, A. (1919; 2006). A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research (834). Logos.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> george
> gfsomsel
>
> … 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: Don Dwight <dddwight1234 at sbcglobal.net>
> To: gfsomsel at yahoo.com
> Cc: cwconrad2 at mac.com; B-Greek at lists.ibiblio
> Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 7:36:57 PM
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Function of the Greek aorist
>
> Carl Conrad wrote:
>
>> On Mar 16, 2008, at 3:41 AM, George F Somsel wrote:
>>
>>
>>> How then would you deal with the passive where it is not the subject
>>> which acts but on whom the action is performed? Consider Mt 17.2
>>>
>>> καὶ (1) μετεμορφώθη ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν, καὶ (2) ἔλαμψεν τὸ πρόσωπον
>>> αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος, τὰ δὲ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ (3) ἐγένετο λευκὰ ὡς τὸ φῶς.
>>>
>>>
>>> KAI METEMORFWQH EMPROSQEN AUTWN, KAI ELAMYEN TO PROSWPON AUTOU hWS hO
>>> hHLIOS, TA DE hIMATIA AUTOU EGENETO LEUKA hWS TO FWS
>>>
>>> Here we find the aorist in different voices:
>>>
>>> 1. μετεμορφώθη [METEMORFWQH], aorist passive : Here is is not Jesus
>>> who is said "to change", but that he "is changed", i.e. the action is
>>> performed upon him.
>>>
>> Although this verb is lemmatized in BDAG and LSJ as METAMORFOW
>> (μεταμορφόω), it probably should preferably be lemmatized as
>> METAMORFOUMAI (μεταμορφοῦμαι). In the GNT it appears only in the
>> middle-passive; LSJ gives active forms only with reflexive pronoun
>> hEAUTON (ἑαυτόν). In Rom 12:2 the imperative METAMORFOUSQE
>> (μεταμορφοῦσθε) is usually Englished as "be changed" but the
>> imperative certainly indicates subject participation in the
>> transformation.
>>
>>
>>> 2. ἔλαμψεν [ELAMYEN], aorist active : His face is portrayed as
>>> active "his face shone." This use would conform to your suggestion.
>>> 3. ἐγένετο [EGENETO] aorist middle : The subject performs the action
>>> and participates in the results "his clothing became …" Here you
>>> have it both ways -- the subject both acts and is the "recipient" of
>>> the action (probably a bad choice of words).
>>>
>> I think the academic linguists call it "patient." For my part, I
>> wouldn't argue that the subject "performs" any action here. There are
>> two major kinds of middle verbs, transitive verbs that usually involve
>> a subject performing an act on himself/herself/itself or on
>> his/her/its behalf, and intransitive verbs that usually involve a
>> subject undergoing a process.
>>
>>
>>> _________
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----
>>> From: Don Dwight <dddwight1234 at sbcglobal.net>
>>> To: B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
>>> Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 1:42:34 PM
>>> Subject: [B-Greek] Function of the Greek aorist
>>>
>>>
>>> Request your comments on the proposition
>>> that the function of the Greek aorist is
>>> to specify the activity of the subject of the verb.
>>>
>>> By specification of activity, I mean,
>>> the kind of activity that the subject does,
>>> as distinct from predication (what the subject is),
>>> and from attribution (what the subject has).
>>>
>>> In other words, for the aorist, subject is as subject does.
>>>
>>> To illustrate with a contrived example:
>>>
>>> The red ball bounced merrily along the pavement at noon.
>>>
>>> Red (the subject has redness: attribution)
>>> Ball (the subject is a ball: predication)
>>> Bounces merrily along the pavement at noon
>>> (what the subject does: specification)
>>>
>>> To illustrate with an example from Lk 1,47:
>>>
>>> KAI HGALLIASEN TO PNEUMA MOU EPI TWi QEWi TWi SWTHRI MOU,
>>>
>>> (TO PNEUMA MOU is the kind which
>>> HGALLIASEN EPI TWi QEWi TWi SWTHRI MOU).
>>>
>>> Donald D.Dwight
>>> Monterey, California
>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>> Carl W. Conrad
>> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
>>
>>
>>
> Thank you for your comments.
>
> First, let me revise the proposition.
>
> The function of the Greek aorist
> is to specify the subject of the verb.
>
> By specification of the subject, I mean,
> what kind of activity characterizes the subject,
> as distinct from predication (what the subject is),
> and from attribution (what the subject has).
>
> In other words, for the aorist,
> the predicate characterizes the subject.
>
> To illustrate with a contrived example:
>
> The red ball bounced merrily along the pavement at noon.
>
> Red (the subject has redness: attribution)
> Ball (the subject is a ball: predication)
> Bounces merrily along the pavement at noon
> (the kind of activity characteristic of the subject:
> specification)
>
> To illustrate with an example from Lk 1,47:
>
> KAI HGALLIASEN TO PNEUMA MOU EPI TWi QEWi TWi SWTHRI MOU,
>
> (KAI TO PNEUMA MOU is the kind which
> HGALLIASEN EPI TWi QEWi TWi SWTHRI MOU).
>
> Second, this is how I would deal with voice in Mt 17,2;
> as part of the characterization of the subject:
>
> KAI (1) METEMORFWQH EMPROSQEN AUTWN,
> KAI (2) ELAMYEN TO PROSWPON AUTOU hWS hO hHLIOS,
> TA DE hIMATIA AUTOU (3) EGENETO LEUKA hWS TO FWS.
>
> 1. KAI the subject is the kind which
> METEMORFWQH EMPROSQEN AUTWN,
>
> 2. TO PROSWPON AUTOU is the kind which
> ELAMYEN hWS hO hHLIOS,
>
> 3. TA DE hIMATIA AUTOU are - is the kind which
> EGENETO LEUKA hWS TO FWS.
>
> Donald D. Dwight
> Monterey, California
>
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