[B-Greek] Present imperative in Matt. 7:1

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Tue Dec 8 21:31:59 EST 2009


And again on the pres impv
§4.Moods of Present and Aorist in Relation to Their Time and Aktionsarten(a) Present and Aorist Imperative and Prohibitive Subjunctive1
The same distinction holds in the imperative as in the indicative; the present is durative or incomplete or iterative and the aorist punctiliar or constative. It affects commands in this way, that the aorist imper. is more or less restricted to precepts concerning conduct in specific cases; and this applies also to prohibitions, which in the aorist are subjunctive. Somewhat peremptory and categorical, they tend to be ingressive, giving either a command to commence some action or a prohibition against commencing it. On the other hand, present imperatives give a command to do something constantly, top 75 continue to do it; or else a prohibition against its continuance, an interruption of an action already begun. But they are less pressing, less rude, less ruthless, than the aorist. Requests to the deity are regularly aorist, for they aim to gain a hearing for specific matters rather than to bind continually. These distinctions are broadly observed in all
 periods and even in MGr. On the other hand there are passages which do not conform: in 2 Co 13:11. 12 after a chain of present imperatives we find the aor. 
1. Present Imperative
(
(
MHT iii. 74-76

 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: Louis Sorenson <llsorenson at hotmail.com>
To: bluemeeksbay at yahoo.com; Carl Conrad <cwconrad2 at mac.com>; B-Greek List mail to all <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tue, December 8, 2009 7:00:21 PM
Subject: [B-Greek] Present imperative in Matt. 7:1




Martin M. Culy in I, II, III John: A Handbook on the Greek Text (Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament)
http://www.amazon.com/II-III-John-Handbook-Testament/dp/1932792082/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260323408&sr=8-2
has an analysis of imperatives in Chapter 1 or 2 . (A Student has confiscated by book, so I cannot look at it.)
If I remember correctly, he says that of about 400+ present imperatives in the New testament, 250 show 
the idea of "stop doing something" and 150 do not have that idea/aspect. Perhaps someone can post that portion
of Culy's Text. Culy's point is that you cannot make the statement (propounded by Moulton?) that the
present imperative + MH = "Stop Doing Something" and the Aorist Imperative + MH = "Don't Start doing something."

Louis Sorenson

---Iver Larson's Email as follows----------------------



> Thank you Dr. Conrad -
> 
> Your answer made me wonder if, perhaps, this was an idiomatic expression of which we are not aware, and, therefore, in this case, should not be open to such literal scrutiny. Therefore, your suggestion ?Don?t be judgmental? would be spot on.
> 
> B.Harris

The basic distinction between the present and aorist imperative is a matter of aspect with the present indicating imperfective aspect and the aorist perfective aspect. So, if we study what these different aspects mean, we have come a long way.

Imperfective aspect can refer to several things, such as a continuing or prolonged action or a repeated action. Perfective aspect see the event as completed whole and often as a single action, not to be repeated.

So, in Matt 7:1 "Don't be judgmental" covers the imperfective aspect well. One might also say: "Don't go around judging people". It is questionable to translate with "Stop judging".

There is a correlation between imperfective and plurality of subjects or objects.

When I did a count of second person singular and plural imperatives in the NT, I got the following numbers (not counting some subjunctive aorists and futures functioning as imperatives):

2nd person singular:? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 2nd person plural:
present imperatives: 262? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 468
aorist imperatives: 371? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 325

Why are present imperatives much more common in plural? My suggestion is that when several people are doing the same action, it often comes under the concept of repeated action.

But there might be other reasons. It could be because most of the general commands in the NT are directed to a group of people, and general commands are normally in the present tense. It would be interesting to do similar counts outside the NT.

A negated present tense command may indicate the stopping of a continuous, prolonged or repeated action, but it would be too simplistic to say that it always does. It can also mean "Do not continually or repeatedly do X". As always, it is the context that may clarify the intended nuance of meaning.

Iver Larsen
                          
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ἀσπάσασθεwithout being aware of anything significant in the change. The problem of the Aktionsartof the tenses is by no means solved as yet for the NT, and possibly John gives a clue when he seems to vary the tense according to the verb he is using. Why is the same prohibition, however, μὴ ὀμόσῃςin Mt 5:36 and μὴ ὀμνύετεin Jas 5:12?α) Positive. Mt 26:38 Mk 14:34 do not go away (aor.) but be on guard always (γρηγορεῖτε). Lk 22:40. 46 Heb 13:18 keep praying προσεύχεσθε. Pres. of περιπατέωand στοιχέωgo on walking: 1 Co 7:17 Ga 5:16. 25 Eph 4:17 5:2. 8 Ph 3:16 Col 2:6 4:5 1 Th 4:12. See Lk 11:9 σἰτεῖτε, ζητεῖτε, κρούετε: petite perseveranter … quaerite indefesse … pulsate iterum atque iterum (Zerwick § 181). But ἔρχουand ἐλθέdo not seem to conform, for the pres.=start to come Jn 1:47 ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε, while the aor. ἐλθάτω=continue
 to come Mt 6:10 (the Kingdom being present already as a grain of seed). In Mt 14:29 however ἐλθέconforms: either ingressive start to come! or perfective come here! 1 Co 7:36 let him go on doing what he wants ποιείτω. But except for Jn 21:10 ἐνέγκατε, we find always φέρε, φέρετε, whatever the context. Mt 5:24 first be reconciled (aor.) and then come and offer as many gifts as you like πρόσφερε(but 8:4 προσένεγκε τὸ δῶρον). Another exception is ἔγειρε, ὕπαγε, πορεύουand pl., which are used perhaps for politeness, as less peremptory, regardless of the Aktionsart: Ac 22:10 πορεύουwhere the rule demands aor. Mt 2:20 25:9 Lk 5:24 also. But πορεύθητιcorrectly Mt 8:9 be off! We usually find πιστεύωin the pres. also: Mk 1:15 persevere in repentance μετανοεῖτεand belief πιστεύετε, 5:36 stop being frightened μὴ φοβοῦ, but go on having
 faith πίστευε(perhaps corrected in Lk 8:50: start to have faith πίστευσον). In Mk the command is to continue to have as much faith as before ; in Lk,p 76 it is to begin having faith, or to have a better faith than before the child died. Perhaps Luke felt the subtle difference.β) Negative. Mt 6:19 stop laying up μὴ θησαυρίζετε, 25 cease being anxious μὴ μεριμνᾶτε(but 34 never be anxious μὴ μεριμνήσητε). Mk 5:36 6:50 etc. Lk 1:13. 30 2:10 5:10 8:50 etc. stop being frightened! μὴ φοβοῦand pl. Lk 8:52 they were weeping, and he said Weep not (or Stop weeping) μὴ κλαίετε. Jn 2:16 μὴ ποιεῖτεstop making, 5:45 μὴ δοκεῖτεcease to imagine, 19:21 μὴ γράφεstop writing, i.e. alter what you have written, 20:17 μή μου ἅπτουstop touching me! 6:43 μὴ γογγύζετε. Ro 6:12 μὴ βασιλευέτωcontinue to reign, 13 do not continue yielding
 your members to sin μὴ παριστάνετε, but start yielding yourselves to God παραστήσατε. 2 Co 6:17 μὴ ἅπτεσθε(SAQ in LXX Isai 52:11, B aor.).Eph 4:26 μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε, 5:18 μὴ μεθύσκεσθε, Col 3:9 μὴ ψεύδεσθε. Jas 1:7 he must stop thinking μὴ οἰέσθω, 5:12 μὴ ὀμνύετε(aor. Mt 5:36). 1 Pt 4:15 let none of you ever suffer πασχέτω; the writer prefers pres. to aor. imper.; we might expect aor. at 1:13. 15. 17. 22 2:2. 13. 17 3:10. 11. 14. 15 4:7 5:2. 5. 6. 8. 9. See also Mt 6:16 1 Ti 4:14 5:22. PSI IV 353, 16 (254 b.c.) μὴ ἐπιλανθάνου ἡμῶνdo not forget us in future. P. Tebt. I 6, 43 (140 b.c.) μηθενὶ ἐπιτρέπετε πρασσειν τι τῶν προδεδηλωμένωνstop allowing anyone to do what we have ordered previously. 


      



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