[B-Greek] Present imperative in Matt. 7:1
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Tue Dec 8 23:56:44 EST 2009
----- Original Message -----
From: Blue Meeksbay
To: Iver Larsen
Cc: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: 8. december 2009 19:47
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Present imperative in Matt. 7:1
So it seems the present action is carried into the verbal idea and does not
necessarily refer to the original setting in which the negative injunction is
spoken. Robertson says, “In general MH is used with the present imper. to forbid
what one is already doing.” But it seems what you are saying is that the present
imperative also carries an imperfective aspect in the verbal idea itself, thus
Matt. 7:1 would carry the force of “Don't be judgmental" or "Don't go around
judging people". Consequently, if the aorist imperative was used in this
situation it would carry the idea of “Don’t judge!” with the focus on the “act”
rather than on the resultant “character” achieved through obedience to the
injunction.
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IL: In my understanding, an aorist "Don't judge" would refer to a specific
situation. Confer the five instances of KRINATE in the NT: Jhn 18:31, Act 4:19,
Rom 14:13, 1Co 10:15, 1Co 11:13.
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If this is so, I wonder (thinking back on the thought gleaned from Dr. Conrad’s
post), if the saying in Matt. 7:1 was a type of Semitic idiom, (A popular saying
of Hillel was, “Judge not your fellowman until you come into his place” Avot
2:5), could the present imperative be a technique to convey this type of
idiomatic thinking? Therefore, the negative injunction would actually be thought
of as a positive injunction. The thought of Matt. 7:1 would then be, “Be
humble.” This would explain verse 5 where judgment may sometimes still have to
occur, but it would only occur from one who is humble, and is therefore able to
judge, not with self-righteousness, but with humility and fear.
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IL: I am reluctant to impose a Semitic idiom here. Of course, the word "judge"
is rather broad, and has both a negative and positive aspect or application. The
negative aspect in English is carried by "judgmental". And that negative aspect
is often cause by pride, a sense of superiority or a selfish attitude. A
positive judging does require humility, but I don't think that can be derived
from the tense of the word used.
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If the present imperative can be used in this manner (with Semitic idiomatic
sayings), perhaps, John 5:14, which says, META TAUTA EUPISKEI AUTON O IHSOUS
EN TW IERW KAI EIPEN AUTW IDE UGIHS GEGONAS MHKETI AMARTANE INA MH CEIRON TI SOI
GENHTAI, could then be understood to also be a positive admonition to “Be
righteous.” ???
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IL: Here we have MHKETI, so Jesus is saying: do no longer be sinning, or if you
want: stop sinning, which is another way of saying: live a righteous life. You
find DIKAIWS next to MH hAMARTANETE in 1Co 15.34. I don't find any aorist
(negated) imperatives of hAMARTANEIN in the NT, but if it were to be used, I
would expect it referred to a specific sin: Do not do this particular sin again.
Iver Larsen
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