[B-Greek] Newbie question about I come/go

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Thu Jan 22 13:35:36 EST 2009


On Jan 22, 2009, at 11:25 AM, Mike Noel wrote:

> This is such an interesting email list but since I'm still quite the
> beginner most of the topics are well over my head.  I am confused
> about the different words for I come/go.  In particular I'm looking at
> the following words:
>
> ἔρχομαι (ERCOMAI) -- deponent
> βαίνω (BAINW)
> πορεύομαι (POREUOMAI) -- deponent
>
> Machen (the text I'm using), translates ἔρχομαι (ERCOMAI)  
> as "I
> come" or "I go" while the other two are only translated as "I go".
> However, there are cases where prepositions are combined with the
> words to make "I go" become "I come".  For example  
> συνερχομαι
> (SUNERCOMAI) is "I come together" instead of "I go together".
>
> In English (which, unfortunately is the only language I know), the
> difference between "coming" and "going" is pretty clear.  Both words
> refer to the concept of the subject moving from one location to
> another but  there seems to be a distinction made based on the
> movement relative to the audience.  "going" is moving away from the
> audience while "coming" is moving toward the audience.  Even with a
> third person subject:
>
> "He goes to the house" --> implies that the audience is not at the  
> house
> "He comes to the house" --> implies that the audience is at the house
>
> My limited exposure to the Greek come/go verbs it appears that this
> distinction doesn't exist.  In fact, it appears that all three of
> those verbs are interchangeable in describing movement of the subject.
> I'm sure this isn't the case.  I'm sure there is some sort of
> explanation about how these words are related to each other.  I just
> don't know what it is.
>
> Can someone shed some light on this?  When I'm trying to translate "I
> go to the house" from English to Greek which of the following is
> correct:
>
> βαίνω πρὸς τὸν οἶκον (BAINW PROS TON OIKON)

You won't find this in the Greek NT. You could readily find EISBAINW  
EIS TON OIKON "I stride/walk into the house"
>
> ἔρχομαι πρὸς τὸν οἶκον (ERCOMAI PROS  
> TON OIKON)

This would mean "I'm going toward the/my house" -- but Greek idiom is  
rather OIKON ERCOMAI, "I'm going home"
>
> πορεύομαι πρὸς τὸν οἶκον (POREUOMAI  
> PROS TON OIKON)

This is more like "I'm on my way toward the/my house")

> And do all of these mean the same thing or are there subtle  
> differences?

POREUOMAI means "make one's way," "travel," "wayfare"
ERCOMAI aor. HLQON is the common word for "come" or "go", often  
compounded as PROSERCOMAI, APERCOMAI, etc. It is used of coming/going  
both toward and away from a point of reference, which is why it can be  
conveyed readily by English "come" and "go."
BAINW really means "stride" or "put one's foot forward"; the verb is  
not found uncompounded in the New Testament, but its compounds,  
PROBAINW (move forward), KATABAINW (step down, dismount {from a horse  
or other beast of burden}, EKBAINW (exit, step out of), etc.


Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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