From: Richard Lindeman (richlind@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Wed Dec 03 1997 - 13:42:51 EST
OK... let me try this once again and see if I can get some feedback to my
current understanding of the present and imperfect tenses. As I see them
being used in narrative sections of the New Testament they seem to have
several distinct possibilities:
#1 These tenses can have the force of ongoing, frequentive, or repetetive
action within the verb itself.
#2 These tenses can have the force of maintaining the ongoing contiguity of
a narrative.
For example... The imperfects of Matthew 26:58 and Matthew 26:69
are simply maintaining the contiguity of an ongoing narrative.
The imperfects do not so much describe continuous or repetetive action
within the verbs here. But rather they create a sense of expectation that
more is yet to follow within the narrative.
#3 These tenses can have the force of drawing the listener into the action
of the narrative.
There are many examples of the "historical" present tense which do not so
much carry the sense of continuous or repetetive action but rather they
simply draw the listener in closer as an observer or pseudo participant
within the action.
#4 Or they can have a combination of more than one of the above nuances.
In other words, either the action or the listener or the narrative itself is
being given contiguity by the present and imperfect tenses. The translators
task then is to determine which of the above nuances are strongest in any
given instance.
Rich Lindeman
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