[b-greek] Re: Aorist never codes an open situation? - to Kimmo

From: Kimmo Huovila (kimmo@kaamas.kielikone.fi)
Date: Fri Dec 22 2000 - 01:28:09 EST


Rolf,

Sorry for neglecting your comments so long, but your message kind of got
buried under other e-mail in my mailbox.

Rolf Furuli wrote:
>
<snip>
> Dear Alan,
>
> I agree with you that neither punctiliarity nor completeness is an
> uncancellable characteristic of the aorist. When discussing the subject it
> is important to differentiate between states (which continue without an
> input of energy) and actions (which need energy to continue). Two examples
> of states which neither were completed, nor complete, nor punctiliar, but
> were expressed by the aorist are:
>
> ROMANS 5:14 ALLA EBASILEUSEN hO QANATOS APO ADAM MECRI MWUSEWS
>
> The factual, objective situation was that death continued to rule over
> mankind after Moses as well, and it still rules. A part of this ruling is
> made visible by Paul, and to do this he used the aorist form of the verb.
> The aorist therefore can code for an open situation (if we by 'situation'
> mean the objective state or action - here the ruling of death over
> mankind), and if we by 'open' mean an objective situation whose end is not
> included in what is focused upon by the verb.

But if one understands as "reigning from Adam to Moses" as an
accomplishment, it can still be seem as bounded, with no implication
that the situation changed. Reigning is lexically unbounded, but it is
bounded in an outer layer by "from Adam to Moses". The verb gets its
morphological aspect from this semantic layer. If nesting is not
considered, the analysis of aspect becomes much more problematic, in
this case to the point of losing its meaning (as if aorist described an
open aspect).

The analysis would be different if one saw the layers differently:
reigning first bounded and only then the bounds described temporally.
Then the reigning would have ended at Moses. But there is no need to
take it this way. The bounded interpretation still stands. So this verse
is a good example of the importance of looking at layers when studying
aspect.

>
> HEBREWS 4:4 KAI KATEPAUSEN hO QEOS EN THi hHMERAi THi hEBDOMHi
>
> The context shows that God's rest still continued ( see v 11), and that it
> was possible for the Christians to experience a similar rest from
> particular actions (see v 10). Thus no end is seen even though the aorist
> is used.

KATAPAUW is aspectually different from 'to rest'. KATAPAUW means ceasing
from work, and looks quite punctual. Thus the aorist is appropriate
regardless of the length of the following rest.

Kimmo Huovila

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