perfect participles

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Jonathan Robie
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Re: perfect participles

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Jason Hare wrote: October 28th, 2024, 2:38 pm Ἐρριζωμένοι (errizōménoi) is indeed a perfect middle-passive participle masculine nominative/vocative plural. The perfect participle looks generally at something that has been accomplished in the past and has results in the present. These people experienced the rooting earlier on and were then in the state of having their roots already put in place. Perfect participles are used quite a bit, and we shouldn’t overreach when examining a grammatical structure. It’s used the same way that we do in English, when we say that someone is “retired,” meaning that they entered retirement in the past and remain in a state of unemployment, or that they are “married,” meaning that someone married them in the past and they remain in the state of matrimony. Greek is not a mystical language. It’s just a language, and our goal here is to learn its functions and features, not to impute mystical sense where it isn’t naturally present. Try to be careful with that kind of thing, if that is the direction you were leaning.
Some examples of the perfect participle to illustrate your description (actions completed in the past with ongoing effects or relevance in the present):
  • Luke 4:41:
    πεφημισμένοι αὐτόν
    "Because they knew that He was the Christ."
    (The demons have already recognized Jesus as the Christ, and their state of knowledge persists.)
  • John 19:30:
    τετέλεσται
    "It is finished!"
    (Jesus declares that His mission is completed, and the resulting state of completion remains.)
  • Ephesians 2:8:
    σεσῳσμένοι ἐστε
    "For by grace you have been saved."
    (The act of salvation was completed in the past, and the state of being saved continues.)
  • Matthew 16:19:
    δεδεμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς
    "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven."
    (The binding is completed in heaven in the past, and the state of being bound continues.)
  • 1 Peter 1:8:
    ἠγαπηκότες αὐτόν
    "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him."
    (The readers' love for Christ has begun in the past and continues in the present.)
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
Jonathan Robie
Posts: 4237
Joined: May 5th, 2011, 5:34 pm
Location: Durham, NC
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Re: perfect participles

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Maximusinthehouse wrote: October 24th, 2024, 9:27 am Question: So Colossians 2:7 Rooted is Perf, pass,participle..this is a Past Action Completed so the participle refers to?
First off, where is the main verb for this participle? Without that, you're lost. It's back in verse 6:

6 Ὡς οὖν παρελάβετε τὸν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν κύριον, ἐν αὐτῷ περιπατεῖτε, 7 ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ ἐποικοδομούμενοι ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ βεβαιούμενοι τῇ πίστει καθὼς ἐδιδάχθητε, περισσεύοντες ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ.

The B-Greek guidelines ask you to quote the verse in Greek - I just did this for you, but please get in the habit of doing so yourself so you are looking at the Greek. Notice that in the Greek, this is all one sentence, there is only one period. In general, it's good to analyze an entire sentence, because trying to understand part of a sentence always leaves some of the important relationships out.

Main Verb (Colossians 2:6):

περιπατεῖτε (walk): Present imperative, continuous action.
Relation: All participles describe how believers are to continuously walk in Christ.

Non-finite Verbs (Colossians 2:7):

ἐρριζωμένοι (having been rooted)
Perfect participle: Past action with ongoing effects.
Relation: You walk, having been rooted in Christ.

ἐποικοδομούμενοι (being built up)
Present participle: Continuous action.
Relation: You walk, being built up in Christ.

βεβαιούμενοι (having been established)
Perfect participle: Past action with ongoing effects.
Relation: You walk, having been established in the faith.

περισσεύοντες (abounding)
Present participle: Continuous action.
Relation: You walk, abounding in thanksgiving.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
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