Beginning Greek for Bible Study

1. Evgw, eivmi to; A[lfa Beginning Greek for Bible Study Class #7 Verbs kai; to; w=

2. Exegetical Example No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. pa/j o` evn auvtw/| me,nwn ouvc a`marta,nei\ pa/j o` a`marta,nwn ouvc e`w,raken auvto.n ouvde. e;gnwken auvto,nÅ Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; Tekni,a( mhdei.j plana,tw u`ma/j\ o` poiw/n th.n dikaiosu,nhn di,kaio,j evstin( kaqw.j evkei/noj di,kaio,j evstin\

3. Exegetical Example he one who practices sin is aof the devil; for the devil 1has sinned from the beginning. bThe Son of God cappeared for this purpose, dto destroy the works of the devil. o` poiw/n th.n a`marti,an evk tou/ diabo,lou evsti,n( o[ti avpV avrch/j o` dia,boloj a`marta,neiÅ eivj tou/to evfanerw,qh o` ui`o.j tou/ qeou/( i[na lu,sh| ta. e;rga tou/ diabo,louÅ No one who is 1aborn of God bpractices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is 1born of God. Pa/j o` gegennhme,noj evk tou/ qeou/ a`marti,an ouv poiei/( o[ti spe,rma auvtou/ evn auvtw/| me,nei( kai. ouv du,natai a`marta,nein( o[ti evk tou/ qeou/ gege,nnhtaiÅ

4. Introduction to Greek Verbs • Greek Verbs have: • Tense – indicates the “type” of action, and sometimes the time as well • Voice – how the action affects the subject • Mood – the action’s relationship to reality • Person – who is the subject • Number – is the subject one or more people • Agreement – verbs must agree with its subject in person and number

5. A Basic Verb Chart

6. Verbal Aspect • Aspect is perhaps the most difficult concept to understand with Greek verbs. • Aspect refers to the type of action a verb is describing • Unlike English, Greek is primarily interested in the type of action, and only secondarily, the time of the action • In Greek, the tense of a verb primarily reveals the type of action, and only sometimes, the time of the action

7. Verbal Aspect • There are three aspects: • Undefined (external) – this type of verb simply states the action, without any further indication about the type of action • Continuous (internal) – this type of verb means that the action is an ongoing process • Perfective – this type of verb means that the action has been completed in the past but has effects that carry into the present

8. Lexical (dictionary) Forms • In English, if you look up a verb in a dictionary, it is given in the infinitive form: “to run,” “to speak,” “to clean.” • In Greek, the dictionary (lexical) form is the first person singular, present indicative: • avkou,w – “I hear” • le,gw – “I say”

9. Numbering Systems • Over the years, scholars have assigned numbers to Greek words. These numbers make it easy to look up Greek words, even for people who don’t know Greek. • The most common numbering system was developed by James Strong. They are known as “Strong’s numbers.” • Because Dr. Strong did not number every Greek word, a new numbering system was recently developed by Ed Goodrick and John Kohlenberger. This system is known as the GK numbering system.

10. Numbering Systems • Our textbook uses the GK system, as well as Dr. Mounce’s Interlinear for the Rest of Us. • However, the most common numbering system that the vast majority of books and resources use, is the Strong’s System. • We’ll talk about how to use the numbering systems to look up words next time.

11. Active and Passive Voice

12. Deponent Verbs • Sometimes, a Greek verb will have a passive form, but will be active in meaning. These are called deponent verbs. • Identifying a deponent verb is fairly easy. Deponent verbs end in omai

13. Middle Voice • Unlike English, Greek also has a Middle voice. • The middle voice indicates that the action of the verb in some way concerns the subject. • Jesus answered nothing [in his defense]. • Mary has chosen [for herself] the good part. • He (Ananias) kept back [for himself] some of the price. • Often, the forms for the passive and middle voices are identical, so context must dictate which voice is meant. • Most middle voice verbs are deponents (75%)

14. Subjects and Verbs • A Greek sentence does not require an expressed subject, since the subject can often be “built into” the verb. For example: • evgw. le,gw = “I say” • le,gw = “I say” • Greek also can drop the direct object if it has already been expressed

15. The Present Indicative • The present indicative verb describes an action that generally occurs in the present from the speaker/writer’s point of view • Tense = present, indicating continuous or undefined action. The present tense usually (but not always) indicates action occurring at the present time. • Mood – indicative, or a statement of fact • Voice – in the present tense, the middle and passive voice forms are identical

16. Uses of the Present Indicative • Immediate action (instantaneous) • My son, your sins are forgiven (Mark 2:5) • Ongoing action (progressive) • For if I am praying in a tongue, my spirit is praying (1 Cor. 14:14) • Repeated action (iterative) • For often he falls into the fire (Matt. 17:15) • Regular action (habitual) • I fast twice a week (Luke 18:12)

17. Uses of the Present Indicative • A timeless fact (gnomic) • God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7) • Past action (dramatic) • The next day, he saw Jesus coming toward him (John 1:29) • Future action (futuristic) • Yes, I am coming quickly (Rev. 22:20)

18. The Future Indicative • The future indicative describes action that will occur in the future. • In English, we simply add a helping verb to create the future (“will” or “shall”). • In Greek, a different form of the word is used.

19. Uses of the Future Indicative • Predictive (something that will happen in the future) • He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion (Phil. 1:6) • Command (imperative) • You shall love the Lord your God (Matt. 22:37) • Gnomic (a generic event will occur) • Man shall not live on bread alone (Matt. 4:4)

20. The Past Tenses • Aorist – undefined action that normally occurs in the past • Imperfect – continuous action that normally occurs in the past

21. The Past Tenses • Unlike the Present tense, which can refer either to continuous or undefined action, the Imperfect always refers to continuous action, and the Aorist always indicates undefined action • Both the Aorist and Imperfect tenses usually refer to past action, but not always. Remember, time is secondary!

22. Uses of the Imperfect Tense • Ongoing action that happened in the past (Progressive) • He was teaching his disciples (Mark 9:31) • Emphasize the beginning of the action (Inceptive) • Angels came and began to minister to him (Matt. 4:11) • Repeated action (iterative) • The widow kept coming to the judge (Luke 18:3)

23. Uses of the Imperfect Tense • Regular action (Customary) • Now at the feast, he used to release for them any one prisoner (Mark 15:6) • Others: action that one • Wishes to do (Voluntative) • For I could wish that I myself were accursed (Rom. 9:3) • Tries to do (Conative) • But John tried to deter him (Matt. 3:14) • Almost does (Tendential)

24. Uses of the Aorist Tense • Looks at the action as a whole without further comment (constative) • He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan (Matt. 15:39) • Emphasize beginning (ingressive) • The king was angry (Matt. 22:7) • Timeless truth (gnomic) • The grass withers and the flower falls off (1 Pt. 1:24) • Future (proleptic) • And those whom he justified he also glorified (Rom. 8:30)

25. The Perfect Indicative • The perfect tense refers to completed action with present effects. • Uses of the perfect tense: • Emphasize the completion (Consummative) • I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race (2 Tim. 4:7) • Emphasize the resulting state of the action (Intensive) • Man, your sins are forgiven you (Luke 5:20)

26. Homework • Read chapter 19 in Greek for the Rest of Us (Green book) • Do the exercises at the end of chapter 18 (Greek book) • Catch up and review as needed

27. Advanced Class Class #7 More on verbs!

28. Review of Declensions • 1st declension – stem ends in alpha or eta • 2nd declension – stem ends in omicron • 3rd declension – stem ends in a consonant • The good news: there are only three declensions!

29. Declension and Gender 1st and 2nd declension 3rd declension

30. Declension and Gender 1st and 2nd declension 3rd declension

31. The Article

32. The Greek verb • Tense (Present, Imperfect, Future, Aorist, Perfect) • Tense signifies verbal aspect • Tense sometimes can signify verbal time • Voice (Active, Middle, Passive) • Mood (Indicative, Imperative, Subjunctive, Infinitive, Participle) • Person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) • Number (Singular, Plural)

33. How to Build a Verb • Stem • Connecting vowel • Personal endings lu + o + men

34. Present Active Indicative • Describes an action that normally occurs in the present, either continuous or undefined. • Present tense stem + connecting vowel + primary active personal endings

35. Present Active Indicative

36. Master Verb Chart

37. Present Passive Indicative

38. Present Middle Indicative

39. Master Verb Chart

40. Future Tense • The future tense refers to action that will take place in the future. • Formation of the future active indicative: Future active stem + tense formative (s) + connecting vowel + primary active endings lu + s + o + men = lu,somen

41. Future Active Indicative

42. Future Middle Indicative

43. Future of eivmi, (mid dep)

44. Master Verb Chart

45. Homework • Read chapters 17, 20-22 in Basics of Biblical Greek (blue book) • Do the workbook exercises for chapters 15-16, 18-19. • Memorize your charts! • Catch up on vocabulary!