Lesson 4

Overview

Daily Dose of Greek overview:

Lark Kelsey overview:

Ted Hildebrandt for another perspective:

Memory

Present Active Indicative of εἰμί ("to be")

Person	Singular	Plural
1st Person	εἰμί – I am	ἐσμέν – we are
2nd Person	εἶ – you are	ἐστέ – y'all are
3rd Person	ἐστί(ν) – he/she/it is	εἰσί(ν) – they are

• The verb εἰμί is irregular. Memorize it as a unique paradigm.
• The 3rd person singular and plural forms (ἐστί(ν), εἰσί(ν)) often include the movable nu (ν) before a vowel or pause but doesn't effect meaning.

Action vs. Stative Verbs

A. Action Verbs

• Dynamic, event-based predicates
• Can be transitive taking an object (e.g., "he writes a letter") or intransitive being a complete thought (e.g., "he is walking")

B. Stative Verbs

• Describe conditions or states of being rather than actions
• Frequently use the perfect or pluperfect to express ongoing relevance
• Examples: οἶδα ("I know"), κεῖμαι ("I lie/recline"), ἵστημι ("I stand")

Person and Number

A. Three Persons

Person	Description
First Person	Speaker (e.g., "I", "we")
Second Person	Addressee (e.g., "you", "you all")
Third Person	Someone/something else (e.g., "he", "they")

B. Two Numbers

Number	Description
Singular	Refers to one subject
Plural	Refers to more than one subject

C. Subject-Verb Agreement

• Greek verb forms include person and number in their endings.
• Subjects may be explicit (stated) or implied (understood from the verb form).
• Example: λύομεν means “we loose” — the subject “we” is embedded in the verb.

Voice

A. Active Voice

• The subject performs the action of the verb.
• Typically displays regular morphology and straightforward semantics.

B. Middle Voice

• The subject is involved with or benefits from the action.
• Semantic categories include:
  • Reflexive – the subject acts on itself (e.g., λούομαι "I wash myself")
  • Special interest/benefit – action done for the subject’s own benefit
  • Reciprocity – mutual action, usually with plural subjects
  • Movement or change of state – verbs indicating internal change (e.g., "I go", "I rise")
  • Subject-involved passivity – passive-like meaning but with self-involvement
• Middle voice forms are often nuanced and context-dependent in translation.

C. Passive Voice

• The subject receives the action of the verb.
• Distinct morphological forms from the middle voice in the future and aorist tenses.

Mood

A. Indicative Mood

• Used for real events, factual statements, or questions.
• The only mood in which tense-forms carry temporal significance (i.e., present, past, or future time).
• Examples: declarative (λύει – "he looses"), interrogative (λύεις; – "do you loose?")

B. Subjunctive Mood

• Expresses potential, intention, or purpose.
• Commonly appears in purpose/result clauses introduced by ἵνα ("in order that").
• Often refers to actions that are future-oriented or contingent upon some condition.

C. Optative Mood

• Conveys wishes, hopes, or remote possibilities.
• Rare in the New Testament; more common in classical or literary Greek.
• Occasionally used in indirect discourse or stylized expression (e.g., εἴη – "may it be").

D. Imperative Mood

• Used to issue commands or prohibitions.
• Appears in both:
  • Present imperative – emphasizes ongoing or repeated action (imperfective aspect)
  • Aorist imperative – focuses on the action as a whole or a single occurrence (perfective aspect)
• Examples: λύε ("keep loosing!"), λῦσον ("loose [once]!")

Tense-Forms and Aspect

A. Tense-Forms

• Present – continuous or repeated action
• Imperfect – continuous or repeated action in past context
• Future – anticipated action, often perfective in aspect
• Aorist – undefined or wholistic action, typically in past time
• Perfect – completed action with continuing results
• Pluperfect – completed action with results in the past

B. Aspect

Aspect	Tense-Forms	Description
Imperfective	Present, Imperfect	Ongoing, continuous, or habitual action
Perfective	Aorist, Future	Whole, undefined action without internal process
Stative	Perfect, Pluperfect	Resultant state following a completed action

C. Temporal Semantics (Indicative Mood Only)

• Present and Imperfect = present/past time + imperfective aspect
• Aorist and Future = past/future time + perfective aspect
• Perfect and Pluperfect = stative aspect with present/past relevance

D. Non-Indicative Tenses

• Outside of the indicative mood, tense-forms do not indicate time.
• Temporal meaning must be inferred from context and auxiliary constructions.

Morphology

A. Stem Formation

• Built from root morphemes that carry the lexical core of the verb.
• Modified to reflect aspect (e.g., different stems for present, aorist, and perfect forms).

B. Prefixes

• Augment (ἐ-): added to indicate past time in indicative mood (e.g., ἔλυον).
• Preverbs: attached prepositions forming compound verbs (e.g., προσέρχομαι – "I come toward").

C. Infixes

• Reduplication: common in perfect tense (e.g., λέλυκα – "I have loosed").
• Internal vowel changes: such as lengthening or shifting to mark tense/aspect distinctions.

D. Suffixes

• Tense-form markers: e.g., -σ- indicates aorist or future tense (e.g., λύσω).
• Personal endings: encode person, number, voice, and mood (e.g., -ω, -εις).
• Connecting vowels: typically ο or ε in the present system, used to link the stem with the endings.

E. Example Paradigm: λύω

Present Active Indicative of λύω ("I loose"):

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	λύω	λύομεν
2nd	λύεις	λύετε
3rd	λύει	λύουσι(ν)

Morphological Breakdown: stem (λυ-) + connecting vowel + personal ending (e.g., -ω, -εις). This is seen especially in the 1st person plural form: λύ + ο + μεν.

Exercises

Identify first and second declension nouns in the text as well as variations of the word εἰμί:

1 John 2:25 — καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἐπαγγελία ἣν αὐτὸς ἐπηγγείλατο ἡμῖν, τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον.

1 John 3:20 — ὅτι ἐὰν καταγινώσκῃ ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία, ὅτι μείζων ἐστὶν ὁ θεὸς τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν καὶ γινώσκει πάντα.

1 John 4:6 — ἡμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐσμεν· ὁ γινώσκων τὸν θεὸν ἀκούει ἡμῶν, ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἀκούει ἡμῶν.