Aorist Imperatives

Grammar questions which are not related to any specific text.
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PhillipLebsack
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Aorist Imperatives

Post by PhillipLebsack »

What exactly do aorist imperatives mean? How should they be translated?

When I read an Aorist Active Imperative in the text, it seems like it should be Present instead. Is there something i'm missing?
Jason Hare
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Re: Aorist Imperatives

Post by Jason Hare »

PhillipLebsack wrote: January 30th, 2018, 8:55 am What exactly do aorist imperatives mean? How should they be translated?

When I read an Aorist Active Imperative in the text, it seems like it should be Present instead. Is there something i'm missing?
Aorist is the regular imperative. When you tell someone to do something. Present carries the aspect of continuity.
Jason A. Hare
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Jonathan Robie
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Re: Aorist Imperatives

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Jason Hare wrote: January 30th, 2018, 9:35 am Aorist is the regular imperative. When you tell someone to do something. Present carries the aspect of continuity.
Yes - a present imperative is a command to do something and keep on doing it, an aorist imperative is a command to do something (but it doesn't specify whether to keep on doing it or not).

Some examples might help:

Imperatives: Present, Aorist, and Perfect


PhillipLebsack wrote: January 30th, 2018, 8:55 am When I read an Aorist Active Imperative in the text, it seems like it should be Present instead. Is there something i'm missing?
Languages are individual, each one has its own personality. We are generally so steeped in our own language that we expect other languages to think the same way. And that's one of the dangers of thinking of a language in terms of translation - the English translation of a Greek construct may hide the construct that was translated in order to make it understandable in English.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
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