[John 5:4 Byz] αγγελος γαρ κατα καιρον κατεβαινεν εν τη κολυμβηθρα και εταρασσεν το υδωρ ο ουν πρωτος εμβας μετα την ταραχην του υδατος υγιης εγινετο ω δηποτε κατειχετο νοσηματι
What exactly does the imperfect tense of "εγινετο" here mean?
John 5:4 ἐγίνετο
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Please quote the Greek text you are discussing directly in your post if it is reasonably short - do not ask people to look it up. This is not a beginner's forum, competence in Greek is assumed.
Please quote the Greek text you are discussing directly in your post if it is reasonably short - do not ask people to look it up. This is not a beginner's forum, competence in Greek is assumed.
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Re: John 5:4
It is general / habitual: would become, suggesting that this single act is part of a larger pattern of similar acts.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne, Australia
Re: John 5:4
So the imperfect is used simply because of the repetition of this disturbance of the pool's water according to the season and the resulting repetition of someone getting well?Stephen Carlson wrote:It is general / habitual: would become, suggesting that this single act is part of a larger pattern of similar acts.
δαυιδ λιμ
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Re: John 5:4
I don't know what work the word "simply" is doing, but, yeah, that's basically how I understand the semantics. Pragmatically, the imperfect is great for backgrounding, which is also going on (cf. the γάρ).David Lim wrote:So the imperfect is used simply because of the repetition of this disturbance of the pool's water according to the season and the resulting repetition of someone getting well?Stephen Carlson wrote:It is general / habitual: would become, suggesting that this single act is part of a larger pattern of similar acts.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne, Australia
Re: John 5:4
Oh I asked because I wanted to confirm that the imperfect tense here has no connotation of the event of "becoming well" being ongoing at that point.Stephen Carlson wrote:I don't know what work the word "simply" is doing, but, yeah, that's basically how I understand the semantics. Pragmatically, the imperfect is great for backgrounding, which is also going on (cf. the γάρ).David Lim wrote:So the imperfect is used simply because of the repetition of this disturbance of the pool's water according to the season and the resulting repetition of someone getting well?Stephen Carlson wrote:It is general / habitual: would become, suggesting that this single act is part of a larger pattern of similar acts.
δαυιδ λιμ
Re: John 5:4
I think this is equivalent to a past general condition, setting forth what ordinarily happened when such and such a condition was met; in earlier Greek the protasis would have been formulated in the optative mood, the apodosis in the imperfect indicative.
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Re: John 5:4
I see. Thanks for both your answers!cwconrad wrote:I think this is equivalent to a past general condition, setting forth what ordinarily happened when such and such a condition was met; in earlier Greek the protasis would have been formulated in the optative mood, the apodosis in the imperfect indicative.
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