Tim Evans wrote:timothy_p_mcmahon wrote:μετανοήσῃς is aorist subjunctive.
Yep, it apparently is, but I have no idea why.
Why?
Because deliberation takes a moment, people take a moment to take up their mind when asked to do something willingly, or when they are considering a possibility. The subjunctive is often a lengthening of the verb. Think of the adverb "well", when you are trying to make up your mind. It is long and there is a warbling tone. Or of you want to say "yes", but you are not very sure about if it is really the right thing to say. You will say a long "yeeees", with a warbling tone as well. The tone is not in the Greek morphology, but the lengthening of the vowel is. Some languages add words to express the extra time needed to think about such things, but Greek gives extra time within the verb.
The subjunctive is that sort of thing too, within the morphology of the verb. In the reconstructed Attic pronunciation, the omicron,, for example, is lengthened to an omega in the subjunctive. It is a lengthening of deliberation ("well"), of giving others a chance to consider things ("c'mooooooooon"), or similar expressions.