[b-greek] Re: John 3:3-5 (was Re: Eph 5:31)

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Fri May 11 2001 - 15:53:41 EDT


At 12:24 PM -0700 5/11/01, Alan B. Thomas wrote:
>I hope it is not inappropriate to suggest the
>following concerning this statement:
>
>> (b) The repeated verb (GENNHQHi subj. 3d sg. in 3;
>> GENNHQHNAI (2x) inf. in
>> 4; GENNHQHi subj. 3d sg. in 5) is in every instance
>> aorist, but the
>> reference of the aorist is not to time... <snip>
>
>
>I certainly am not in disagreement with this
>statement, but I would hate for someone to walk away
>from this comment and conclude that the "aorist is not
>to time..." (without understanding the context in
>which it was written).
>
>I would add that THESE PARTICULAR AORISTS are "not to
>time" because they are either in the Subjunctive Mood
>or used as an Infinitive. The "no time" aspect, as
>others would contend, is related to the Subjunctive
>and Infinitive usages, not to the Aorist tense.
>
>I bring this up only so that this inquirer may not
>take from this discussion that ALL Aorists are "not to
>time," in the sense that that is a grammatical rule. I
>would even hasten to add that I am not trying to imply
>that that is what Carl meant by his comment.

I appreciate your dotting the I's and crossing the T's on this, Alan.
However much I have my own hangups over voice, it is tense/aspect that is
perhaps the single most troublesome aspect of ordinary Greek grammar--and
it certainly does make a difference whether we're talking about the
indicative or the non-indicative verb-forms.
--

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/

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