Table Of Contentporter_dd pod:porter.qxd 8/23/2012 3:54 PM Page 1
Stanley E. Porter is President, Dean, and Professor of New Testament at McMaster
Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Previously, he was Professor of
Theology and Head of Department, and then Research Professor in New Testament,
at the University of Surrey Roehampton, London, United Kingdom. Porter is the
author of numerous books, including Studies in the Greek New Testament (Peter
Lang, 1996), Idioms of the Greek New Testament, Katallasso in Ancient Greek
Literature, The Paul of Acts, and The Criteria for Authenticity in Historical-Jesus
Research, among others. He is editor of over thirty-five volumes. Porter has pub-
lished in numerous journals, and speaks at conferences worldwide.
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PETER LANG
WWW.PETERLANG.COM
porter_dd pod:porter.qxd 8/23/2012 3:54 PM Page 1
Stanley E. Porter is President, Dean, and Professor of New Testament at McMaster
Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Previously, he was Professor of
Theology and Head of Department, and then Research Professor in New Testament,
at the University of Surrey Roehampton, London, United Kingdom. Porter is the
author of numerous books, including Studies in the Greek New Testament (Peter
Lang, 1996), Idioms of the Greek New Testament, Katallasso in Ancient Greek
Literature, The Paul of Acts, and The Criteria for Authenticity in Historical-Jesus
Research, among others. He is editor of over thirty-five volumes. Porter has pub-
lished in numerous journals, and speaks at conferences worldwide.
P
E
T
E
R
L
A
N
G
PETER LANG
WWW.PETERLANG.COM
Verbal Aspect in the Greek
of the New Testament,
with Reference
to Tense and Mood
Studies in Biblical Greek
D.A. Carson
General Editor
Vol. 1
PETER LANG
New York • San Francisco • Bern • Baltimore
Frankfurt am Main • Berlin • Wien • Paris
Stanley E. Porter
Verbal Aspect in the Greek
of the New Testament,
with Reference
to Tense and Mood
PETER LANG
New York • San Francisco • Bern • Baltimore
Frankfurt am Main • Berlin • Wien • Paris
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Porter, Stanley E.
Verbal aspect in the Greek of the New Testament, with Reference to
Tense and Mood.
(Studies in Biblical Greek; vol. 1)
Revision of the author's thesis.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Greek language, Biblical—Aspect. 2. Greek language, Biblical-
Tense. 3. Greek language, Biblical (cid:9) Mood. 4. Greek language, Biblical
Verb. 5. Bible. N.T.(cid:9) Language, style. 1. Title. II. Series.
PA847.67(cid:9) 1989, 1993(cid:9) 487'.4(cid:9) 88-32803
ISBN 978-0-8204-0847-7 (hardcover)(cid:9) CIP
ISBN 978-0-8204-2423-1 (paperback)
ISSN 0897-7828
CIP-Titelaufnahme der Deutschen Bibliothek
Porter, Stanley E.:
Verbal aspect in the Greek of the New Testament, with reference to tense and
mood / Stanley E. Porter. — New York; Berline; Bern; Frankfurt/M.; Paris;
Wien: Lang, 1989, 1993
(Studies in Biblical Greek; Vol. 1)
ISBN 978-0-8204-0847-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-8204-2423-1 (paperback)
NE: GT
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee an Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council of Library Resources.
0 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York 1989, 1993, 2003, 2010
www.peterlang.com
All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
Printed in the United States of America
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EDITOR'S PREFACE(cid:9) ix
AUTHOR'S PREFACE(cid:9) xi
INTRODUCTION: GREEK GRAMMAR AS HERMENEUTICS,
WITH AN INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMIC LINGUISTICS 1
0. INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 1
1. RECENT DISCUSSION OF LINGUISTICS IN
BIBLICAL STUDIES(cid:9) 2
2. SYSTEMIC LINGUISTICS: AN OVERVIEW(cid:9) 7
CHAPTER 1: RESEARCH INTO TENSE, AKTIONSART
AND ASPECT(cid:9) 17
0. INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 17
1. HELLENISTIC GREEK GRAMMARS(cid:9) 18
2. 19TH-CENTURY AND TRADITIONAL GRAMMARS(cid:9) 22
3. COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY AND AKTIONSART (cid:9) 26
4. TRANSITIONAL APPROACHES(cid:9) 35
5. STRUCTURAL LINGUISTICS AND ASPECT(cid:9) 39
6. GRAMMARS OF HELLENISTIC GREEK FROM
WINER TO THE PRESENT(cid:9) 50
7. CONCLUSION(cid:9) 65
APPENDIX 1A: PERFECTIVIZING PREFIXES(cid:9) 66
APPENDIX 1B: DISSENTING THEORIES(cid:9) 71
CHAPTER 2: A SYSTEMIC ANALYSIS OF GREEK
VERBAL ASPECT(cid:9) 75
0. INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 75
1. GRAMMATICALIZATION OF TENSE(cid:9) 76
2. INTRODUCTION TO VERBAL ASPECT(cid:9) 83
vi
3. DEICTIC INDICATORS AND TEMPORAL REFERENCE(cid:9) 98
4. STANDARD PATTERNS OF VERBAL USAGE(cid:9) 102
5. CONCLUSION(cid:9) 107
CHART 4: A SYSTEMIC NETWORK OF GREEK
VERBAL ASPECT(cid:9) 109
CHAPTER 3: THE INFLUENCE OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES ON
VERBAL ASPECT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT(cid:9) 111
0. INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 111
1. THE LANGUAGES OF PALESTINE AND THE NATURE OF
NT GREEK(cid:9) 111
2. POSSIBLE INSTANCES OF SEMITIC INFLUENCE UPON
NT GREEK(cid:9) 117
3. GREEK OF THE NT AS HELLENISTIC GREEK(cid:9) 141
4. CONCLUSION(cid:9) 156
APPENDIX 3A: SEMITIC VERBAL SYSTEMS(cid:9) 157
APPENDIX 3B: MARTIN'S SYNTACTICAL EVIDENCE(cid:9) 160
CHAPTER 4: THE AORIST AND PRESENT TENSES IN THE
INDICATIVE MOOD(cid:9) 163
0. INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 163
PART I(cid:9) 163
1. THE MOODS AND ATTITUDES OF GREEK(cid:9) 163
2. MARKEDNESS AND THE ASSERTIVE ATTITUDE(cid:9) 178
PART II(cid:9) 182
3. PERFECTIVE ASPECT: RECENT DISCUSSION(cid:9) 182
4. PAST-REFERRING IMPERFECTIVE AND
PERFECTIVE ASPECTS(cid:9) 188
5. INTRODUCTION TO NON PAST-REFERRING TENSES 208
6. NON PAST-REFERRING PERFECTIVE AND
IMPERFECTIVE ASPECTS(cid:9) 211
7. CONCLUSION(cid:9) 239
APPENDIX 4A: PL. PHAEDR. 244-56 AND PLB. 6.24-25(cid:9) 240
CHAPTER 5: THE STATIVE ASPECT AND
PERFECT TENSE(cid:9) 245
0. INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 245
1. MARKEDNESS AND THE STATIVE ASPECT(cid:9) 245
2. THE PERFECT AS STATIVE ASPECT(cid:9) 251
3. PRAGMATIC USAGE OF THE STATIVE ASPECT(cid:9) 260
vii
4. VIABILITY OF THE PERFECT FORM DURING THE
HELLENISTIC PERIOD(cid:9) 270
5. OTSa AND yive.aaKG)(cid:9) 281
6. THE PLUPERFECT(cid:9) 287
7. CONCLUSION(cid:9) 289
CHAPTER 6: CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS(cid:9) 291
0. INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 291
1. MAJOR VIEWS(cid:9) 291
2. NEW PROPOSAL(cid:9) 294
3. APODOSIS(cid:9) 316
4. CONCLUSION(cid:9) 320
CHAPTER 7: THE AORIST, PRESENT AND PERFECT IN THE
NON-INDICATIVE MOODS(cid:9) 321
0. INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 321
1. THE SUBJUNCTIVE AND OPTATIVE(cid:9) 321
2. THE IMPERATIVE: COMMANDS AND PROHIBITIONS 335
3. THE PERFECT IN THE NON-INDICATIVE MOODS(cid:9) 361
4. CONCLUSION(cid:9) 362
CHAPTER 8: THE AORIST, PRESENT AND PERFECT
PARTICIPLES AND INFINITIVES(cid:9) 365
0. INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 365
1. THE AORIST AND PRESENT PARTICIPLES
AND INFINITIVES(cid:9) 366
2. THE PERFECT INFINITIVE AND PARTICIPLE(cid:9) 392
3. CONCLUSION(cid:9) 400
CHAPTER 9: THE FUTURE FORM:
TENSE, ASPECT OR MOOD?(cid:9) 403
0. INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 403
1. BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FUTURE FORM(cid:9) 403
2. FUTURE AS TENSE AND ASPECT(cid:9) 404
3. SEMANTIC DEFINITION OF THE FUTURE FORM(cid:9) 409
4. PRAGMATIC IMPLICATURE OF THE FUTURE FORM(cid:9) 416
5. PROSPECTIVE USE OF THE FUTURE FORM(cid:9) 427
6. CONCLUSION(cid:9) 438
Viii
CHAPTER 10: VAGUE VERBS AND PERIPHRASTICS:
'EXCEPTIONS THAT PROVE THE RULE'(cid:9) 441
0. INTRODUCTION(cid:9) 441
1. DEFINITION OF ASPECTUAL VAGUENESS(cid:9) 442
2. PERIPHRASTIC CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE
SECONDARY LITERATURE(cid:9) 447
3. Eimi AS GREEK AUXILIARY VERB IN PERIPHRASTICS 449
4. DEFINITION OF PERIPHRASIS IN GREEK(cid:9) 452
5. FORMAL CATEGORIES OF PERIPHRASIS IN NT GREEK 454
6. CONCLUSION(cid:9) 478
APPENDIX 10A: PERIPHRASTIC CONSTRUCTIONS(cid:9) 479
APPENDIX 10B: CATENATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS(cid:9) 487
BIBLIOGRAPHY(cid:9) 493
INDEX(cid:9) 545
NEW TESTAMENT(cid:9) 545
EXTRA-BIBLICAL GREEK(cid:9) 567
OLD TESTAMENT AND APOCRYPHA(cid:9) 580
