Lesson 2 – Alpha Privative, Aorist Tense, 1st Aorist Active, 2nd Aorist Active, 1st & 2nd Aorist Passive
Alpha Privative
The word theist is used of a person who believes in God.
An atheist does not believe in God.
A gnostic claimed to have a special knowledge.
An agnostic supposes he cannot know.
Notice the effect of the initial a in atheist and agnostic.
This is something English has inherited from Greek. An α prefixed to a word negates the meaning. It is called an alpha privative. Learn the following words:
| δόλος, ου, ὁ | n. | deceit |
| ἄδολος, ον | adj. | without deceit |
| δυνατός, ην, ον | adj. | powerful |
| ἀδύνατος, ον | adj. | powerless |
| θάνατος, ου, ὁ | n. | death |
| ἀθάνατος, ον | adj. | immortal |
| πιστός, η, ον | adj. | trustworthy, faithful |
| ἄπιστος, η, ον | adj. | unbelievable, faithless |
Aorist Tense
ὁρίζω means determine, fix, set. Heb. 4:7 says πάλιν τινὰ ὁρίζει ἡμέραν, again, he defines a certain day. A cognate of ὁρίζω is ὁριστός. This word is not used in the New Testament, but it is an adjective meaning definable, or defined. What do you think this adjective would mean with an alpha privative?
ἀόριστος meant indeterminate, indefinite. It is not found in the New Testament, but the Greeks used this word to describe one of the tenses of their language, and if you drop the final ος and transliterate, you will see that we use the same word: aorist.
Remember that Greek tenses indicate not only time of action, but more especially kind of action. The aorist tense is a secondary tense, and accordingly, in the indicative mood it indicates past action. In other moods, it does not indicate absolute time, and often does not even indicate relative time.
What about kind of action? Mark it down, as its name suggests, the kind of action indicated by the aorist tense is undefined. Inasmuch as there is no definition of the kind of action, the emphasis is upon the fact of the action rather than the duration of the action. In the indicative mood, the significance is that it happened. Whether it happened over a period of time or in an instant is not indicated.
In English, the tense we use for this is the simple past. If I say, I hit the ball, I do not indicate the action was ongoing or repeated. In this particular example, we might suppose the action was instantaneous. But consider the following sentences wherein the simple past is used: I attended college. I studied physics. I raised four children. In each sentence, it is clear that the action described would have taken place over a period of time. However, the speaker does not call attention to the durative nature of the action. The simple past tense may be used to describe a past event regardless of the duration of the event. The same is true of the Aorist.
In Greek, if one wished to call attention to the durative nature of a past event, the Imperfect Tense was used. Study the following pairs of sentences, observing the different ideas represented by the Aorist Tense and the Imperfect Tense.
| In Greek these sentences would use the Aorist Tense | In Greek these sentences would use the Imperfect Tense |
| I hit the ball well yesterday. | I was hitting the ball well yesterday. |
| I attended college. | I was attending college. |
| I studied Physics. | I was studying Physics. |
| I raised four children. | I was raising four children. |
Consider the first of these pairs of sentences. If I say I was hitting the ball, that suggests I mean to describe a process, perhaps an iterative process, perhaps repeated hitting: I was hitting the ball well yesterday until the 14th hole. But if I say, I hit the ball well yesterday, it may be that I hit the ball only once, or it may be that I hit the ball several times. I conceive of the action as if it were punctiliar, but that doesn’t mean it was punctiliar.
I may say, I attended college. Most likely, this happened over a period of years. But I describe the action as a single, simple event without reference to the duration. If we choose to distinguish between Aktionsart and Aspect such that the former is the kind of action and the latter is the speaker’s perception of the kind of action, we might say the aorist tense has undefined Aktionsart and punctiliar Aspect. However, be careful to note that the meanings of the terms Aktionsart and Aspect vary from one grammarian to another.
Formation of the Aorist Tense
Aorist tense is formed using the 3rd principal part
The aorist tense (but only the active and middle voices) is formed using the third principle part stem:
| principal part | λύω | λύσω | ἔλυσα | λέλυκα | λέλυμαι | ἐλύθην |
| tense/voice combinations formed | present imperfect | future act/mid | aorist act/mid | perfect act. pluperfect act. | perfect mid/pass pluperfect mid/pass | aorist pass future pass |
The Aorist tense is formed with an augmented stem and secondary endings
Like the Imperfect, the aorist is a secondary tense and therefore:
(1) it uses secondary tense endings
(2) it usually has an augment in the indicative mood.
At this point, we need to distinguish between 1st and 2nd aorist forms. 1st aorists are also called weak aorists, and 2nd aorists are called strong aorists. These are not two different tenses, but two different ways of forming an aorist tense. Some verbs use one method, other verbs use the other method.
1st Aorist Active Indicative
The sign of the First Aorist is σα in the stem. The stem may not look very similar to the stem found in the first principle part. However, as a rule it will look similar to the stem in the second principle part (Future tense). 1st Aorist verbs are formed as follows:
augment + stem ending in σα + secondary (active) tense ending
But note that 1st Aorist verbs do not use the regular secondary tense ending in the 1st person singular, i.e. the ν is not used…
| sing. | pl. | |
| 1st pers. | – | -μεν |
| 2nd pers. | -ς | -τε |
| 3rd pers. | – | -ν |
Also notice the 3rd person singular where we see σε instead of the characteristic σα. Thus we get the following six forms:
| augment | + stem | + sign of 1st Aorist | + secondary (active) tense ending |
| ε | λυ | σα | |
| ε | λυ | σα | ς |
| ε | λυ | σε | |
| ε | λυ | σα | μεν |
| ε | λυ | σα | τε |
| ε | λυ | σα | ν |
The third person singular form may have the movable ν. This, then, is the conjugation of the aorist active indicative of λύω
| singular | ||
| 1st person | ἔλυσα | I loosed |
| 2nd person | ἔλυσας | you loosed |
| 3rd person | ἔλυσε(ν) | he, she, it loosed |
| plural | ||
| 1st person | ἐλύσαμεν | we loosed |
| 2nd person | ἐλύσατε | you (pl.) loosed |
| 3rd person | ἔλυσαν | they loosed |
2nd Aorist Active Indicative
2nd Aorist stems are not identified by particular letter combinations like the σα that characterizes 1st aorist stems. A 2nd aorist stem may look somewhat similar to the imperfect tense because it will have an augment, will use secondary tense endings identical to those used by the imperfect tense, and will usually use ο/ε as connecting vowels just as does the imperfect tense. The difference will be that the imperfect tense is formed on the first principle part and has a stem identical to that of the present tense form, but the 2nd aorist stem will not look like the stem of the present tense form.
2nd Aorist verbs are formed as follows:
augment + stem + connecting vowel + secondary (active) tense ending
2nd Aorist verbs use the regular secondary tense endings:
| sing. | pl. | |
| 1st pers. | -ν | -μεν |
| 2nd pers. | -ς | -τε |
| 3rd pers. | – | -ν |
Notice that unlike 1st aorist verbs, 2nd aorist verbs do use the ν in the 1st person singular. The third person singular form may have the moveable ν.
This, then, is the conjugation of the aorist active indicative of λαμβάνω, I take, I receive, using the 2nd aorist stem, λαβ-
| singular | ||
| 1st person | ἔλαβον | I took |
| 2nd person | ἔλαβες | you took |
| 3rd person | ἔλαβε(ν) | he, she, it took |
| plural | ||
| 1st person | ἐλάβομεν | we took |
| 2nd person | ἐλάβετε | you (pl.) took |
| 3rd person | ἔλαβον | they took |
Remember that when compounds are augmented, the augmentation usually occurs at the beginning of the original verb stem, not at the beginning of the compounded word. This is the conjugation of the aorist active indicative of ἐκβάλλω, using the 2nd aorist stem, βαλ-
| singular | ||
| 1st person | ἐξέβαλον | I threw out |
| 2nd person | ἐξέβαλες | you threw out |
| 3rd person | ἐξέβαλε(ν) | he, she, it threw out |
| plural | ||
| 1st person | ἐξεβάλομεν | we threw out |
| 2nd person | ἐξεβάλετε | you (pl.) threw out |
| 3rd person | ἐξέβαλον | they threw out |
This is the conjugation of the aorist active indicative of ἄγω, using the 2nd aorist stem, ἀγαγ-
| singular | ||
| 1st person | ἤγαγον | I led |
| 2nd person | ἤγαγες | you led |
| 3rd person | ἤγαγε(ν) | he, she, it led |
| plural | ||
| 1st person | ἠγάγομεν | we led |
| 2nd person | ἠγάγετε | you (pl.) led |
| 3rd person | ἤγαγον | they led |
Sometimes, the influence of the 1st aorist forms is seen in 2nd aorist verbs. Specifically, an α rather than the variable vowel ο or ε is often found. Consider εἶπον, used as the 2nd aorist of λέγω. In the NT and the LXX, we often see the following forms.
| singular | ||
| 1st person | εἶπα | I said |
| 2nd person | εἶπας | you said |
| 3rd person | εἶπε(ν) | he, she, it said |
| plural | ||
| 1st person | εἴπαμεν | we said |
| 2nd person | εἴπατε | you (pl.) said |
| 3rd person | εἶπαν | they said |
Indeed, in the New Testament, 3rd person pl. εἶπαν is found more frequently than 3rd person pl. εἶπον.
There seems to be no pattern to explain why one form is used rather than the other. Even within one writer, the form may vary. For example, in John 7:45, John writes εἶπον, but 7 verses later in John 7:52, we see εἶπαν. Luke has εἶπαν in Luke 24:19, but 5 verses later, we see εἶπον (Luke 24:24).
Aorist Passive Indicative
Aorist Passive is formed using the 6th principal part
Look again at the inside of the back cover of your text book, and compare what you see there with the simplified table below. Aorist Passive verbs are formed on a different stem than aorist active and aorist middle verbs.
| principal part | λύω | λύσω | ἔλυσα | λέλυκα | λέλυμαι | ἐλύθην |
| tense/voice combinations formed | present imperfect | future act/mid | aorist act/mid | perfect act. pluperfect act. | perfect mid/pass pluperfect mid/pass | aorist pass future pass |
The characteristic feature of 1st aorist passives is a stem ending in θη. 2nd aorist passives are different in that they don’t have the θ.
Being a secondary tense, the aorist passive stem has an augment in the indicative mood, and uses the secondary personal endings, including the ν in the 1st person singular. However, in the 3rd person plural, the alternative ending σαν is used rather than the simple ν. Because the stem ends in a vowel, no connecting vowel is needed.
1st Aorist Passive Indicative verbs are formed as follows
augment + stem ending in θη + secondary (active) tense ending
2nd Aorist Passive verbs are formed as follows:
augment + stem ending in η + secondary (active) tense ending
This is the conjugation of the aorist passive indicative of λύω
| singular | ||
| 1st person | ἐλύθην | I was loosed |
| 2nd person | ἐλύθης | you were loosed |
| 3rd person | ἐλύθη | he, she, it was loosed |
| plural | ||
| 1st person | ἐλύθημεν | we were loosed |
| 2nd person | ἐλύθητε | you (pl.) were loosed |
| 3rd person | ἐλύθησαν | they were loosed |
In those verbs where by analogy to other principle parts one might expect the 6th principle part to have a mute before the θη, the stem is modified in one of the following ways:
The palatal mutes, κ, γ, and χ combine with θη to form χθη
The dental mutes, τ, δ, θ, (or ζ) combine with θη to form σθη
The labial mutes π, β, φ, combine with θη to form φθη
No aorist passive verb with modified mute can be illustrated from the New Testament for all persons and numbers. But consider the following examples, noting the modified mute in each:
ἤχθη aor. p. ind., 3rd pers. sing. of ἄγω
συνήχθησαν aor. p. ind., 3rd pers. pl. of συνάγω
ἐβαπτίσθητε aor. p. ind., 2nd pers. pl. of βαπτίζω
ἐπέμφθη aor. p. ind., 3rd pers. sing. of πέμπω
This is the conjugation of the 2nd aorist passive indicative of ὑποτάσσω. (Notice the augment in this compound verb.)
| singular | ||
| 1st person | ὑπετάγην | I was subjected |
| 2nd person | ὑπετάγης | you were subjected |
| 3rd person | ὑπετάγη | he, she, it was subjected |
| plural | ||
| 1st person | ὑπετάγημεν | we were subjected |
| 2nd person | ὑπετάγητε | you (pl.) were subjected |
| 3rd person | ὑπετάγησαν | they were subjected |