Lesson 5 | Aorist Participles
[1] About Aorist Participles
Aorist verbs are perfective in aspect. This means that an author uses an aorist verb to depict a whole action, from beginning to end. Previously, we used three metaphors to help us understand this aspect more clearly. First, we said that the perfective aspect is like looking at a still photo on your iPhone. Second, we said that the perfective aspect is like starting your car with a remote. You do not see the engine starting or the belts moving. Instead, you just look out your window and see that the car started. Third, we said that the perfective aspect is like looking at a clock to see that the hour hand moved. None of these metaphors is perfect. However, they help us understand that the perfective aspect allows authors to summarize a whole, completed action.
Before we look at aorist participles, there are two further issues related to aorist verbs that we need to note. First, aorist verbs have distinct forms for each voice: (1) active, (2) middle, and (3) passive. Second, there are two ways to form aorist verbs. Some verbs add a σ and a different set of endings to form as an aorist. These are called first aorist verbs. Since they use a σ as part of their tense former, remember to watch out for scheming σ with first aorist verbs.
Other verbs change their stem to form as an aorist. These are called second aorist verbs. For example, βάλλων is the present, active, participle, nominative, masculine, singular form, but βαλών is the aorist, active, participle, nominative, masculine, singular form. What is different about these two forms? In the aorist participle, the stem changed from βαλλ to βαλ.¹
There is no difference when you translate first and second aorists. They both have the same tense and aspect. First and second aorists are simply two different ways to form the aorist tense-form, with any given verb consistently using one or the other way. It is similar to the different ways that the simple past tense forms in English. Many English verbs form the simple past tense by adding the past tense former -ed (wanted, loved, watched, walked, etc.). However, other English verbs form the past tense in a different way (ran, ate, threw, etc.). The meaning is the same, but the way the word forms its simple past tense is different.
We need to learn the aorist participle forms for both first aorist verbs and second aorist verbs. This means that there are a lot of forms to learn. Take heart though! You just need to learn the three key features for each kind of participle (1. Stem 2. The Tense Former 3. The Ending Pattern) as these will help you recognize each form when you encounter it in the Greek NT.