Lesson 4 | Aorist Indicatives
[1] 2nd Aorist Active Indicatives
Introducing Aorist Indicatives
In Lesson 2, we learned about imperfect indicatives. Imperfect indicatives communicate past time with imperfective aspect. In this lesson, we will learn about aorist indicatives. There are 5,884 aorist indicatives in the Greek NT. This makes aorist indicatives the most common verb form in the Greek NT. There is a lot to learn in this lesson, but you should remember that learning about aorist indicatives will significantly expand your ability to read the Greek NT.
Aorist indicatives communicate past time with perfective aspect. Based on this definition, you should be able to predict two of the four key features that make up aorist indicatives. Do you remember how Greek verbs mark for past time? Greek verbs mark past time through (1) the augment and (2) past verb pattern endings.
Also, remember that this is not your first interaction with perfective verbs. In Greek II, we learned about aorist (perfective) participles and infinitives. What do you remember about perfective aspect? When an author used perfective aspect, he was speaking about the action as a whole, from beginning to end.
How is this different from imperfective aspect? Let’s use two English sentences to help us see this difference:¹
She was running a marathon. She ran a marathon.
The first sentence is similar to the Greek imperfect indicative with its past time and imperfective aspect. In this sentence, the author focuses on only one part of the whole activity. We do not know whether the runner finished the marathon, but we do know that she was running it for a time. Notice that this allows the author to speak about the running as it was happening.
The verb in the second sentence is similar to the Greek aorist indicative with its past time and perfective aspect. The author speaks of the whole activity from beginning to end. We know that the runner ran the whole marathon. Notice that this allows the author to speak about the race as a whole, complete activity.
You should also remember from Greek II that there are two ways to form aorist verbs: the first aorist and second aorist.
The first aorist uses a σα- tense-former to mark perfective aspect. For example, ἀγαπάω forms as a first aorist participle by using a σα tense-former: ἀγαπήσας.
Second aorist forms use an aorist stem to mark perfective aspect. So, λαμβάνω forms as a second aorist participle by using an aorist stem: λαβών.
We will see similar patterns as we learn about aorist indicatives. Remember, individual Greek verbs usually form as aorist verbs by following either the first aorist or the second aorist patterns, but not both. Thus, you would always expect to find ἀγαπάω forming as a first aorist and λαμβάνω forming as a second aorist. In this grammar point, we begin with second aorist indicatives because their forms have a lot in common with what you learned in the last lesson.
The Four Key Features
You may also remember from Greek II that aorist verbs take distinct forms for the active, middle, and passive voices. Let’s begin by learning about second aorist active indicatives:
Closely compare the four key features for second aorist active indicatives with imperfect active indicatives, and notice that the aorist stem is the only difference between them.
Let’s compare how λαμβάνω looks as an imperfect indicative and as a second aorist indicative:
| λαμβάνω in the active indicative | |||||||||
| Imperfect | 2nd Aorist | ||||||||
| Singular | First | ἐλάμβανον | ἔλαβον | ||||||
| Second | ἐλάμβανες | ἔλαβες | |||||||
| Third | ἐλάμβανε(ν) | ἔλαβε(ν) | |||||||
| Plural | First | ἐλαμβάνομεν | ἐλάβομεν | ||||||
| Second | ἐλαμβάνετε | ἐλάβετε | |||||||
| Third | ἐλάμβανον | ἔλαβον | |||||||
The stem is the only difference between these imperfect and second aorist forms. Sometimes the stems are similar (like λαμβαν and λαβ from λαμβάνω), sometimes the stems differ by one letter (like βαλλ and βαλ from βάλλω), and sometimes the stems differ completely (like λεγ and ειπ from λέγω). On the one hand, this means that you do not need to memorize any new verb patterns, tense-formers, or rules about augments. On the other hand, this means that you need to recognize the aorist stems of second aorist verbs. At the end of this step, you will find a quizlet that will help you practice recognizing second aorists.
Practice
For now, let’s focus on parsing λαμβάνω as a second aorist active indicative:
Examples from the Greek NT
ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἀλλ᾿ ἀπελθὼν ἔβαλεν αὐτὸν εἰς φυλακὴν Now, he was not willing but instead after sending him away, he threw him into jail. —Matthew 18:30
In this verse, we have an imperfect indicative (ἤθελεν: imperfect, active, indicative, third person, singular from θέλω), a second aorist participle (ἀπελθών: aorist, active, participle, nominative, masculine, singular from ἀπέρχομαι), and a second aorist indicative (ἔβαλεν). Let’s focus in on ἔβαλεν:
ε+βαλ+εν
[Augment]
[Stem]
[Tense-Former]
[Ending]
Noting the four key features, we can parse ἔβαλεν as an aorist, active, indicative, third person, singular from βάλλω. Remember that with perfective aspect, the author speaks about the verb as a whole or completed action. That’s what we see here with ἔβαλεν: “he threw him into jail.” We see the whole action, from beginning to end, as completed.
οὐκ ἦλθον καταλῦσαι ἀλλὰ πληρῶσαι. I did not come to abolish [the Law or the Prophets] but instead to fulfill [them]. —Matthew 5:17
In this clause from Matthew 5:17, we have two first aorist infinitives (καταλῦσαι: aorist, active, infinitive from καταλύω; πληρῶσαι: aorist, active, infinitive from πληρόω) and one second aorist indicative (ἦλθον). Let’s take a closer look at ἦλθον:
ε+ελθ+ον
[Augment]
[Stem]
[Tense-Former]
[Ending]
We first note that the ε augment combined with and lengthened the ε that begins the stem to become an η. Thus the four key features help us parse ἦλθον as an aorist, active, indicative, first person singular or third person plural from ἔρχομαι. With the wider context, we can parse this further as a first person singular. To communicate the past time and perfective aspect, we can translate ουκ ἦλθον as: “I did not come.” Again, notice how the perfective aspect speaks about the action as a whole event.
Parsing Practice: Second Aorist Active Indicatives
Before moving on to second aorist middle indicatives, use this quizlet to practice parsing second aorist active indicatives. If you first need a reminder of some common second aorist stems, see the chart at the top of this step from Greek II.