Lesson 8 | Aorist (Perfective) Participles

Grammar Point 2: Second Aorist Participles

Second Aorist Participles
Second aorist participles look similar to present participles. The biggest difference is the change from the present tense-form stem to the aorist tense-form stem. In the chart below, you can see the stem changes that occur in verbs that you already know. You do not need to memorize all of these. However, you must be able to recognize the aorist stem along with its lexical form. You should memorize the forms that are significantly different.

This lesson uses the verb βάλλω as the paradigm verb for second aorist participles.*
As you did with first aorist participles, learn the three key features for each form of second aorist participles. Then, look at the tables to see how the key features work.

* Here I follow the paradigms set out in Reading Biblical Greek by Richard J. Gibson and Constantine R. Campbell.

Now, let's add second aorist participles to our three key features summary chart.

Let’s use a couple quizlets to help you solidify your understanding of second aorist participles. This first quizlet contains only second aorist participle forms of βάλλω. As you did with the quizlet for first aorist participles, try parsing the participle on your own before flipping the card. Remember, focus on identifying the stem, the tense former, and the ending pattern.

Example
βληθείς
Aorist, passive, participle, nominative, masculine, singular from βάλλω

Now, let’s try another quizlet. This quizlet contains both first and second aorist participle forms from the different verbs you already learned. It will be significantly more difficult. Move slowly and take time to parse each form properly. You may want to use a pencil and paper to write down each parsing before flipping the card. When you make a mistake, take time to understand the correct answer. Remember to focus on identifying the three key features for each participle.

Examples from the Greek NT
In this section, there are three passages from the Greek NT that contain aorist participles. Remember that Greek verbs communicate time only in the indicative. Therefore, the aorist participles are perfective in aspect but take their time from the main verb.

καὶ λαβὼν τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εὐλόγησεν...  (NA28)

And after he took the five loaves of bread and the two fish and looked up towards heaven, he gave thanks...

—Mark 6:41
There are two aorist participles in this clause: λαβών (after he took) and ἀναβλέψας (after he looked up). Can you parse them? λαβών is a second aorist participle. It has an aorist stem, a οντ tense former (timid τ dropped off and the remaining  -ον lengthened to -ων), and a third pattern ending. Therefore, λαβών is an aorist, active, participle, nominative, masculine, singular from λαμβάνω. 
How about ἀναβλέψας? It has the same stem as its present tense-form, a σαντ tense former (σαντ + ς = σας), and a third pattern ending. Therefore, it is a first aorist, active, participle, nominative, masculine, singular from ἀναβλέπω. Scheming σ changed the π into ψ (ἀναβλεπ + σας = ἀναβλέψας). 
Both participles are nominative, share the main verb’s subject, and do not have the article. So, how are they functioning? They are adverbs that further describe the main verbs’ action.
Since these participles have perfective aspect, how should we translate them? It is often difficult to communicate an aorist participle’s aspect in English. However, in narrative literature (like this example), aorist participles often depict an action that occurred before the main verb. So, λαβών and ἀναβλέψας communicate actions that occur before Jesus gave thanks: "He gave thanks after he took the bread and after he looked up into heaven."

ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός με καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ. (NA28)

I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

—Galatians 2:20
Once again, there are two aorist participles in this sentence: τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός (the one who loved) and παραδόντος (the one who gave). Can you parse them? τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός is a first aorist participle. It has the same stem as the present tense-form, the σαντ tense former, and a third pattern ending. Therefore,τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός is an aorist, active, participle, genitive, masculine, singular from ἀγαπάω. Notice how the second α in ἀγαπάω lengthens to η because of the σαντ tense former (ἀγαπα + σαντος = ἀγαπήσαντός). 
παραδόντος is a second aorist participle. It has an aorist stem, the οντ tense former, and a third pattern ending. Therefore, παραδόντος is an aorist, active, participle, genitive, masculine, singular from παραδίδωμι (you do not know this kind of verb yet). 
How are they functioning? Note that καί joins these participles so that they share one article. Thus, both participles have the article. Further, they match τοῦ υἱοῦ in gender, number, and case. So, these are both adjectival participles.
How do we communicate the perfective aspect of these participles? Remember, Greek verbs communicate time only in the indicative. In this verse, we translate these participles with the English past tense because of the context. Paul has been talking about Christ’s crucifixion, which is a past event. Since these participles clearly refer to that event, they take their time from the past time of that event. With perfective aspect, these participles merely summarize this past event as a whole action: “the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

καὶ εὐθὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπιγνοὺς ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ δύναμιν ἐξελθοῦσαν ἐπιστραφεὶς ἐν τῷ ὄχλῳ ἔλεγεν· τίς μου ἥψατο τῶν ἱματίων;(NA28)

And Jesus because he immediately knew within himself that power went out from him, after he was turned around in the crowd, said: “Who touched my clothes?”

—Mark 5:30
This is not an easy sentence. So, do not be discouraged if you struggled to read it. Let’s start with the diagram to help us.
This sentence shows how Greek authors used participles to add information and context to the main verb. There are three aorist participles in this sentence: ἐπιγνούς (knew), ἐξελθοῦσαν (went out), and ἐπιστραφείς (was turned around). Even though you only know one of these verbs as vocabulary, can you parse them based on their forms?
ἐπιγνούς is the most difficult. It is an aorist, active, participle, nominative, masculine, singular from ἐπιγινώσκω (you do not know this verb yet although it is closely related to γινώσκω). Since it is nominative, is without the article, and borrows the main verb’s subject, it is adverbial. I think ἐπιγνούς describes the reason for the main verb’s action: Jesus spoke because he knew that power had gone out from him. Because of the context and the perfective aspect, I translated the participle as an English simple past tense (“because he knew”) rather than a simple present tense (“because he knows”) or a progressive past tense (“because he was knowing”). 
ἐξελθοῦσαν is also a second aorist participle. We see the aorist stem, the ουσα tense former, and the first pattern ending. Therefore, it is an aorist, active, participle, accusative, feminine, singular from ἐξέρχομαι. Since it is accusative and matches the noun δύναμιν in case, gender, and number, it is an adjectival participle. I translated the participle with an English past tense because it refers to a past event (the healing of the woman who touched Jesus’s robe). The perfective aspect summarizes the action as a whole event ("went out") rather than an unfolding one (“was going out” or “had been going out”). 
ἐπιστραφείς is also a second aorist participle. We see the aorist stem, the θεντ tense former (the ς ending forced the τ and ν to drop out), and the third pattern ending. Therefore, it is an aorist, passive, participle, nominative, masculine, singular from ἐπιστρέφω (you do not know this verb yet). But what happened to the tense former? The θ dropped out because of the φ. Since it is nominative, is without the article, and borrows the main verb’s subject, it is adverbial. The context and perfective aspect communicate that the participle’s action takes place before the main verb’s action: “Jesus spoke after he was turned around.”

Infinitive Key Features, Preposition-Infinitive Constructions, Aorist StemspdfA printable cheat sheet