Lesson 10 | Infinitives
OPTIONAL—Grammar Point 3: Perfect (stative) Infinitives
This grammar point is optional. Perfect infinitives are much less common than present or aorist infinitives. So, it is much more important that you learn how to parse and translate present and aorist infinitives. However, there are enough perfect infinitives in the Greek NT and the LXX that it will benefit you to learn about perfect infinitives eventually. If you feel overwhelmed, feel free to skip this step and return to it at a later time. If you feel like you can handle an additional grammar point, keep reading.
We have come to the final infinitive form that we will learn in this course. (The future infinitive is very rare, occurring only 5 times in the Greek NT. So, we will not learn it.) Perfect infinitives communicate stative aspect, and so they focus us on the results of a verbal action. You will not encounter them in the Greek NT nearly as much as you will present and aorist infinitives.
Perfect Infinitives
λελυκέναι λελύσθαι
Examples from the Greek NT
τίς τούτων τῶν τριῶν πλησίον δοκεῖ σοι γεγονέναι τοῦ ἐμπεσόντος εἰς τοὺς λῃστάς; Who of these three seems to you to have been a neighbor of the one who fell into the robbers’ hands? —Luke 10:36
This is a complex sentence. So, let’s begin by looking at the diagram.
This sentence is a question. γεγονέναι completes the main verb’s idea: “Who seems to have been…” Now, let’s parse γεγονέναι. First, notice the doubled γ at the front of the word. Whenever you see a doubling (reduplication) at the front of the word like this, it is a definite sign that the verb in question is a perfect tense-form. Second, notice the stem. The γον stem is different than the present tense-form stem (γιν). Finally, we have the tense former at the end of the word. Although the κ is missing, the rest of the tense former is there. Since we already know this is a perfect tense-form because of the doubled γ, we just need the tense former to clarify that this is a perfect, active, infinitive from γίνομαι.
οὐκέτι οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο αὐτὸν δῆσαι διὰ τὸ αὐτὸν πολλάκις πέδαις καὶ ἁλύσεσιν δεδέσθαι καὶ διεσπάσθαι ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ τὰς ἁλύσεις καὶ τὰς πέδας συντετρῖφθαι... Nobody was able to bind him anymore because he had been bound many times with shackles and chains and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles were broken… —Mark 5:4
Once again, this is a very complex sentence. So, let’s look at the diagram.
There are four infinitives in this sentence. Can you parse the first infinitive (δῆσαι) from the verb δέω (I bind)? Scheming σ lengthens the εto an η (δε + σαι = δῆσαι). The circumflex accent often indicates that a vowel has lengthened or that two separate vowels have combined into one. We also see the σαι tense former. So, It is an aorist, active, infinitive from δέω. This infinitive completes the main verb’s action: “Nobody was able to bind him.”
The next three infinitives are part of one group. When δία occurs with an articular infinitive, it explains the cause of the main verb. We will learn more about this in the next grammar point. Notice from the diagram that this διά τό governs all three of these infinitives. Together, they explain the reason for the main verb. Let’s look at each one.
δεδέσθαι is also from the verb δέω (I bind). Notice the doubled δ at the beginning. This doubling is a definite sign that we are dealing with a perfect tense-form. Next, notice the σθαι tense former. This is a perfect, passive, infinitive. Now, there is one more thing. This infinitive has a subject. Remember, infinitives take their subjects in the accusative case. So, we can translate this infinitive phrase as “because he had been bound many times with shackles and chains.”
διεσπάσθαι is from the verb διασπάω (I tear apart). Again, notice the doubled δ at the beginning. This doubling is a definite sign that we are dealing with a perfect tense-form. Also, this perfect also has the σθαι tense former. διεσπάσθαι too is a perfect, passive, infinitive. Also, this infinitive has its own accusative subject (τὰς ἁλύσεις). Since διά τό governs this infinitive as well, we can translate this infinitive phrase as “and because the chains had been torn apart by him.”
συντετρῖφθαι is from the verb συντρίβω (I tear apart). This is a compound verb. Remember, compound verbs have a preposition added to the front as part of the verb (like ἀπέρχομαι or παρακαλέω). When a compound verb forms as a perfect tense-form, the doubling happens with the first letter that is not part of the preposition. That is what happened here. The τ in συντρίβω doubled instead of the σ. So, the doubled letter comes right after the preposition part (συν) of this compound verb. We get συντετρῖφθαι. Since we have the doubled letter, we know this form is a perfect. The σ from the σθαι tense former dropped out, but with the doubled letter and the remaining tense former, we know this is a perfect, passive, infinitive. This infinitive also has its own accusative subject (τὰς πέδας). Further, this infinitive is also governed by διά τό, and we can translate the whole infinitive phrase as “and because the shackles were broken.”