The New Testament Greek Lexicon Strong's Number: 5664 | Tense, Voice and Mood |
Word Tense | | Aorist
The aorist tense is characterized by its emphasis on punctiliar action; that is, the concept of the verb is considered without regard for past, present, or future time. There is no direct or clear English equivalent for this tense, though it is generally rendered as a simple past tense in most translations.
The events described by the aorist tense are classified into a number of categories by grammarians. The most common of these include a view of the action as having begun from a certain point ("inceptive aorist"), or having ended at a certain point ("cumulative aorist"), or merely existing at a certain point ("punctiliar aorist"). The categorization of other cases can be found in Greek reference grammars.
The English reader need not concern himself with most of these finer points concerning the aorist tense, since in most cases they cannot be rendered accurately in English translation, being fine points of Greek exegesis only. The common practice of rendering an aorist by a simple English past tense should suffice in most cases.
| Word Voice | | Middle Deponent
The middle deponent forms in almost all cases are translated as being in the active voice.
See 5784
| Word Mood | | Infinitive
The Greek infinitive mood in most cases corresponds to the English infinitive, which is basically the verb with "to" prefixed, as "to believe."
Like the English infinitive, the Greek infinitive can be used like a noun phrase ("It is better to live than to die"), as well as to reflect purpose or result ("This was done to fulfil what the prophet said").
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Bibliography Information
Thayer and Smith. "Greek Lexicon entry for ". "The New Testament Greek Lexicon". <http://classic.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=5664>.
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