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Habitual Sin and the Christian

In Greek class we were discussing the Middle/Passive form of the verb and looking at 1 John 3:9. I know I started speaking grammar, but don’t let that intimidate you, the truth we learned from this passage is incredible. Our major translations in English make the statement “and he cannot sin” as active; the one born from God is the one inhibiting the ability for that saint to habitually sin; however, the form of the verb is middle or passive so it actually cannot be translated that way.

Quick grammar lesson.

Middle is a voice in Greek that does not exist in English and means the subject is not only producing the action of the verb, but also receiving the action. We would express a similar idea with “he did this for himself (or his own benefit)”; although that is a bit more reflective than middle voice.

Passive means that the action of the verb is being acted upon the subject.

To justify an active translation on a middle/passive form of Greek, some grammarians have come up with the concept of a “deponent verb” in error. A deponent verb is a verb that never occurs in Scripture in an active form, but these grammarians think that it should be translated as active. This not only violates the normal grammar of the Kione Greek, it is actually unsupported when you examine the words they think must be translated as active, even though their form is passive or middle. Without justifiable evidence to show that in the original language exceptions were made on a regular basis by using the wrong form of a verb to express an idea that is not inherent to its form, […]

Habitual Sin and the Christian2023-12-14T11:21:18-08:00

Biblical Greek First Year Lesson 7

Class Notes

Imperfect Indicative Active

Imperfect Indicative Active

The Imperfect Indicative Active Endings:

Singular

1st person: – ν

2nd person: – ς

3rd person:

Plural

1st person: – μεν

2nd person: – τε

3rd person: – ν or σαν

The imperfect is a past tense that denotes continuous or repeated action in the past. Unlike the aorist when expressing past tense, which describes a simple, completed action, the imperfect emphasizes the ongoing, habitual, or iterative nature of the action. This tense is used to describe actions that were in progress or repeated over a period of time in the past, up to the point of writing, often without a clear indication of when they were completed.

Form and Structure:

  • The imperfect is constructed by taking the verb stem (λου) and adding an augment (usually ἐ-) to the beginning of the verb to indicate past time, followed by specific tense endings. ἐ – λού – ον (“I was washing”)
  • Syllabic augment (ἐ-): used with verbs beginning with consonants.
  • Temporal augment (lengthening of the initial vowel): used with verbs that start with vowels.

Endings in the Imperfect Tense:

1st person singular: -ον (ἐ- + stem + ο + ν → “I was doing”)

2nd person singular: -ες (ἐ- + stem + ε + ς → “You were doing”)

3rd person singular: -ε(ν) (ἐ- + stem + ε + – → “He/She/It was doing”)

1st person plural: -ομεν (ἐ- + stem + ο + μεν → “We were doing”)

2nd person plural: -ετε (ἐ- + stem + ε + τε → “You (plural) were doing”)

3rd person plural: -ον (ἐ- + stem + ο + ν or σαν → “They were doing”)

Usage of the Imperfect Tense:

  • Narrative: Often used in narrative passages to set the scene or […]
Biblical Greek First Year Lesson 72024-10-18T07:22:14-07:00

Biblical Greek First Year Lesson 6

Class Notes

Present Indicative Passive Lesson 6

Presentation Slides

Present Indicative Passive

βάλλω (ballō) – I throw

διδάσκω (didaskō) – I teach

ἐγείρω (egeirō) – I raise up

ἀγγέλλω (angellō) – I announce

κηρύσσω (kēryssō) – I proclaim/announce

κρίνω (krinō) – I judge

πέμπω (pempō) – I send

ἀποστέλλω (apostellō) – I send (with a mission)

σώζω (sōzō) – I save

εἰς (eis) – into, because of

ὑπό (hypo) – Ablative, by; Accusative, under

The Present Indicative Passive in Greek is a verb form used to express that the subject is being acted upon in the present time. The Present aspect signifies that the action is ongoing or habitual, while the Indicative mood indicates a statement of fact. The Passive voice means the subject of the sentence is receiving the action rather than performing it. The Passive voice does not have a separate set of endings from the middle voice, except in the future and aorist.

Present Indicative Passive Endings:

Singular:

  1. -ομαι (-omai) – First person singular (I am being loosed).
  2. (-ēi) or -ει (-ei) – Second person singular (You are being loosed).
  3. -εται (-etai) – Third person singular (He/she/it is being loosed).

Plural:

  1. -όμεθα (-ometha) – First person plural (We are being loosed).
  2. -εσθε (-esthe) – Second person plural (You all are being loosed).
  3. -ονται (-ontai) – Third person plural (They are being loosed).

Key Features of the Present Indicative Passive:

  1. Voice: Passive voice means the subject is receiving the action. For example, “λύομαι” means “I am being loosed,” not “I loose.”
  2. Aspect: The Present tense conveys continuous or ongoing action, implying the subject is currently or habitually being acted upon.
  3. Mood: Indicative mood denotes a statement of fact. It indicates real actions or events happening in the present time.

The Present Indicative Passive forms:

Singular:

    […]
Biblical Greek First Year Lesson 62024-10-18T07:22:50-07:00

The Greek Noun Declensions

Declensions

Class Notes Download Second Declension

In linguistic terms, declension refers to the way nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in languages, particularly inflected ones like Greek, Latin, or Hebrew, change their form to express different grammatical categories such as case (nominative, genitive, etc.), number (singular, plural), and gender (masculine, feminine, neuter). In Greek and Hebrew, declensions are crucial because they help to indicate the function of a word in a sentence, such as whether it is the subject, object, or shows possession, among other roles.

First Declension: The first declension is characterized by long vowel endings like -η and -α in the nominative singular. Typically includes nouns that are mostly feminine but also some masculine nouns.

Second Declension: The second declension is categorized by o class vowels. Masculine nouns generally have endings in -ος (e.g., λόγος) in the nominative singular, while neuter nouns end in -ον.

Third Declension: This declension is more irregular and diverse, containing nouns of all three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter). The nouns in the third declension can have various stem endings and exhibit more complex case endings, such as -ς (e.g., βασιλεύς).

Gender refers to a system of noun classification that affects how nouns and related words (such as adjectives, pronouns, and verbs) are inflected in a language. In languages with grammatical gender, nouns are categorized into specific gender classes, which often determine the form of associated words (e.g., adjectives and pronouns) and can sometimes affect the verb conjugation.

In Koine Greek, there are three grammatical genders:

  1. Masculine: This gender is often used for nouns referring to males but also includes many inanimate objects and abstract concepts. For example, ἀδελφός (adelphos) means “brother” and is […]
The Greek Noun Declensions2024-10-02T14:48:04-07:00

Biblical Greek Year 1 Lesson 3

The Present Indicative Active

Vocabulary Training

Class Slides

Class Notes Download The Present Indicative Active

Present Indicative Active Endings:

 

Singular:

1st Person: -ω

2nd Person: -εις

3rd Person: -ει

Plural:

1st Person: -ομεν

2nd Person: -ετε

3rd Person: -ουσι(ν)

Infinitive λέγειν, to be saying, to say

The Present Indicative Active form in Greek is used to denote an action that is occurring in the present time from the writer’s perspective. It can indicate a continuous, habitual, or general truth.

The indicative is the only mode in which the tenses show absolute time. The main idea of tense is always the kind of action.; therefore, even in the indicative time is secondary. Duration or linear action in a continuous or progressive manner is the action expressed by the tense.

Present Tense: Indicates the time of the action as present.

It can denote a continuous action (e.g., “I am studying”).

It can represent a habitual action (e.g., “I study every day”).

It can also indicate a general truth (e.g., “The earth revolves around the sun”).

Indicative Mood: This mood is used for making factual statements or asking questions that are seen as actual.

Active Voice: In the active voice, the subject of the verb is the one performing the action (e.g., “He writes a letter” – the subject “he” is doing the action of writing).

Parsing a Present Indicative Active Verb

Parsing involves identifying five components of a verb: tense, mood, voice, person, and number.

  1. Tense: Present.
  2. Mood: Indicative.
  3. Voice: Active.
  4. Person: Indicates who is performing the action:
    1. 1st person: “I” or “we”
    2. 2nd person: “you” (singular or plural)
    3. 3rd person: “he/she/it” or “they”
  5. Number: Singular or Plural.

 

Parsing Example: λέγω (I say)

λέγω (I say) – ω ending for 1st person singular.

λέγεις (You say) – εις ending for […]

Biblical Greek Year 1 Lesson 32024-10-02T14:37:51-07:00
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