The Future Tense Verb
The Kind of Action of the Future Tense:
Primarily punctiliar, though linear in some contexts. Often used with the Indicative to indicate future time.
The Predicative Future
This use denotes an event that is expected to take place in the future. This is the most common use of the tense.
The Progressive Future
This use conveys action as going on in the future. The emphasis is simply on the action in progress in the future. The writer thought of it as continuing, not that it was going to be continued.
The Imperatival Future
This use is practically an imperative in sense, for it involves the will, either of the speaker or of the subject. Since the imperative naturally relates to the future, it is not an unnatural usage.
The Deliberative Future
This use denotes the future by expressing a rhetorical question, i.e. one which does not really expect an answer. These questions require deliberation concerning the possibility, or the desirability, or the necessity of a proposed course of activity. It occurs frequently in quotations from the Septuagint.
The Gnomic Future
This use refers to a general or timeless truth, which is valid for all times. This action is to be expected under certain circumstances. It is used infrequently in the New Testament.
The Periphrastic Future
This use emphasizes the continuance of an action. It is used to express an action which one intends to do, or of that which is certain or destined to take place. It is similar to the “Progressive Future,” with the thought of continuance or customariness emphasized. It is formed by the future tense of εἰμί with the present participle.
The Culminative Future
This use denotes the end or culmination of a future event, emphasizing the effects of the action.
The Ingressive Future
This use denotes the beginning of the action that will take place in the future.
The Constative Future
This use denotes a future action as a whole. It is rare in the New Testament.
© 2017 Luther Walker | All Rights Reserved | ISBN-10: 0-9993211-0-2, ISBN-13: 978-0-9993211-0-2 | This book or any potion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.