The Aorist Tense Verb

The Kind of Action of the Aorist Tense:

The Aorist tense expresses punctiliar action. It states the deed is occurring without indicating continued action. The time element is basically non-existence within the tense, except for in the Indicative mode, and therefore relies upon the context.

The Constative Aorist

The action is seen as a single whole, without any emphasis on its progress. It may last but a moment, or it may last for a long time. It may have been one act, or it may have been a series of acts. The action is gathered together and presented as a point. The writer sees the whole action in a glance. This use occurs frequently in the New Testament.

The Ingressive  Aorist

The action is denoted as having occurred, but the emphasis is placed on the beginning of the action, emphasizing the entrance into a state or a condition.

The Culminative  Aorist

(Also may be known as the Consummative Aorist or the Effective Aorist)

This use conveys the results of an event, viewing it in its entirety. The event has occurred, but the emphasis is placed on the end of the action or on the state resulting from the action. It is often used with verbs which signify effort or process.

The Aorist of Historical Narrative

This use denotes past events in narration. It answers the question “what happened next?” This is the normal tense for narratives, unless there was a reason to use some other tense. It occurs frequently in the Gospels and Acts.

The Gnomic Aorist

This use denotes a generally accepted fact or truth which is so fixed in its certainty or axiomatic character that it is […]