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A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO
VERBAL ASPECT IN NEW
TESTAMENT GREEK1
by
Andrew David Naselli2
ooks and articles on verbal aspect in NT Greek have been part of
B
the cutting edge of Greek grammar and syntax for about two decades. The conversation accelerated with the published dissertations of
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19
See Matt 15:36; Mark 6:41; 8:67; Luke 9:16; cf. 24:30.
This use of in the Synoptics is even more striking when considering that
authors generally use the aorist rather than the imperfect when using to depict
an action. In the NA27, occurs in the aorist 120 times and the imperfect only
twelve times.
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11
For brief discussions of its pragmatic value, see Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to
the Romans, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), p. 750; Thomas R. Schreiner,
Romans, BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998), pp. 64344; William W. Combs,
Romans 12:12 and the Doctrine of Sanctification, Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
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The Semantics
of TenseForms
Explanation
1. Time
Absolute time
2. Aktionsart
The objective
nature of an
action
3. Aspect
plus time
The subjective
portrayal of an
action (plus
time)
4. Aspect
The subjective
portrayal of an
action
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Tense = Time* + Kind (*The tense indicates time of action only in the
indicative mood.)
Tense
Time
Present
Present
Imperfect
Past
Future
Future
Kind
Linear,
progressive, continuous
Simple,
undefined
Aorist
Past
Perfect
Past
Pluperfect
Past
Completed
Diagram
Explanation
Examples
The action
is viewed as
in progress.
I am
studying.
I was
studying.
The action
is viewed as
a whole.
(This does
not necessarily denote
punctiliar
[point-intime] action.)
The action
is viewed as
completed
but having
continuing
results.
I will
study.
I studied.
I have
studied.
I had
studied.
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Table 4. Aspect
Tense-Form
Grammaticalizes Aspect
Aorist
Perfective
Present/Imperfect
Perfect/Pluperfect
Imperfective
Stative
In another work Porter gives more user-friendly definitions that explain his linguistic terminology.
In Greek, verbal aspect is defined as a semantic (meaning) category by which
a speaker or writer grammaticalizes (i.e. represents a meaning by choice of a
word-form) a perspective on an action by the selection of a particular tenseform in the verbal system. The semantic features (the meanings) of the
different verbal aspects are attached to the tense-forms. The verbal aspects
are therefore morphologically based (i.e. form and function are matched).
Verbal aspect is a semantic feature which attaches directly to use of a
given tense-form in Greek. Other valuessuch as timeare established
at the level of larger grammatical or conceptual units, such as the sentence, paragraph, proposition, or even discourse (see Chapter 21). The
choice of the particular verbal aspect (expressed in the verb tense-form)
resides with the language user, and it is from this perspective that grammatical interpretation of the verb must begin.19
Porter elsewhere explains that aspect theory states that verbal tenseforms are selected by language users not on the basis of the action in
itself but on the basis of how they wish to conceive of and conceptualize an action.20
18
Greek Grammar and Syntax, p. 89. See also Rodney J. Deckers clear definition of aspect, which agrees with Porter. Temporal Deixis of the Greek Verb in the Gospel of Mark with Reference to Verbal Aspect, ed. D. A. Carson, Studies in Biblical Greek
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22
Fanning, Verbal Aspect, pp. 12024; Campbell, Verbal Aspect, pp. 12760.
23
A New Syntax of the Verb in New Testament Greek, ed. D. A. Carson, Studies in
Biblical Greek 5 (New York: Lang, 1994), 34.
25
Decker includes an endnote here (p. 177): N. Turner, Syntax, vol. 3 of MHT,
3:67.
25
Decker clarified in private correspondence that he is not arguing for an iterative
sense here, but only using Turners terminology to suggest how it ought to be phrased.
(Turner seems to conflate the iterative, customary, ingressive, and progressive uses.)
Decker, like many others, would describe this phrase as an ingressive
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See, e.g. (in chronological order), Porter, Verbal Aspect; Fanning, Verbal Aspect;
the five essays by Carson, Porter, Fanning, Daryl D. Schmidt, and Moiss Silva in Part
1 of Biblical Greek Language and Linguistics, ed. Porter and Carson; Kenneth L.
McKay, Time and Aspect in New Testament Greek, Novum Testamentum 34
(1992): 20928; idem, New Syntax of the Verb, pp. 3538; Young, Intermediate New
Testament Greek, pp. 10531; D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996), pp. 6578, 8485; Wallace, Greek Grammar, pp. 494512; Porter,
Idioms, pp. 2061; Decker, Temporal Deixis, pp. 159, 15798; Porter, Greek
Grammar and Syntax, pp. 8992; Robert E. Picirilli, The Meaning of the Tenses in
New Testament Greek: Where Are We? Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
48 (September 2005): 53355; Gary A. Long, Tense and Aspect, in Grammatical
Concepts 101 for Biblical Greek: Learning Biblical Greek Grammatical Concepts Through
English Grammar (Peabody, MA.: Hendrickson, 2006), 6077; Campbell, Verbal
Aspect. See the corresponding bibliographies in these works (esp. those by Porter) for
additional works.
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See, e.g. (in addition to the discussions on linguistics contained in the works
listed in the previous footnote), R. R. K. Hartmann and F. C. Stork, Dictionary of
Language and Linguistics (New York: Wiley, 1972); Bernard Comrie, Aspect: An Introduction to the Study of Verbal Aspect and Related Problems, Cambridge Textbooks in
Linguistics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976); idem, Tense, Cambridge
Textbooks in Linguistics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985); Peter
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I made the mistake of reading Porters Verbal Aspect first, and I would
strongly discourage newcomers from doing that. Not having a solid
background in linguistics, classical Greek, or verbal aspect theory, I
found it to be an exceptionally challenging and technical Greek monograph.
One additional work to add near the top of the above list is D. A.
Carsons lengthy appendix in his forthcoming The Epistles of John, 30
which promises to be the first commentary that fully incorporates verbal aspect theory.31 Carsons lengthy appendix on verbal aspect theory
will be current with developments in verbal aspect studies and may
prove to be the most accessible explanation available.
CONCLUSION
Most contemporary NT studies reflect one of three views of the
Greek verb: Aktionsart, aspect plus time, or aspect. Aktionsart refers to
the objective nature of an action, and aspect refers to the authors or
speakers subjective portrayal of an action. The former concerns pragmatics and the latter semantics. The net result of applying aspect theory to exegesis is not radically different interpretations. Instead,
advocates of aspect theory argue, it enhances exegesis with increased
nuance and the avoidance of common linguistic missteps.
The question with which NT interpreters must wrestle is, Which
view on the nature of the entire Greek verbal system has the greatest
explanatory power? A growing number of linguists and NT Greek
grammarians are convinced that the answer is verbal aspect theory.
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