New Testament Greek for Beginners

(Based on the book with the same title by Gresham Machen, The MacMillan Company, 1923)

LESSON XIX

Aorist Participles Active and Middle
Use of Participles (continued)
The Negatives οὐ and μή

241. Vocabulary

242. The declension of λύσας, λύσασα, λῦσαν, having loosed, the aorist active participle of λύω, is as follows:

243. Like the present active participle, the aorist active participle is declined according to the third declension in the masculine and neuter, and according to the first declension in the feminine.

244. The characteristic σα, which, it will be remembered is the sign of the aorist system (the third of the principal parts), appears throughout. This σα, as in the rest of the aorist system, is added to the verb stem.

245. The augment, however, appears only in the indicative mood. Thus, although the aorist active indicative of λύω is ἔλυσα, the aorist active participle is not ἔλυσας, but λύσας, and although the aorist active indicative of ἀκούω is ἤκονσα the aorist active participle is not ἠκούσας but ἀκούσας.

246. The declension of λυσάμενος, -η, -ον, having loosed for himself, the aorist middle participle of λύω, is as follows:

247. Like the present middle and passive participle, the aorist middle participle (the aorist passive is quite different) is declined like an ordinary adjective of the second and first declension.

248. Like the aorist active participle and the rest of the aorist system, the aorist middle participle is formed on the aorist stem. The characteristic σα appears throughout.

249. The declension of ἰδών, ἰδοῦσα, ἰδόν, having seen, the second aorist active participle of βλέπω (it may also be regarded as coming from ὁράω), is as follows:

250. It will be observed that the second aorist active participle is declined like the present active participle except that it has an irregular accent. The accent on the first form does not follow the verb rule of recessive accent, but is on the ultima. Thereafter the noun rule is followed, the accent remaining on the same syllable throughout, except in the genitive plural feminine, where §51 comes into play.

251. It will be remembered that the augment appears only in the indicative mood. It must therefore be dropped from the third of the principal parts before the aorist participle can be formed. In irregular verbs like βλέπω (ὁράω) the dropping of the augment in the second aorist sometimes gives difficulty. The third of the principal parts of βλέπω (ὁράω) is εἶδον. Without the augment the second aorist stem is ιδ-, for ι was here irregularly augmented to ει. On the other hand, the second aorist participle of λέγω is εἰπών (εἶπον being the second aorist indicative), because here εἰπ- was the second aorist stem and being regarded as long enough already was not changed at all for the augment.

252. Except in the case of a few such verbs, where the dropping of the augment from the third of the principal parts in order to get the aorist stem to which the -ων is added to form the participle, might give difficulty, the student is expected to perform the necessary processes for himself. Thus if a form ἀποθανών is found in the exercises, the student is expected to see that this form is the participle of a second aorist of which the indicative (with the augment) is ἀπέθανον. This form, since the verb is irregular, will be found in the general vocabulary.

253. The second aorist middle participle is declined exactly like the present middle participle, and differs from the present middle participle only because it is formed on the second aorist stem instead of on the present stem. Thus λαβόμενος is the second aorist middle participle of λαμβάνω, ἔλαβον being the second aorist active indicative (third of the principal parts).

254. Use of the Aorist Participle

In accordance with the principle formulated in §233, that the tense of the participle is relative to the time of the leading verb, the aorist participle denotes action prior to the action denoted by the leading verb, whether the action denoted by the leading verb is past, present or future.

Examples:

(1) ὁ ἀπόστολος εἰπὼν ταῦτα ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ βλέπει τὸν κύριον, the apostle having said these things in the temple is seeing the Lord. Here εἰπών, the aorist participle, denotes action prior to the action denoted by βλέπει. Compare Example (1) in §232.

(2) εἰπὼν ταῦτα ἀπῆλθεν, having said these things he went away. The literal translation of the participle is here perfectly possible. But it would be more idiomatic English to translate, when he had said these things he went away, or after he had said these things he went away. Compare λέγων ταῦτα ἀπῆλθεν, he went away saying these things or while he was saying these things he went away. Notice that when a Greek present participle is translated by a temporal clause in English, the English word that introduces the temporal clause is naturally while, and when it is an aorist participle that is to be translated into English, the English word introducing the temporal clause is naturally when or after. In the case of the aorist participle, the verb in the English temporal clause will often be perfect ("has seen", etc.) or pluperfect ("had seen", etc.) - perfect when the leading verb is present or future, and pluperfect when the leading verb is past.

(3) εἰπὼν ταῦτα ἀπέρχεται, having said these things he goes away, or after he has said these things he goes away.

(4) προσῆλθον αὐτῷ εἰπόντι ταῦτα, they came to him after he had said these things. Here the literal translation of the participle would be absolutely impossible in English, because in the English sentence they came to him having said these things, the having said would agree not with him but with the subject of the sentence, they, and the sentence would be a translation, not of προσῆλθον αὐτῷ εἰπόντι ταῦτα but of προσῆλθον αὐτῷ εἰπόντες ταῦτα. Compare with προσῆλθον αὐτῷ εἰπόντι ταῦτα the sentence προσῆλθον αὐτῷ λέγοντι ταῦτα., which means they came to him while he was saying these things.

(5) ἐλθόντες πρὸς τὸν κύριον ὀψόμεθα αὐτόν, having come to the Lord we shall see Him, or when (or after) we have come to the Lord we shall see Him.

255. The aorist participle can of course be used attributively or substantively with the article (see §§234,235). Examples:

(1) ὁ μαθητὴς ὁ ἀκούσας ταῦτα ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον, the having-heard-these-things-in-the-temple disciple went into the house, or the disciple who heard/had heard these things in the temple went into the house. On the other hand, ὁ μαθητὴς ἀκούσας ταῦτα ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον would mean the disciple, when he had heard these things in the temple, went into the house.

(2) ὁ ἀκούσας ταῦτα ἀπῆλθεν, the having-heard-these-things man went away, or he/the one/the man who heard/had heard these things went away. On the other hand ἀκούσας ταῦτα ἀπῆλθεν would mean having heard these things he went away or when he had heard these things he went away. In the former sentence ὁ ἀκούσας tells what man we are talking about, while ἀκούσας without the article merely adds a detail about a person who is designated in some other way or not designated at all.

(3) εἶδον τοὺς εἰπόντας ταῦτα, I saw the having-said-these-things men, or I saw those/the ones/the men who had said these things.

The student should compare with these examples the corresponding examples given for the present participle.

256. The Negatives οὐ and μή

οὐ is the negative of the indicative, μή is the negative of the other moods, including the infinitive and the participle.

Example: ὁ μὴ πιστεύων οὐ σώζεται, the not-believing one is not saved, or he who does not believe is not saved. Here μή negatives the participle πιστεύων, and οὐ negatives the indicative σώζεται.

257. Exercises

I.

1. λαβόντες ταῦτα παρὰ τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς τὸν κύριον ἐξήλθομεν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον.
2. πισταί εἰσιν αἱ δεξάμεναι τοὺς διωκομένους ὑπὸ τοῦ ἄρχοντος.
3. εἴδομεν αὐτοὺς μένοντας ἐν τῷ οἶκῳ καὶ ἐξελθόντας ἐξ αὐτοῦ.
4. οἱ ἰδόντες τὸν κύριον ἦλθον πρὸς τοὺς ἀγαγόντας τὸν μαθητὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ.
5. ταῦτα εἴπομεν περὶ τοῦ σώσαντος ἡμᾶς.
6. οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ κηρύξαντες τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνοί εἰσιν οἱ διώξαντες τοὺς πιστεύοντας.
7. προσενεγκόντες τῷ κυρίῳ τὸν διωκόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ ἄρχοντος τοῦ πονηροῦ ἀπήλθετε εἰς ἄλλον τόπον.
8. προσῆλθον τῷ κυρίῷ ἐλθόντι εἰς τὸ ἱερόν.
9. ἐπίστευσας εἰς αὐτὸν εἰπόντα ταῦτα.
10. ταῦτα εἶπον ἐξελθὼν ἐκ τῆς ἐκκλησίας.
11. ὁ μὴ ἰδὼν τὸν κύριον οὐκ ἐπίστευσεν εἰς αὐτόν.
12. ταῦτα εἶπεν ὁ κύριος ἔτι ὤν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ τοῖς ἐξελθοῦσιν ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου καὶ πορευομένοις μετ' αὐτοῦ.
13. ἀκούσαντες τὰ λεγόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτόν.
14. εἴδομεν τοὺς γενομένους μαθητὰς τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἔτι μένοντας ἐν τῇ ἐλπίδι αὐτῶν τῇ πρώτῃ.
15. τὰ τέκνα τὰ λαβόντα ταῦτα ἀπὸ τῶν ἀκουσάντων τοῦ κυρίου εἶδον αὐτὸν ἔτι ὄντα ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ.
16. ἰδοῦσαι αὗται τὸν κηρύξαντα τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἐκεῖνο ἦλθον πρὸς αυτὸν ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν οἶκον.
17. οἱ ἄγγελοι οἱ πεσόντες ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πονηροὶ ἦσαν.
18. ἰδόντες τοὺς ἔτι ὄντας ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ἐκήρυξαν αὐτοῖς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ.
19. ταῦτα ἀπεκρίθη τοῖς προσενεγκοῦσιν αὐτῷ τὰ τέκνα.
20. ἀπήλθομεν μὴ ἰδόντες τὸν διδάξαντα ἡμᾶς.

Answer Key

II.

1. Those who have not seen the apostle do not know him.
2. I did not see him who had believed on the Lord.
3. I saw him after he had believed on the Lord, but ye saw him while he was still in the kingdom of the Evil One.
4. Having heard these things we believed on Him who had died in behalf of us.
5. We came to those who were going in the way.
6. We shall see the apostle after we have gone into this house.
7. Those men said to those who had gone into the house that the Lord is good.
8. While we were saying these things we were going into our house.
9. When they had received these gifts from the ones who had brought them, they came together into the church.
10. These are the women who received the one who had taught them.
11. When these men had seen the Lord, they were brought to the rulers.
12. The disciples who had come into the church were baptized by the apostles who had seen the Lord.
13. The blind man who had received this man was with those who were persecuting him.
14. The demons that were being cast out said this to him who was casting them out.
15. As we were going through the desert, we taught those who were with us.
16. We saw the servant when he had believed on the Lord and was still in the house.

Answer Key