New Testament Greek for Beginners

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

LESSON XX

Aorist Passive Participle
Genitive Absolute

258. Vocabulary

259. The declension of λυθείς, λυθεῖσα, λυθέν, having been loosed, the aorist passive participle of λύω, is as follows:

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

261. The characteristic -θε, which it will be remembered is the sign of the aorist passive system (the sixth of the principal parts), appears throughout. This -θε, as in the rest of the aorist passive system, is added to the verb stem.

262. The augment, of course, must be dropped (from the sixth of the principal parts) before the aorist passive participle can be formed. Compare §§251,252.

263. The aorist passive participle has an irregular accent, the accent in the nominative singular masculine not being recessive. In the other forms of the declension the rule of noun accent is followed, except of course in the genitive plural feminine, where §§51,228 come into play.

264. Like the other aorist participles, the aorist passive participle denotes action prior to the time of the leading verb; and to it applies also all that has been said about the attributive and substantive uses of the participle.

Examples:

(1) ἐκβληθέντα τὰ δαιμόνια ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, the demons, having been cast out by the Lord, went away into the sea, or when/after the demons had been cast out by the Lord, they went away into the sea.

(2) ἐγερθέντι ἐκ νεκρῶν προσῆλθον αὐτῷ, they came to Him after He had been raised from the dead.

(3) οἱ διδαχθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου ἦλθον εἰς τὸν οἶκον, the having-been-taught-by-the-apostle men came into the the house, or the men/the ones/those who had been taught by the apostle came into the house.

265. The following summary will serve for the review of what has been learned thus far about the participles:

I. The Participles

Present

Active: λύων = loosing
Middle: λυόμενος = loosing for himself
Passive: λυόμενος = being loosed

Aorist

Active: λύσας = having loosed
Middle: λυσάμενος = having loosed for himself
Passive: λυθείς = having been loosed

II. Participles with Article

Present

Active: ὁ λύων, the loosing man = the man who looses / the one who looses / he who looses
Middle: ὁ λυόμενος, the loosing-for-himself man = the man who looses for himself / the one who looses for himself / he who looses for himself
Passive: ὁ λυόμενος, the being-loosed man = the man who is being loosed / the one who is being loosed / he who is being loosed

Aorist

Active: ὁ λύσας, the having-loosed man = the man who (has) loosed / the one who (has) loosed / he who (has) loosed
Middle: ὁ λυσάμενος, the having-loosed-for-himself man = the man who (has) loosed for himself / the one who (has) loosed for himself / he who (has) loosed for himself
Passive: ὁ λυθείς, the having-been-loosed man = the man who (has been/was) loosed / the one who (has been/was) loosed / he who (has been/was) loosed

266. The Genitive Absolute

A noun or pronoun with a participle often stands out of connection with the rest of the sentence in the construction called the genitive absolute.

Examples:

(1) εἰπόντων ταῦτα τῶν ἀποστόλων οἱ μαθηταὶ ἀπῆλθον, the apostles having said these things, the disciples went away. Here εἰπόντων and τῶν ἀποστόλων stand in the genitive absolute. ἀποστόλων is not the subject of any verb, the subject of the only finite verb in the sentence being μαθηταί, nor has it any other connection with the framework of the sentence. It is therefore absolute (the word means "loosed" or "separated"). In the English translation, the apostles having said is in the absolute case, which in English grammar is called the nominative absolute. But this nominative absolute is very much less common in English than the genitive absolute is in Greek.

Usually, therefore, it is better to translate the Greek genitive absolute by a clause, thus giving up any attempt at a ‘‘literal” translation. For example, instead of the "literal" translation of the sentence just given, it would have been better to translate, when (or after) the apostles had said these things, the disciples went away. Of course all that has already been said about the tense of the participle applies to the participle in the genitive absolute as well as in other constructions.

It should be noticed that the genitive absolute is used only when the noun or pronoun going with the participle is different from the subject of the finite verb. Thus in the sentence, εἰπόντες ταῦτα οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἀπῆλθον, the apostles, having said these things, went away, or when the apostles had said these things they went away, the word ἀπόστολοι has a construction in the sentence; it is the subject of the leading verb ἀπῆλθον. Therefore it is not "absolute". But in the former example it is not the apostles but some one else that is represented as performing the action denoted by the leading verb. Hence, in that former example ἀποστόλων is not the subject of the sentence but genitive absolute.

(2) λέγοντος αὐτοῦ ταῦτα οἱ μαθηταὶ ἀπῆλθον, while he was saying these things, the disciples went away. Compare λέγων ταῦτα ἀπῆλθεν, while he was saying these things he went away or he went away saying these things.

(3) τῶν μαθητῶν διδαχθέντων ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου ἐξῆλθον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον οἱ δοῦλοι, when the disciples had been taught by the Lord, the servants went out into the desert. Compare οἱ μαθηταὶ διδαχθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου ἐξῆλθον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, when the disciples had been taught by the Lord, they went out into the desert.

267. Exercises

I.

1. πορευθέντος τοῦ ἄρχοντος πρὸς τὸν κύριον οἱ δοῦλοι εἶπον ταῦτα τοῖς μαθηταῖς.
2. πορευθεὶς πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ ἄρχων ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τὸν κύριον.
3. πιστευσάντων ὑμῶν εἰς τὸν κύριον εὐθὺς ἐπίστευσε καὶ ὁ ἄρχων.
4. εἰσελθόντος εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ ἐγερθέντος ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου οἱ μαθηταὶ ἐθαύμασαν.
5. ἐκβληθέντος αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς συναγωγῆς συνήχθησαν οἱ ἄρχοντες.
6. ἐκβληθέντα ἐκ τῆς συναγωγῆς ἐδίδαξεν αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος.
7. εἰπόντος ταῦτα τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου οἱ μαθηταὶ ἐκήρυξαν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ.
8. τοῖς θεραπευθεῖσιν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ εἴπετε ῥήματα ἐλπίδος καὶ ζωής.
9. ἐλθόντος τούτου εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ εὐθέως εἴπομεν τοῖς ἄλλοις τὰ ῥήματα τὰ παραλημφθέντα ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου.
10. βληθέντες εἰς φυλακὴν διὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τὸ κηρυχθὲν αὐτοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου ἐδόξασαν ἐκεῖ τὸν σώσαντα αὐτούς.
11. ἀναλημφθέντος αὐτοῦ εἰς οὐρανὸν εἰσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταὶ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτῶν.
12. ἐδέξασθε τοὺς ἐκβληθέντας ἐκ τῆς συναγωγῆς καὶ τὰς δεξαμένας αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτῶν.
13. αὗταί εἰσιν αἱ διωχθεῖσαι καὶ ἔτι διωκόμεναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχόντων.
14. αὗτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἐλπίς ἡ κηρυχθεῖσα ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδόντων τὸν κύριον.
15. τῶν στρατιωτῶν διωξάντων ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν ἐδέξαντο ἡμᾶς οἱ ὄντες ἐκεῖ.
16. διωχθέντας ἡμᾶς ὑπὸ τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐδέξαντο οἱ ὄντες ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ.
17. εἰσερχομένῳ σοι εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν προσήλθον οἱ ἄρχοντες, εἰσελθόντα ^(*1) δὲ ἐξέβαλον.

^(*1) What noun or pronoun is naturally to be supplied as that with which εἰσελθόντα agrees?

18. ταῦτα μὲν εἶπον αὐτοῖς προσφέρουσι τὰ παιδία τῷ κυρίῳ, ἐκεῖνα δὲ προσενεγκοῦσιν.
19. πορευομένου μὲν τοῦ κυρίου μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἔλεγον οἱ ἀπόστολοι ταῦτα, ἐλθόντος δὲ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν ἐκεῖνα.
20. ταῦτα εἶπον ὑμῖν ἔτι οὖσιν μετ' ἐμοῦ.

Answer Key

II.

1. When the soldiers had taken the garments from the children, the disciples were cast out of the house.
2. When the disciples had been cast out of the synagogue, they came to us.
3. While we were coming into our house, the Lord said these things to the rulers.
4. The Lord said those things to you both while ye were with Him in the way and after ye had come to the ruler.
5. Those who had heard the apostle saying these things saw the house which had been destroyed by the soldiers.
6. When the rulers had heard the things which were being said by the Lord, they persecuted the disciples.
7. While the disciples were being persecuted by the rulers, the apostles were going into another house.
8. Those who went into the house of the ruler were my brothers.
9. When our names have been written into the book of life, we shall see the Lord.
10. Having been brought to the Lord by these disciples we see Him for ever.
11. These are the rulers who have become disciples of Thee.
12. When the apostle had been cast into prison, the disciples who had heard these things went away into another place.
13. After those women had been cast into prison, we went away into the desert.
14. When those who had been cast into prison had seen the man who had been raised up, they marvelled and believed on the Lord.
15. When the disciples had led to the Lord those who had been persecuted on account of Him, those servants came to us bringing good gifts.
16. Those who have not received this hope from God will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Answer Key