New Testament Greek for Beginners

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

LESSON XXXI

Conjugation of δίδωμι
Second Aorist of γινώσκω
The Article before μέν and δέ
The Aorist Participle Denoting the Same Act as the Leading Verb
First Aorist Endings on Second Aorist Stems

481. Vocabulary

482. The verbs which have been studied so far, with the exception of the irregular verb εἰμί, all belong to the same conjugation. They have various ways of forming their principal parts, but the endings that are appended to the principal parts all belong to the same type. There is in Greek only one other conjugation. It is called the μι conjugation (to distinguish it from the ω conjugation which has been studied thus far), because its first person singular present active indicative ends in μι.

483. Verbs in μι differ from verbs in ω only in the present and second aorist systems.

484. The principal parts of the μι verb, δίδωμι, I give, are as follows:

δίδωμι, δώσω, ἔδωκα, δέδωκα, δέδομαι, ἐδώθην

485. The stem of δίδωμι is δο-. If it were an ω verb, its first form would be δόω.

486. The future δώσω is entirely regular, the final ο of the stem being lengthened before the σ of the future exactly as in the case (for example) of δηλόω. From δώσω all of the future active and middle is formed, in exactly the same way as the corresponding forms of λύω.

487. The first aorist ἔδωκα is quite regularly formed except that κ stands instead of σ.

488. The perfect active δέδωκα is entirely regular. From δέδωκα all of the perfect active is quite regularly formed.

489. The perfect middle δέδομαι is quite regular except that the final vowel of the stem is not lengthened before the personal endings (see §448). From δέδομαι all of the perfect middle and passive is quite regularly formed.

490. The aorist passive ἐδόθην is quite regular, except that the final vowel of the stem is not lengthened before the tense suffix -θε. From ἐδόθην all of the aorist passive and future passive is quite regularly formed.

The Present System of δίδωμι

491. The sign of the present system of δίδωμι is the reduplication (of a different form from that in the perfect), which is prefixed to the stem.

492. The present active indicative of δίδωμι is as follows:

493. The final vowel of the stem (the stem with the reduplication being διδo-) is lengthened in the singular number, but not in the plural.

494. The personal endings are added directly to the stem, without any variable vowel.

495. The personal endings are -μι, -ς, -τι (or -σι), -μεν, -τε, -ασι.

496. The present active subjunctive is as follows:

497. There has been contraction here, as is shown by the accent. The personal endings are the same as in ω verbs.

498. The present active imperative is as follows:

499. The present active infinitive is διδόναι, to give.

The irregular accent should be noticed.

500. The present active participle is διδούς, διδοῦσα, διδόν, giving.

501. The genitive singular is διδόντος, διδούσης, διδόντος. The masculine and neuter are declined regularly according to the third declension and the feminine regularly according to the first declension. The dative plural masculine and neuter is διδοῦσι(ν).

502. The accent is irregular in the nominative, not being recessive. Thereafter it follows the general noun rule, except in the genitive plural feminine, διδουσῶν, where the special rule for nouns of the first declension is followed (see §§14,51).

503. The imperfect active indicative is as follows:

504. The characteristic reduplication, δι-, of the present of course appears here, since the imperfect is always a part of the present system. The augment is regular. The final vowel of the stem is lengthened in the singular, as in the present. But in the imperfect it is lengthened to ου instead of to ω. The same secondary endings appear as in the ω conjugation, except that the alternative ending -σαν appears instead of -ν in the third person plural. (See §127).

505. The present and imperfect middle and passive of δίδωμι may be found in §596. Only a few of these forms occur in the New Testament. They can easily be recognized as they occur.

Aorist Active of δίδωμι

506. The aorist active of δίδωμι is peculiar in that it is first aorist in the indicative and second aorist in the other moods.

507. The aorist active indicative is as follows:

508. It will be observed that the conjugation is exactly like that of ἔλυσα, the first aorist active of λύω. But the tense suffix is κ instead of σ. See §§171-177.

509. The aorist active subjunctive is as follows:

510. The conjugation is exactly like the present active subjunctive. But the second aorist has the mere verb stem, whereas the present prefixes the reduplication δι-.

511. The aorist active imperative is as follows:

512. These forms are like the present (without the reduplication), except for δός in the second person singular.

513. The aorist active infinitive is δοῦναι, to give.

514. The aorist active participle is δούς, δοῦσα, δόν, having given. It is declined like the present participle διδούς.

515. The aorist middle of δίδωμι occurs only a very few times in the New Testament. The forms can easily be understood with the aid of a lexicon.

The Second Aorist of γινώσκω

516. γινώσκω, I know, is an ω, verb. But it has a second aorist active of the μι form. The stem is γνο- which is nearly everywhere lengthened to γνω-.

517. Learn the conjugation in §601.

The Article before μέν and δέ

518. Before μέν or δέ the article is often used as a pronoun meaning he, she, it, they.

Examples:

(1) τοῦτο ἠρώτησαν αὐτόν· ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς, this they asked him. And he answered them.
(2) ἦλθον πρὸς αὐτοὺς αἰτῶν τι παρ' αὐτῶν· οἱ δὲ ἐποίησαν οὐδέν, I came to them asking something from them. But they did nothing.

519. It should be observed very carefully that this usage is quite different from all the uses of the article which have been studied heretofore. For example, in the phrase οἱ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ, those in the house, it would be a great mistake to think that the article is used as a pronoun meaning those. On the contrary, the English idiom those in the house (in which those is not really a demonstrative pronoun at all) is expressed in Greek by saying the in-the-house people. In this Greek phrase, οἱ is just as much an ordinary article as in the phrase οἱ ἀγαθοί, the good people, ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ being treated as an adjective like ἀγαθός. Or, to take another example, it would be a great mistake to suppose that in the phrase ὁ λύων, he who looses, the article is used as a pronoun meaning he. On the contrary the article is here just as much an article as in the phrase ὁ ἀγαθός, the good man. But before δέ the article can really be used as a pronoun. In ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, but he said, there is no adjective or adjective expression for ὁ to go with.

520. The Aorist Participle Denoting the Same Act as the Leading Verb

The aorist participle is sometimes used to denote the same act as the leading verb.

Examples:

(1) ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς., Jesus said by way of answer, or Jesus answered and said. In §§233,254 it was said that the present participle denotes action contemporary with the action of the leading verb and the aorist participle denotes action prior to the action of the leading verb. That rule needed to be impressed firmly upon the mind before the exceptions to it could be considered. But as a matter of fact the rule does not completely represent the facts. Properly speaking the tenses in the participle do not have to do with time, and their fundamental, non-temporal character appears in the usage now under discussion. In ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν, the "answering" and the "saying" represent exactly the same act, and the participle simply defines more closely the action denoted by εἶπεν. The phrase does not, however, mean while he was answering he said. That would rather be ἀποκρινόμενος εἶπεν. It is recommended that the free translation, he answered and said, be adopted invariably for the phrase ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν, which is exceedingly common in the Gospels. And it is exceedingly important that this idiom should not be allowed to obscure the fact that in the majority of cases the aorist participle denotes action prior to the time of the leading verb. The student should carefully avoid any confusion between the present and the aorist participle.

(2) ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν., and he answered and said (with a slight emphasis on he). Of course ἀποκριθείς might here be taken as the substantive participle with ὁ, and the sentence might mean and the having-answered one said, or and the one who had answered said. But in a very great many places where these words occur in the gospels, the article is to be taken as a pronoun and the ἀποκριθείς is joined only loosely to it, in the manner indicated in the translation above.

521. First Aorist Endings on Second Aorist Stems

Very frequently, in the New Testament, first aorist endings instead of second aorist endings are used on second aorist stems.

Examples: εἶπαν instead of εἶπον (third person plural), εἰπόν instead of εἰπέ (imperative). This usage is much more common in some parts of the aorist than in others. εἶπον in the indicative has almost exclusively first aorist forms. See §186, footnote.

522. Exercises

Ι.

1. παρέδωκα γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐν πρώτοις ὃ καὶ παρέλαβον, ὅτι Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν κατὰ τὰς γραφάς.
2. μὴ ἔχοντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀποδοῦναι ἀπέλυσεν αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ.
3. καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς πᾶς ὁ λαὸς εἶπεν Τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἐφ' ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ τέκνα ἡμῶν.
4. θέλω δὲ τούτῳ τῷ ἐσχάτῳ δοῦναι ὡς καὶ σοί.
5. ἐσθιόντων δὲ αὐτῶν λαβὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἄρτον καὶ εὐλογήσας ἔκλασεν ^(*1) καὶ δοὺς τοῖς μαθηταῖς εἶπεν Λάβετε φάγετε, τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ σῶμά μου, καὶ λαβὼν ποτήριον ^(*2) καὶ εὐχαριστήσας ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς λέγων Πίετε ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντες.

^(*1) Aorist active indicative of κλάω, I break.
^(*2) ποτήριον, τό, a cup.

6. καὶ εἶπαν λέγοντες πρὸς αὐτὸν Εἰπὸν ἡμῖν ἐν ποίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ ταῦτα ποιεῖς, ἢ τίς ἐστιν ὁ δούς σοι τὴν ἐξουσίαν ταύτην. ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς Ἐρωτήσω κἀγὼ ^(*3) λόγον καὶ εἴπατέ μοι.

^(*3) κἀγώ stands for καὶ ἐγώ.

7. ὁ γὰρ ἄρτος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν ὁ καταβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ζωὴν διδοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ.
8. λέγει αὐτοῖς Ὑμεῖς δὲ τίνα με λέγετε εἶναι; ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ Σίμων Πέτρος εἶπεν Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος.
9. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς Πορεύου· ὁ υἱός σου ζῇ. ἐπίστευσεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῷ λόγῳ ὃν εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἐπορεύετο.
10. ὁρᾶτε μή τις κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ τινι ἀποδῷ.
11. ἦλθεν ἡ ὥρα, ἰδοὺ παραδίδοται ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἰς τὰς χεῖρας τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν. ἐγείρεσθε, ἄγωμεν ^(*4) . ἰδοὺ ὁ παραδιδούς με ἤγγικεν.

^(*4) ἄγω is sometimes used in the intransitive sense, I go.

12. καὶ ἰδοὺ εἷς προσελθὼν αὐτῷ εἶπεν Διδάσκαλε, τί ἀγαθὸν ποιήσω ἵνα σχῶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον; ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Τί με ἐρωτᾷς περὶ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ; εἷς ἐστιν ὁ ἀγαθός· εἰ δὲ θέλεις εἰς τὴν ζωὴν εἰσελθεῖν τήρησον τὰς ἐντολάς.
13. καὶ προσελθὼν ὁ πειράζων εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, εἰπὲ ἴνα οἱ λίθοι οὗτοι ἄρτοι γένωνται. ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν, Γέγραπται, Οὐκ ἐπ' ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος.
14. καὶ προσελθόντες οἱ μαθηταὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ Διὰ τί ἐν παραβολαῖς λαλεῖς αὐτοῖς; ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν ὅτι ^(*5) Ὑμῖν δέδοται γνώναι τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἐκείνοις δὲ οὐ δέδοται.

^(*5) ὅτι frequently introduces direct (instead of indirect) discourse. When it introduces direct discourse, it must be left untranslated. In such cases, it takes the place of our quotation marks.

15. ἔλεγον αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ Ἀπόλυσον αὐτούς. ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Δότε αὐτοῖς ὑμεῖς φαγεῖν.

Answer Key

ΙΙ.

1. The woman besought the apostle that he might give her something. But he ^(*6) answered her nothing.

^(*6) In all such cases, the slight emphasis on the he in English is to be expressed in Greek by the pronominal use of the article before δέ.

2. Those who had killed the women said that they had known the king. But he answered and said that he was not willing to give them what they asked.
3. If we believe on Him who loved us and gave Himself in behalf of us, we shall have eternal life instead of death.
4. While the apostle was giving to the children the things which they had asked, the women were giving gifts to us.
5. The Lord delivered over the gospel to the apostles, and they delivered it over to the Gentiles.
6. What shall we give back to Him who gave Himself in behalf of us.
7. Behold He gives us eternal life. Let us therefore do His will.
8. What shall anyone give instead of his life?
9. Whatever we give to Him will not be enough.
10. Whatever thou wishest that men should give to thee, give thou also to them.
11. Let them give thanks to those who delivered over to them the gospel.
12. They asked the Lord what they should give to Him. And He answered and said to them that to do the will of God is greater than all the gifts.
13. Those women are giving back to the children the things which they have taken from them, lest the king cast them out of the city.
14. When the priests had said these things to those who were in the city, the apostle departed.
15. What is this? Will he give us his flesh?
16. Whatever He asks I will give. But He gave to me eternal life.

Answer Key