How to Interpret Biblical Greek Verbs (Part 5 of the Verbal Systems of the Biblical Languages)

February 23, 2021 // The Biblical Languages Podcast

Image: A cenotaph to Marcus Caelius, a centurion of Legio XVIII killed at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Note the prominent display of the vine staff, his sign of office.

In this episode of the Biblical Languages Podcast, co-hosts Nick Messmer and Kevin Grasso discuss how our analysis of the biblical Greek verbal system actually impacts our interpretation of specific biblical texts.

Here's a snapshot of what you can expect in this conversation:

• Overviews of tense, aspect, and Aktionsart in biblical Greek, and how these are reflected in biblical Greek verbal forms
• How to apply the semantics of these verbal forms to interpret specific verbs in actual biblical texts
• Why building intuitions about how biblical Greek works as a language is key for properly doing semantics

This is Part 5 of our series on The Verbal Systems of the Biblical Languages. Check out the other episodes in this series:

• Part 1: Tense, Aspect, and Modality with Nora Boneh
• Part 2: The Biblical Hebrew Verbal System with John Cook
• Part 3: The Biblical Greek Verbal System with Steve Runge
• Part 4: How to Interpret Biblical Hebrew Verbs

Show notes

The following works are mentioned in this episode:

• "Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek" - Campbell

The following semanticists doing work in Ancient Greek are mentioned in this episode:

• Paul Kiparsky
• Corien Bary
• Von Stechow

The following biblical passages are discussed in this episode:

• Mark 1:11
  • Greek: καὶ φωνὴ ἐγένετο ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν· σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν σοὶ εὐδόκησα
  • English: ‘And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”’
    
    
• 1 Cor. 10:5
  • Greek: Αλλ᾿ οὐκ ἐν τοῖς πλείοσιν αὐτῶν εὐδόκησεν ὁ θεός
  • English: ‘But with most of them, God was not pleased’
    
    
• James 1:11
  
  • Greek: ἀνέτειλεν γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος σὺν τῷ καύσωνι καὶ ἐξήρανεν τὸν χόρτον, καὶ τὸ ἄνθος αὐτοῦ ἐξέπεσεν, καὶ ἡ εὐπρέπεια τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ ἀπώλετο
  • English: ‘For the sun rises with its scorching heat and twithers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes.’
    
    
• Matt. 8:9
  
  • Greek: καὶ λέγω τούτῳ· πορεύθητι, καὶ πορεύεται, καὶ ἄλλῳ· ἔρχου, καὶ ἔρχεται, καὶ τῷ δούλῳ μου· ποίησον τοῦτο, καὶ ποιεῖ.
  • English: And I say to this one, “Go” and he goes, and to another “Come” and he comes and to my servant, “Do this” and he does.
    
    
• Matt. 14:29
  
  • Greek: ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· ἐλθέ. καὶ καταβὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ πλοίου [ὁ] Πέτρος περιεπάτησεν ἐπὶ τὰ ὕδατα καὶ ἦλθεν πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν.
  • English: ‘He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.’
    
    
• Mark 13:19
  
  • Greek: ἔσονται γὰρ αἱ ἡμέραι ἐκεῖναι θλῖψις οἵα οὐ γέγονεν τοιαύτη ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως ἣν ἔκτισεν ὁ θεὸς ἕως τοῦ νῦν καὶ οὐ μὴ γένηται.
  • English: ‘For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.’
    
    
• Acts 6:11
  
  • Greek: τότε ὑπέβαλον ἄνδρας λέγοντας ὅτι ἀκηκόαμεν αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος ῥήματα βλάσφημα εἰς Μωϋσῆν καὶ τὸν θεόν.
  • English: ‘Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”’
    
    
• Matt. 21:27
  
  • Greek: καὶ ἀποκριθέντες τῷ Ἰησοῦ εἶπαν· οὐκ οἴδαμεν. ἔφη αὐτοῖς καὶ αὐτός· οὐδὲ ἐγὼ λέγω ὑμῖν ἐν ποίᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ ταῦτα ποιῶ.
  • English: ‘So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’

Where to listen

The Biblical Languages Podcast hosts discussions and interviews related to learning the biblical languages and issues relevant to biblical exegesis. Episodes cover topics in 4 major categories: language acquisition, linguistics, cultural backgrounds, and exegesis.

Listen & subscribe here: https://biblingo.org/podcast/