Strange results on Exegetical Guide

Just to adapt to this Logos4, I looked up Genesis 1:1. The results for God (elohim), said the following:

masculine, noun, normal +- divine, proper, singular, common, plural

So.... why does it list God as being singular AND plural. It seems to me the word is either singular or plural, but not both. My previous studies always showed this to be plural.

Then, I looked up Matthew 28:19...

The Exegetical Guide indicates that the word for "Go" as in "Go therefore and make disciples" is aorist and indicates that this means "a snapshot in time" whereas, I have always heard this word to mean "as you go" (a continual action). Why are the results of the Exegetical Guide conflicting with everything I've previously studied? Am I using the Exgetical guide incorrectly? Or was I wrong before?

Thanks.

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

MJ. Smith

It is highly unlikely that you are using it incorrectly. If you do a word study (right click) on the Hebrew elohim, you'll see that it is translated in both the singular and the plural as a matter of course i.e. the noun form does not distinguish singular/plural, I would think. The aorist as a participle simply implies a time preceding the time of the finite verb. Or at least if I'm am reading the grammar correctly. BTW: My knowledge of Hebrew and Greek is sufficiently weak that I wouldn't trust me.[:)]

Gary O'Neal

Then, I looked up Matthew 28:19...

The Exegetical Guide indicates that the word for "Go" as in "Go therefore and make disciples" is aorist and indicates that this means "a snapshot in time" whereas, I have always heard this word to mean "as you go" (a continual action). Why are the results of the Exegetical Guide conflicting with everything I've previously studied? Am I using the Exgetical guide incorrectly? Or was I wrong before?

All the EG is telling you is the definition of aorist, which usually does give a snapshot view. There are all kinds of things that can give a different nuance to this-one of them being that this is also a participle. In Greek, the participle usually relates to a main verb--in this case it is an aorist imperative. This makes the aorist participle function as a "helper" verb -- it isn't the main focus of the sentence, but it is showing something that is closely tied to the action of the main verb. I think those who translate this "As you are going..." are trying to keep the focus on the main verb -- "make disciples."

The translation comes from the syntax of the entire sentence.

Robert Pavich

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/110702#Comment_110702

I thought (and I'm no expert [;)] ) that the aorist is just "undefined" in other words it just "is" with no further info given by the writer. The "snapshot" idea was an old understanding that's now not used that much....

is that true?

Gary O'Neal

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/110708#Comment_110708

The "snapshot" idea was an old understanding that's now not used that much....

"Snapshot" is a quote from Michael Heiser's glossary in L4. This is an area of debate that I don't think has been settled. For too long, the aorist was talked about as punctiliar and this was used to make theological/doctrinal statements -- i.e., "because this verb is aorist it teaches that ..."

What has proven the most helpful to me is to remember that the writer chooses words (and verb tenses) as an aid to present his thoughts. He used language just like we do (though he had the benefit of writing under inspiration). How often does something we say depend on the tense of the verbs we use? The meaning comes as much or more from the context than from the verb tenses. Grammar gives you options. It sometimes rules out certain interpretations. But it doesn't tell you what interpretation must be correct.

Bob Pritchett

Assuming you're using the Exegetical Guide, the +- separates morphological terms that ALL the morph schemes agree on, (before the +-) and terms that not all the schemes agree on. Hover over the +- and you'll see which scheme used singular and which plural. (In this case it's the Andersen-Forbes morph that lists the word as singular.)

Sorry for the confusion!

Dave Hooton

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/110816#Comment_110816

the +- separates morphological terms that ALL the morph schemes agree on

Another little gem of information.

NetworkGeek

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/110932#Comment_110932

This is a great tip, thanks Bob.

It raises another comment though, like other places in Logos 4, can the tooltips stay up until the user moves the mouse away? It seems like in many places (Prayer lists for one) hover keeps a tooltip up for 5 seconds, but if someone is studying the information you have to keep moving the mouse away and then back. Please just make hover EVERYWHERE keep a tooltip up until the user moves the mouse! Thanks for considering this.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/111147#Comment_111147

You know my drill. Enter it in http://logos.uservoice.com/forums/42823-logos-bible-software-4 (I only have one additional vote to recapture and put towards a new feature so I have to get others to add them).

Hayedid

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/111258#Comment_111258

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your input!