TIP OF THE DAY 142: Verb tense and aspect as used by commentators

MJ. Smith

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POST ISSUE: Verb tense and aspect for time and sequence - commentators

For both Hebrew and Greek the tense and aspect(s) of the verb is a primary source of indicating time and sequence in a passage. One can learn how this is done by searching your commentaries for examples or searching your Bibles for example to try for yourself.

QUESTION: Find 5 examples where your Bible commentators use verb tense or aspect.

SOFTWARE: A smart book search with the search argument verb tense aspect will provide results from which to select examples. This same technique may be used for any of the 19 verb aspects.

ANSWER: from Stewart, Alexander E. Revelation. Edited by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough. Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2024.

Mathewson is correct that John’s use of verb tenses can be fully understood as first-century Greek and is not irregular, confusing, or Semitically governed (Verbal Aspect 174). Fanning notes the importance of distinguishing between the different genre types that are often intermingled (“Greek Tenses in John’s Apocalypse”): the narrative of the reception of visions (primarily aorist), the narration of the visionary content (primarily aorists, imperfects, historical presents), description of visionary content (primarily presents, nom. cls.), and prophecy of future events (primarily future tenses). In general, this is not incompatible with Mathewson’s observation that the imperfect tense is generally used to indicate supplemental and background information, the present tense generally indicates foreground information, and the perfect tense often signals prominence (Verbal Aspect xxvi–xxvii). Verbal aspect, although a fertile ground for scholarly debate, does not decisively impact many interpretive decisions in Revelation.[1]

From Utley, Robert James Dr. The Gospel according to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter. Vol. Volume 2. Study Guide Commentary Series. Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International, 2000.

SPECIAL TOPIC: GREEK VERB TENSES USED FOR SALVATION

Salvation is not a product, but a relationship. It is not finished when one trusts Christ; it has only begun! It is not a fire insurance policy, nor a ticket to heaven, but a life of growing Christlikeness. We have a proverbial saying in America that says the longer a couple lives together, the more they begin to look alike. This is the goal of salvation!

SALVATION AS A COMPLETED ACTION (AORIST)

Acts 15:11

Romans 8:24

2 Timothy 1:9

Titus 3:5

Romans 13:11 (combines the AORIST with a FUTURE orientation)

SALVATION AS A STATE OF BEING (PERFECT)

Ephesians 2:5, 8

SALVATION AS A CONTINUING PROCESS (PRESENT)

1 Corinthians 1:18; 15:2

2 Corinthians 2:15

1 Peter 3:21

SALVATION AS A FUTURE CONSUMMATION (FUTURE in VERB TENSE or context)

Romans 5:9, 10; 10:9, 13

1 Corinthians 3:15; 5:5

Philippians 1:28; 1 Thessalonians 5:8–9; Hebrews 1:14; 9:28

1 Peter 1:5, 9

(Implied in Matt. 10:22, 24:13; Mark 13:13)[2]

From Greidanus, Sidney. Preaching Christ from Psalms: Foundations for Expository Sermons in the Christian Year. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016.

Ambiguous Verb Tenses

A key interpretive issue is whether Psalm 72 is a prophecy about a coming king or a prayer for the king of Israel, or both. The issue turns on the ambiguity of the Hebrew imperfect verb tense. Verse 1 begins with the imperative, “Give the king your justice, O God.…” All the following verbs are imperfects, which can be translated into English either as future tenses (predictions, “he will”) or as jussives (prayers, “may he”). The Authorized Version (as well as the Septuagint) translated all thirty-one Hebrew imperfects in verses 2–17 as future tenses; e.g., vv 5, 7–8: “They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations.… In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” Small wonder Isaac Watts, in The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, began Psalm 72 with,

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun

does his successive journeys run,

his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,

till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Modern translations are not so quick to translate the Hebrew imperfects as future tenses. For example, the NRSV (similarly the NIV) translate the verses 5, 7–8 as,

May he live while the sun endures,

as long as the moon, throughout all generations.…

In his days may righteousness flourish

and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

May he have dominion from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

The context will have to decide whether a Hebrew imperfect should be translated as a future (prediction) or a wish (prayer). It is clear that Psalm 72 is first of all a prayer for the king of Israel, for it opens with, “O God, give the king your justice” (v 1) and the editor closes it with, “Amen and Amen” (v 19). Therefore, the modern translations are correct in translating the Hebrew imperfects as wishes (“may he”).

But this conclusion still leaves a few questions. Since this canonical psalm is God’s Word for his people, could God have embedded in this prayer for Israel’s current king predictions about a coming king? Or, to put it another way, Could the progression in redemptive history later change the meaning of this psalm from a prayer for Israel’s current king to a prayer for Israel’s coming King?[3]

From Reid, Andrew. Exodus: Saved for Service. Edited by Paul Barnett and Belinda Pollard. Reading the Bible Today Series. Sydney, South NSW: Aquila Press, 2013.

Tenses

There is much argument about the tenses here and that is understandable given that:

(1)Hebrew does not have tenses in the way that English does

(2)the conjugations used are quite mixed throughout the poem.

A quick look at three English translations will quickly demonstrate the diversity of ways in which the verbs within our passage have been read in terms of tenses. For example, verses 6 and 7 are set in the past tense in the NIV, HCSB and NRSV but the present tense in the ESV. The ESV sets verse 13 in the past tense, verses 14–16 in a mix of tenses, and verses 17–18 in the future, while the NIV sets all of verses 13–17 in the future and verse 18 in the present (while also looking to the future, ‘for ever and ever’). The NRSV sets all of verses 13–17 in the past but verse 18 in the future while the HCSB puts all of verses 13–18 in the future.

Since we are using the ESV as our standard translation, we will stick to it here and note any occasions when we vary from it. However, it is worth noting that all translations reflect that God is overwhelmingly for his people. Although this song arises out of Yhwh’s immediately past victory at the sea, its implications flow through to all ages and seasons of his people’s lives.[4]

From Westfall, Cynthia Long. A Discourse Analysis of the Letter to the Hebrews: The Relationship between Form and Meaning. London; New York: T&T Clark, 2005. Note the tool Tools > Passage analysis > Morph river is designed specifically to find the sort of patterns discussed here.

(a) Grouping with Tense

The use of tense to create paragraph patterns together with semantic organizing features such as episode or topic is very common. The unmarked tense in the verbal system will be the default tense and ground the other tenses. Porter observes:

When a Greek speaker narrated events, the Aorist, used alongside the Imperfect, formed the basis for carrying the narrative, with the historic Present used for selecting processes for emphasis (the most heavily-marked Perfect was available as well).

In Lk. 18:35–43, the finite imperfect verbs (<>) provide the setting and include certain actions of the blind man (main character) as a backdrop in vv. 35b, 36, 39 and 43b. Other than the dialogue, which includes a variety of moods and tenses, the action line of the narrative, which is mostly verbal, is carried forward with finite aorist verbs (underlined):

GROUPING WITH TENSE IN LK. 18:35–43

35 ΕγένετοδὲἐντῷἐγγίζειναὐτὸνεἰςἸεριχὼτυφλόςτις <ἐκάθητο> παρὰτὴνὁδὸνἐπαιτῶν. 36 ἀκούσαςδὲὄχλουδιαπορευομένου <ἐπυνθάνετο> τίεἴητοῦτο. 37 ἀπήγγειλανδὲαὐτῷὅτιἸησοῦςὁΝαζωραῖοςπαρἑρχεται. 38 καὶἐβόησενλέγων, ἸησοῦυἱὲΔαυίδ, ἐλέησόνμε. 39.καὶοἱπροάγοντες <ἐπετίμων> αὐτῷἵνασιγήσῃ, αὐτὸςδὲπολλῷμᾶλλον <ἔκραζεν>, ΥίὲΔαυίδ, ἐλέησόνμε. 40 σταθεὶςδὲὁἸησοῦςἐκέλευσεναὐτὸνἀχθῆναιπρὸςαὐτόν. ἐγγίσαντοςδὲαὐτοῦἐπηρώτησεναὐτόν, 41 Τίσοιθέλειςποιήσω; ὁδὲεἶπεν, Κύριε, ἵναἀναβλέψω. 42 καὶὁἸησοῦςεἶπεναὐτῷ, Ἀνάβλεψον· ἡπίστιςσουσέσωκένσε. 43 καὶπαραχρῆμαἀνέβλεψενκαὶ <ἠκολούθει> αὐτῷδοξάζωντὸνθεόν. καὶπᾶςὁλαὸςἰδὼνἔδωκεναἶνοντῷθεῷ.

The default tense may change with a change in genre or register. In exposition, the present active third person singular or plural verbs can have the same function as the aorist in narrative. The use of the imperfect tense to provide the setting is a complementary variation in tense in this passage, which together with ἐγένετο (it happened) marks the beginning and end of this episode and the beginning of the subsequent episode:

19:1Καὶεἰσελθὼν <διήρχετο> τὴνἸεριχώ

And entering Jericho, he <was passing> through

Therefore, the aorist span characterizes the unit of the episode, and the use of the imperfect can be one of several signals that indicate a shift. Even the two imperfects in v. 39 signalled an internal shift from the blind man’s interaction with the crowd to the blind man’s direct interaction with Jesus.

The use of tense to characterize and cluster units of discourse is shown by the alternation from one set of clauses that are characterized by a certain tense, to a new block that is characterized by another tense. There is this kind of clustering and shift between a span of aorist verbs in Eph. 2:1–10 and a span of present verbs in 2:11–22. One of the more interesting uses of a tense span is the unusual exclusive use of the present tense in Rom. 7:14–25, which is preceded by an aorist tense span in 7:7–13.[5]

[1] Alexander E. Stewart, Revelation, ed. Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2024), 7.

[2] Robert James Dr. Utley, The Gospel according to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, vol. Volume 2, Study Guide Commentary Series (Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International, 2000), 216.

[3] Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Psalms: Foundations for Expository Sermons in the Christian Year (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016), 96–97.

[4] Andrew Reid, Exodus: Saved for Service, ed. Paul Barnett and Belinda Pollard, Reading the Bible Today Series (Sydney, South NSW: Aquila Press, 2013), 126–127.

[5] Cynthia Long Westfall, A Discourse Analysis of the Letter to the Hebrews: The Relationship between Form and Meaning (London; New York: T&T Clark, 2005), 40–41.