New Testament Greek 31: Bill Mounce: 1st Aorist Indicative, Chap 23 Basics of Biblical Greek Lecture

Lecture 31 in New Testament or Koine Greek covers chapter 23 of William (Bill) Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek textbook, the first aorist indicative verb. The lecturer is independent Baptist professor Thomas Ross.

In chapter 23 of Basics of Biblical Greek (either the 3rd or the 4th edition) students learn the 1st aorist indicative. First aorist indicative verbs are formed by adding an augment, tense formative (σα), and secondary endings to the aorist tense stem, resulting in verb forms such as ἔλυσα. Most first aorist tense stems are identical to their present tense stems. When the sigma of the tense formative is added to a stem ending in a stop, the same changes occur in the 1st aorist that took place in the future indicative (e.g., βλέπω → ἔβλεψα). Contract verbs lengthen their final stem vowel before the tense formative, as they do in the future (e.g., γεννάω → ἐγέννησα). Finally, liquid stems use α as a tense formative, not σα.

Most Greek verbs have a first aorist, not a second aorist. The aorist, whether it is a 1st or a 2nd aorist, portrays an action that normally occurs in the past and is snapshot or undefined in its aspect. The difference between the 1st and 2nd aorists has to do with how the word is formed, not with its meaning.

To form a first aorist active indicative verb, you take an augment (ε), add the aorist active tense stem, the tense formative (σα), and secondary active personal endings, resulting in the paradigm:

1 sg ελευσα I loosed
2 sg ελευσας Thou loosedst
3 sg ελευσε(ν) He/she/it loosed
1 pl ελευσαμεν We loosed
2 pl ελευσατε Ye loosed
3 pl ελευσαν They loosed

Basics of Biblical Greek states that the following verbs have a 2nd aorist stem and 1st aorist ending:

• Instead of ειπον you will find ειπαν (95 x in New Testament),
• instead of ηλθον you will find ηλθαν (5x),
• instead of ειδον you will find ειδαν (5x),
• and instead of ηνεγκον you will always find ηνεγκαν (3x).

However, of these four forms listed only the last one—ἤνεγκαν instead of ἤνεγκον—appears in the Textus Receptus (in Mark 9:20; 12:16; John 2:8). The forms in question are 3rd person plural aorist active indicatives from the verb with lexical form φέρω, “I carry, bear, produce.” None of the other forms listed have this take place. This is actually another example of the Nestle-Aland Textus Rejectus containing inferior grammar, while the Textus Receptus is superior grammatically.

The first aorist middle indicative is formed with an augment, aorist active tense stem, the aorist tense formative σα, and secondary middle/passive personal endings, resulting in the paradigm:

1 sg ελυσαμην I loosed (for myself)
2 sg ελυσω Thou loosedst (for thyself)
3 sg ελυσατο He/she/it loosed (for himself/herself/itself)
1 pl ελυσαμεθα We loosed (for ourselves)
2 pl ελυσασθε Ye loosed (for yourselves)
3 pl ελυσαντο They loosed (for themselves)

In order to tell if a verb has a middle deponent in the aorist tense, one must look at the third tense form. If it ends in μην, then it is a middle deponent. A first aorist middle deponent will end in σαμην with its tense formative σα while a second aorist middle deponent will end in ομην; no tense formative σα in the 2nd aorist.

Much of the exegetical insight from Romans 6 in Basics of Biblical Greek, chapter 23, is good, but the horrible statement is included that “we died to sin by being baptized into Christ, for when we were baptized into him we were crucified together with Christ.” Schreiner—a Southern Baptist who teaches New Testament at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary!—wrote a book with Shawn D. Wright, Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2006). In this book, they argue that “baptism is part of the complex of saving events," and say things such as: “the forgiveness of sins is also associated with being baptized.” A variety of qualifications on statements like the above are also made, but at the very least these affirmations are very dangerous. Tremendous confusion on Biblical conversion permeates the Southern Baptist Convention.

Contrary to the exegetical insight and these compromised Southern Baptist authors, the Bible teaches justification by faith alone, and sola fide excludes baptismal regeneration. Baptismal regenerationists allege that Romans 6:3-4 teaches that baptism is the literal means through which one is united to Christ. They argue that spiritual blessings are said to be “in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3) and that these verses say one is “baptized into Jesus Christ” (Romans 6:3). They conclude that a person is out of Christ until he is baptized, and through baptism “into” Christ he gets “in” Christ and begins receiving spiritual blessing for the first time. However, never once, in the two hundred seventy-nine verses which deal with the appropriate phrases in Scripture, does such an assertion appear. One is “in Christ” at the moment of faith, prior to baptism.