Bible Lexicons

THE AORIST TENSE IS CHARACTERIZED BY ITS EMPHASIS ON PUNCTILIAR ACTION; THAT IS, THE CONCEPT OF THE VERB IS CONSIDERED WITHOUT REGARD FOR PAST, PRESENT, OR FUTURE TIME. THERE IS NO DIRECT OR CLEAR ENGLISH EQUIVALENT FOR THIS TENSE, THOUGH IT IS GENERALLY RENDERED AS A SIMPLE PAST TENSE IN MOST TRANSLATIONS.

THE EVENTS DESCRIBED BY THE AORIST TENSE ARE CLASSIFIED INTO A NUMBER OF CATEGORIES BY GRAMMARIANS. THE MOST COMMON OF THESE INCLUDE A VIEW OF THE ACTION AS HAVING BEGUN FROM A CERTAIN POINT ("INCEPTIVE AORIST"), OR HAVING ENDED AT A CERTAIN POINT ("CUMULATIVE AORIST"), OR MERELY EXISTING AT A CERTAIN POINT ("PUNCTILIAR AORIST"). THE CATEGORIZATION OF OTHER CASES CAN BE FOUND IN GREEK REFERENCE GRAMMARS.

THE ENGLISH READER NEED NOT CONCERN HIMSELF WITH MOST OF THESE FINER POINTS CONCERNING THE AORIST TENSE, SINCE IN MOST CASES THEY CANNOT BE RENDERED ACCURATELY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION, BEING FINE POINTS OF GREEK EXEGESIS ONLY. THE COMMON PRACTICE OF RENDERING AN AORIST BY A SIMPLE ENGLISH PAST TENSE SHOULD SUFFICE IN MOST CASES.

THE ACTIVE VOICE REPRESENTS THE SUBJECT AS THE DOER OR PERFORMER OF THE ACTION. E.G., IN THE SENTENCE, "THE BOY HIT THE BALL," THE BOY PERFORMS THE ACTION.

THE GREEK PARTICIPLE CORRESPONDS FOR THE MOST PART TO THE ENGLISH PARTICIPLE, REFLECTING "-ING" OR "-ED" BEING SUFFIXED TO THE BASIC VERB FORM. THE PARTICIPLE CAN BE USED EITHER LIKE A VERB OR A NOUN, AS IN ENGLISH, AND THUS IS OFTEN TERMED A "VERBAL NOUN."