You will be able to—

      1.   recognize and write the second aorist paradigm,

      2.   write out the second aorist stems of the verbs learned in previous lessons,

      3.   translate the second aorist form,

      4.   gain more practice in translating and working with Greek,

      5.   master ten more high-frequency vocabulary words, and

      6.   memorize Mat. 6:10b in Greek.

In English we have two ways of forming the past tense.

      1.   Add the “-ed” suffix to the word:

        I laugh at Elliott’s jokes (present).

        I laughed at Elliott’s jokes (past).

      2.   Change the form of the verb:

        Zach runs down the court (present).

        Zach ran down the court (past).

Like English, Greek forms the aorist in two ways.

The first aorist is formed from the present stem with an augment and suffixed σα. The second aorist is built from a different aorist stem but both aorists take an augment and add second active personal endings that are identical to the imperfect forms.

The aorist is the most frequently used tense in the New Testament. Both the first and second aorists are usually translated as a simple past (e.g., he came, or he comes). The two types of aorists function in exactly the same way in sentences. The second aorist is presented first because of its similarity to the imperfect.

        The aorist is used when the action is viewed as a whole and  complete (e.g., he loosed). The aorist is the most frequent tense form and is used as a background tense by writers as opposed to the present tense form which is used to foreground material.  The imperfect is used for continuous/durative/iterative (aktionsart) or “dwelled upon” (aspect) action (e.g., he was loosing). The actual time or tense of the action is triggered more by temporal pointers like adverbs, prepositional phrases and conjunctions than the aorist tense form itself.  The aorist can be used for actions which are past, present, omnitemporal or timeless.  Thus, the aorist is extremely flexible.  For our purposes we will initially just translate it as a simple past (e.g. he loosed).  While the endings parallel those of the imperfect, note carefully that the second aorist stem is different. There is no way to predict how the second aorist stem is formed; thus, it must be learned by memory. First aorists use the present stem.

The second aorist is built from the second aorist verb stem. It is preceded by an ε augment and followed by secondary endings, like the imperfect.

Augment	Verb stem	Connecting vowel	Secondary endings	I took
ε +	λαβ +	ο +	ν =	ἔλαβον
Aug	Stem	CV	Ending

The connecting vowel is ο before μ and ν, and ε elsewhere.

Second Aorist Active Indicative of λαμβάνω

	Singular		Plural
1.	ἔλαβον	I took	ἐλάβομεν	We took
2.	ἔλαβες	You took	ἐλάβετε	You took
3.	ἔλαβε(ν)	He/she/it took	ἔλαβον	They took

Note: The ν, σ, ε, μεν, τε, ν endings are the same as for the imperfects.

Note: Sometimes the third person plural ending will be -αν, as in εἶπαν (they said), rather than the expected εἶπον (they said).

Second Aorist Middle Indicative of γίνομαι

	Singular		Plural
1.	ἐγενόμην	I became	ἐγενόμεθα	We became
2.	ἐγένου	You became	ἐγένεσθε	You became
3.	ἐγένετο	He/she/it became	ἐγένοντο	They became

Note: The μην, ου, το, μεθα, σθε, ντο endings are the same as for the imperfects.

The aorist and future passives will be formed from a different stem and learned later. Note that this aorist paradigm is deponent. Middles are “I brought (for myself).”

Aorist Augments = Imperfect Augments

The augment is added in four ways:

      1.   Before consonants it is ε.

      2.   Before vowels the augment contracts with the vowel according to the following rules:

Vowels	Diphthongs
ε + α = η	ε + αι = ῃ
ε + ε = η	ε + ει = ῃ
ε + η = η	ε + οι = ῳ
ε  +  ι = ι	ε + αυ = ηυ
ε + ο = ω	ε + ευ = ηυ
ε + υ = υ

            Four patterns:

     (1)   α and ε lengthen to η.

     (2)   ο lengthens to ω.

     (3)   ι ending becomes a diphthong subscript.

     (4)   υ ending of a diphthong stays strong.

      3.   Compound verbs with prepositions ending in a consonant: insert the augment between the prepositional prefix and the verb stem. ἐκβάλλω becomes ἐξέβαλον.

      4.   Compound verbs with prepositions ending in a vowel: The final vowel of the preposition is dropped and the ε augment is inserted in its place. ἀποκτείνω becomes ἀπέκτεινα.

Aorist augments work the same way as these imperfects you have already learned. When you see an augment, think secondary tense (aorist or imperfect).

Here is a list of second aorist forms of verbs already learned. Master these forms.

Present	Second Aorist
ἀπέρχομαι	ἀπῆλθον	I departed
ἀποθνῄσκω	ἀπέθανον	I died
βάλλω	ἔβαλον	I threw
ὁράω	εἶδον	I saw (cf. βλέπω, ὄψομαι)
γίνομαι	ἐγενόμην	I became
γινώσκω	ἔγνων	I knew
εἰσέρχομαι	εἰσῆλθον	I entered
ἐξέρχομαι	ἐξῆλθον	I went out
ἔρχομαι	ἦλθον	I came, went
εὑρίσκω	εὗρον	I found
ἔχω	ἔσχον	I had
λαμβάνω	ἔλαβον	I took
λέγω	εἶπον	I said

καὶ ἔβαλεν εἰς τὴν γῆν.

And he threw [it] to the earth (Rev. 8:5).

 

ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος δἰ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο.

He was in the world, and the world was made by him (Jn. 1:10).

 

καὶ εἶπεν ὁ  Ἰησοῦς, Εἰς κρίμα ἐγὼ εἰς τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον ἦλθον.

And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world” (Jn. 9:39).

 

αἷμα, -ματος, τό	blood (97)
αἴρω	I raise, take up (101)
διδάσκω	I teach (97)
ἴδιος, -α, -ον	one’s own (114)
καλός, -ή, -όν	good (100)
μέλλω	I am about to, intend (109)
ὁδός, -οῦ, ἡ	way (101)
πολύς, πολλή, πολύ	much, many (416)
σῶμα, -ματος, τό	body(142)
ψυχή, -ῆς, ἡ	soul, life (103)

ἐλθέτω	ἡ	βασιλεία	σου·
Let come	the	kingdom	your
γενηθήτω	τὸ	θέλημά	σου,
let happen	the	will	your

 

ὡς	ἐν	οὐρανῷ	καὶ	ἐπὶ	γῆς·
as	in	heaven	so also	on	earth;