LESSON 12
PRESENT INDICATIVE MIDDLE VERBS

τὰ ἀδύνατα παρὰ ἀνθρώποις δυνατὰ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ ἐστιν.

Lexical Study

1. Greek has a voice which is different from anything in English.
   1. We already looked at the active voice where the subject is doing the action.
   2. Then we saw the passive voice where the subject receives the action.
   3. Now we have the middle voice in which the subject is participating in the results of the action.
2. The reflexive middle shows action which is directed at the subject himself as in:
   1. ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐγείρεται.
   2. The man is raising himself up.
3. The intensive middle shows that the subject alone is producing the action rather than participating in the action as in:
   1. διδάσκεται τὴν ἀλήθειαν.
   2. He [and no one else] is teaching the truth.
4. The reciprocal middle is used with a plural subject where there is an interchange of action between each of the members of the subject as in
   1. οἱ ἄνθρωποι διδάσκονται.
   2. The men are teaching one another.
5. The form of the present indicative middle is exactly the same as the present indicative passive.
   1. Thus it is sometimes difficult to tell if the verb is passive or middle.
   2. The context generally reveals this information.
   3. So the previous sentence:
      1. οἱ ἄνθρωποι διδάσκονται
      2. The men are teaching one another
      3. It could have been translated: The men are being taught.
6. Here's a clue:
   1. If there is a preposition (usually ὑπὸ or ἐν) or a case (GEN or DAT), then the verb is probably passive because the prepositional phrase indicates the agent who is doing the action to the subject.
   2. Thus if the sentence were οἱ ἄνθρωποι διδάσκονται ὑπὸ τοῦ κυριοῦ it would be translated as a passive, not middle.
   3. The middle makes confusing sense as The men teach themselves by the Lord.
   4. Instead it should be, The men are being taught by the Lord.

MIDDLE VERB FORM

1. The middle form uses the same endings as the passive.
   1. These endings are called the secondary endings.
   2. They are: -ομαι, -ῃ, -εται, -ομεθα, -εσθε, -ονται
2. Example:
   1. Singular
      1. λύομαι = I loose myself, I loose for myself
      2. λύῃ = you loose yourself, you loose for yourself
      3. λύεται = he (she, it) looses himself, for himself
   2. Plural
      1. λυόμεθα = we loose ourselves, for ourselves
      2. λύεσθε = you loose yourselves, for yourselves
      3. λύονται = they loose themselves, for themselves

VERB IDENTIFICATION

1. Because the form of the Present indicative middle is the same as the passive, the rules for verb identification are the same.
2. Ask yourself the following questions:
   1. Does it have the active endings? [yes it has -ω, -εις, -ει, -ομεν, -ετε, -ουσι]
      1. If yes, it is present indicative active.
      2. These are called primary endings.
   2. Does it have one of the middle/passive endings? [-ομαι, -ῃ, -εται, -ομεθα, -εσθε, -ονται]
      1. If yes, then it is present indicative middle/passive.
      2. These are called secondary endings.
   

Translate the following:

1. οἱ ἄνθρωποι λαμβάνονται ἄρτον καὶ καρπόν.
2. οἱ μαθηταὶ διδάσκονται τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας.
3. κρίνεται ἐν τῇ παραβολῇ τοῦ προφήτου.
4. ὁ μεσσίας συνάγεται τοὺς ὄχλους εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν.
5. οἱ πιστοὶ ἀδελφοὶ ἀναβαίνουσι πρὸς τὸ ἱερὸν σὺν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν προφητῶν.
6. ὁ ἄγγελος ἀποστέλλεται ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου καὶ εἰς τὴν ἔρημον.
7. αἴρουσι λίθους καὶ βάλλουσι τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ εἰς τὴν ὁδόν.
8. ἡ φωνὴ τοῦ προφήτου ἀκούεται καὶ πονηροὶ ἄνθρωποι βαίνουσι ἐκ τῆς κακῆς ὁδοῦ εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν ἀγάπης καὶ εἰρήνης.
9. οἱ ὄχλοι ἐσθίουσιν ἄρτον καὶ ὁ μεσσίας δοξάζεται.
10. ἄνθρωποι τοῦ κόσμου δοξάζονται· δίκαιοι ἄνθρωποι δοξάζουσι τὸν θεόν.
11. ἀγαθοὶ ἄνθρωποι διδάσκονται τοὺς νόμους καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ θεοῦ.
12. οἱ ἄγγελοι ἀποστέλλονται πρὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς ἀνθρώπων ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις.
13. ὁ θεὸς ἀποστέλλει τὸν μεσσίαν εἰς τὸν κόσμον καὶ ὁ μεσσίαςπέμπει δῶρα τῆς ἀγάπης τοῖς μαθηταῖς.
14. αἱ γραφαὶ ἀναγινώσκονται, ἄνθρωποι σώζονται, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγείρονται.