LESSON 17
FIRST AORIST ACTIVE/MIDDLE VERBS

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Vocabulary

Greek	Meaning	Notes
ἱμάτιον	garment
κεφαλή	head	Cognate: cephalic
παιδίον	infant, child	Cognate: pediatrics
μᾶλλον	more, rather
μέσος	middle, in the midst	Cognate: Mesopotamia
ἤκουσα	I heard	Aorist of ἀκούω
ἔβλεψα	I saw	Aorist of βλέπω
ἐδίδαξα	I taught	Aorist of διδάσκω
ἐθεράπευσα	I healed	Aorist of θεραπεύω
ἐκήρυξα	I preached	Aorist of κηρύσσω
ἔγραψα	I wrote	Aorist of γράφω
ἔπεμψα	I sent	Aorist of πέμπω
ἐβάπτισα	I baptized	Aorist of βαπτίζω
ἔσωσα	I saved	Aorist of σώζω
ἐδόξασα	I glorified	Aorist of δοξάζω

Lexical Study

First aorist active indicative of λύω

Singular		Plural
ἔλυσα	I loosed	ἐλύσαμεν	we loosed
ἔλυσας	you loosed	ἐλύσατε	you loosed
ἔλυσε (ν)	he (she, it) loosed	ἔλυσαν	they loosed

First aorist middle indicative of λύω

Singular		Plural
ἐλυσάμην	I loosed myself	ἐλυσάμεθα	we loosed ourselves
ἐλύσω	you loosed yourself	ἐλύσασθε	you loosed yourself
ἐλύσατο	he loosed himself	ἐλύσαντο	they loosed themselves

1. English verbs can create the past tense in two primary ways
   1. Preach becomes preached by simply adding -ed to the present form.
   2. Teach becomes taught by changing the basic stem.
2. The past tense of both similar words are created in two different ways.
3. The same is true in Greek
   1. The form of the First Aorist is created by adding an ending to the stem.
   2. The form of the Second Aorist is created by changing the stem.
   3. As far as the function of these two Aorists, there is no difference.

1. Like the Imperfect, the Aorist is a secondary tense which means it deals with action in past time
   1. Thus there will be an augment at the beginning of the word, just like the imperfect (was/were) tense did
   2. If the stem began with a consonant, an ε is added to the beginning.
   3. If the stem began with a vowel, the ε is added and joins with the vowel and follows the rules that we saw with the imperfect tense
2. The First Aorist adds a σ (or sometimes a κ) to the end of the stem, then the connecting vowel α, then the secondary endings.
   1. The secondary endings:
      1. For the imperfect: -ν, -ς, none, -μεν, -τε, -ν (or -σαν)
      2. For the First Aorist: blank, -ς, none (or -ν), -μεν, -τε, -ν
3. Thus λύω becomes ἔλυσα (ε + λυ + σ + α)
4. The σ will join with the last letter of the stem in a similar way that we saw when studying the Future tense.
5. When a list of the verbs is given(See Appendix 1), the third form will be the aorist.
6. The time of the Aorist is in the past because of the augment.
7. The kind of action is punctiliar
   1. The Imperfect tense indicates continuous action in past time. Thus ἔλυον means I was loosing.
   2. The Aorist tense indicates finished action in past time. Thus ἔλυσα means I loosed.
   3. We sometimes call it "spot action" but you must understand that the act may have taken a lot of time.
      1. He built a house can be considered as one completed action even though it might have taken several months.
      2. Compare the imperfect, he was building a house which indicates on-going action in past time
      3. He became poor is one action viewed from its start.
      4. Imperfect tense contains was or were, but Aorist Active does not.

VERB IDENTIFICATION

1. Does the verb have an augment (visible ε or lengthened vowel)?
   1. If it does, the verb is a past tense: Aorist or Imperfect
   2. If it doesn't, the verb is present or future
2. If the verb is past tense, does it have a σ after the stem?
   1. If it does, the verb is 1st Aorist, otherwise it is Imperfect
3. If the verb is 1st Aorist, are the endings α, ας, ε, αμεν, ατε, αν ?
   1. If it is, then we have 1st Aorist Active, otherwise 1st Aorist Middle
4. Learn the chart and follow it to identify the verb

Translate the following:

1. ἔλυσεν ὁ κύριος τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ.
2. ἐπέμψαμεν τὰ τέκνα ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου.
3. οἱ μαθηταὶ ἐδόξασαν τὸν θεὸν καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ.
4. διὰ τοὺς λόγους ὑμῶν ἐβλέψαμεν τὴν πονηρὰν ὁδὸν τοῦ κόσμου.
5. ἐκήρυξας τὸ εὐαγγέλιον καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου ἤκουσαν αὐτὸ καὶ ἐπίστευσαν.
6. ἔγραψε παραβολὴν καὶ ἔπεμψεν αὐτὴν πρὸς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν.
7. ὁ μεσσίας ἐδίδαξεν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ καὶ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ.
8. ἡτοίμασε τοῖς μαθηταῖς τόπον ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ.
9. ἔσωσα ὑμᾶς ἐγώ, ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐδέξασθε ἐμὲ εἰς τοὺς οἴκους ὑμῶν.
10. ἠκούσατε ἐκείνας τὰς ἐντολὰς ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ, ἄλλας δὲ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀκούσετε.

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