Conjugation of δίδωμι. Second Aorist of γινώσκω

§482

The verbs which have been studied so far, with the exception of the irregular verb εἰμί, all belong to the same conjugation. They have various ways of forming their principal parts, but the endings that are appended to the principal parts all belong to the same type. There is in Greek only one other conjugation. It is called the μι conjugation (to distinguish it from the ω conjugation which has been studied thus far), because its first person singular present active indicative ends in μι.

§483

Verbs in μι differ from verbs in ω only in the present and second aorist systems.

§484

The principal parts of the μι verb, δίδωμι, I give, are as follows:

§485

The stem of δίδωμι is δο-. If it were an ω verb, its first form would be δόω.

§486

The future δώσω is entirely regular, the final ο of the stem being lengthened before the σ of the future exactly as in the case (for example) of δηλόω. From δώσω all of the future active and middle is formed, in exactly the same way as the corresponding forms of λύω.

§487

The first aorist ἔδωκα is quite regularly formed except that κ stands instead of σ.

§488

The perfect active δέδωκα is entirely regular. From δέδωκα all of the perfect active is quite regularly formed.

§489

The perfect middle δέδομαι is quite regular except that the final vowel of the stem is not lengthened before the personal endings (see §448). From δέδομαι all of the perfect middle and passive is quite regularly formed.

§490

The aorist passive ἐδόθην is quite regular, except that the final vowel of the stem is not lengthened before the tense suffix -θε. From ἐδόθην all of the aorist passive and future passive is quite regularly formed.

§491

The sign of the present system of δίδωμι is the reduplication (of a different form from that in the perfect), which is prefixed to the stem.

§492

The present active indicative of δίδωμι is as follows:

§493

The final vowel of the stem (the stem with the reduplication being διδο-) is lengthened in the singular number, but not in the plural.

§494

The personal endings are added directly to the stem, without any variable vowel.

§495

These endings are -μι, -ς, -τι (or -σι), -μεν, -τε, -ασι.

§496

The present active subjunctive is as follows:

§497

There has been contraction here, as is shown by the accent. The personal endings are the same as in ω verbs.

§498

The present active imperative is as follows:

A table appears here in the book — see Paradigms below.

§499

The present active infinitive is διδόναι, to give. The irregular accent should be noticed.

§500

The present active participle is διδούς, διδοῦσα, διδόν, giving.

§502

The accent is irregular in the nominative, not being recessive. Thereafter it follows the general noun rule, except in the genitive plural feminine, διδουσῶν, where the special rule for nouns of the first declension is followed (see §§14, 51).

§503

The imperfect active indicative is as follows:

A table appears here in the book — see Paradigms below.

§504

The characteristic reduplication, δι-, of the present of course appears here, since the imperfect is always a part of the present system. The augment is regular. The final vowel of the stem is lengthened in the singular, as in the present. But in the imperfect it is lengthened to ου instead of to ω. The same secondary endings appear as in the ω conjugation, except that the alternative ending -σαν appears instead of -ν in the third person plural. (See §127).

§505

The present and imperfect middle and passive of δίδωμι may be found in §596. Only a few of these forms occur in the New Testament. They can easily be recognized as they occur.

§506

The aorist active of δίδωμι is peculiar in that it is first aorist in the indicative and second aorist in the other moods.

§507

The aorist active indicative is as follows:

§508

It will be observed that the conjugation is exactly like that of ἔλυσα, the first aorist active of λύω. But the tense suffix is κ instead of σα. See §§171-177.

§509

The aorist active subjunctive is as follows:

§510

The conjugation is exactly like the present active subjunctive. But the second aorist has the mere verb stem, whereas the present prefixes the reduplication δι-.

§512

These forms are like the present (without the reduplication), except for δός in the second person singular.

§513

The aorist active infinitive is δοῦναι, to give.

§514

The aorist active participle is δούς, δοῦσα, δόν, having given. It is declined like the present participle διδούς.

§515

The aorist middle of δίδωμι occurs only a very few times in the New Testament. The forms can easily be understood with the aid of a lexicon.

γινώσκω, I know, is an ω verb. But it has a second aorist active of the μι form. The stem is γνο- which is nearly everywhere lengthened to γνω-.

§517

The Article before μέν and δέ.

§518

Before μέν or δέ the article is often used as a pronoun meaning he, she, it, they.

Examples: (1) τοῦτο ἠρώτησαν αὐτόν. ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς, this they asked him. And he answered them. (2) ἦλθον πρὸς αὐτοὺς αἰτῶν τι παρ᾽ αὐτῶν: οἱ δὲ ἐποίησαν οὐδέν, I came to them asking something from them. But they did nothing.

§519

It should be observed very carefully that this usage is quite different from all the uses of the article which have been studied heretofore. For example, in the phrase οἱ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ, those in the house, it would be a great mistake to think that the article is used as a pronoun meaning those. On the contrary, the English idiom those in the house (in which those is not really a demonstrative pronoun at all) is expressed in Greek by saying the in-the-house people. In this Greek phrase, οἱ is just as much an ordinary article as in the phrase οἱ ἀγαθοί, the good people, ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ being treated as an adjective like ἀγαθός. Or, to take another example, it would be a great mistake to suppose that in the phrase ὁ λύων, he who looses, the article is used as a pronoun meaning he. On the contrary the article is here just as much an article as in the phrase ὁ ἀγαθός, the good man. But before δέ the article can really be used as a pronoun. In ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, but he said, there is no adjective or adjective expression for ὁ to go with.

§520

The Aorist Participle Denoting the Same Act as the Leading Verb The aorist participle is sometimes used to denote the same act as the leading verb.

Examples: (1) ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Jesus said by way of answer, or Jesus answered and said. In §§233, 254 it was said that the present participle denotes action contemporary with the action of the leading verb and the aorist participle denotes action prior to the action of the leading verb. That rule needed to be impressed firmly upon the mind before the exceptions to it could be considered. But as a matter of fact the rule does not completely represent the facts. Properly speaking the tenses in the participle do not have to do with time, and their fundamental, non-temporal character appears in the usage now under discussion. In ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν, the ‘answering’ and the “saying’”’ represent exactly the same act, and the participle simply defines more closely the action denoted by εἶπεν. The phrase does not, however, mean while he was answering he said. That would rather be ἀποκρινόμενος εἶπεν. It is recommended that the free translation, he answered and said, be adopted invariably for the phrase ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν, which is exceedingly common in the Gospels. And it is exceedingly important that this idiom should not be allowed to obscure the fact that in the majority of cases the aorist participle denotes action prior to the time of the leading verb. The student should carefully avoid any confusion between the present and the aorist participle.

(2) ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν, and he answered and said (with a slight emphasis on he). Of course ἀποκριθείς might here be taken as the substantive participle with ὁ, and the sentence might mean and the having-answered one said, or and the one who had answered said. But in a very great many places where these words occur in the gospels, the article is to be taken as a pronoun and the ἀποκριθείς is joined only loosely to it, in the manner indicated in the translation above.

§521

Very frequently, in the New Testament, first aorist endings instead of second aorist endings are used on second aorist stems.

Examples: εἶπαν instead of εἶπον (third person plural), εἰπόν instead of εἰπέ (imperative). This usage is much more common in some parts of the aorist than in others. εἶπον in the indicative has almost exclusively first aorist forms. See §186, footnote.