Future Indicative Verbs

In this chapter, we will discuss the future tense, which represents the third tense studied in this book. (We have already overviewed the present and imperfect tenses.) One different element of the future tense is that it has distinct middle and passive forms (in contrast to having one paradigm whose forms function to convey both middle or passive ideas, depending on the context).

A mother says, “You will clean your room after you come home from school today” as she surveys the chaos of her teen daughter’s bedroom. In employing the English future tense, is this mother claiming prophetic powers? (Does she really mean, “I have seen a vision, and I can predict that after you get home, you are going to do this”?) Obviously not. This mother is employing a future tense verb as an imperative—not an especially common English usage, but one that’s readily understood and adds a sense of solemnity or emphasis to the command.

Within the Greek New Testament, the future tense regularly appears with its predictive sense (εὑρήσετε πῶλον δεδεμένον ἐφ᾽ ὃν οὐδεὶς οὔπω ἀνθρώπων ἐκάθισεν, “you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat,” Mark 11:2), but the future tense also can function as an imperative. For example, in Matt 22:37–39, we read (from a literal English translation which formats Old Testament quotations in small caps):

And [Jesus] said to him, “ ‘You shall love (ἀγαπήσεις, future tense) the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love (ἀγαπήσεις, future tense) your neighbor as yourself.’ ” (NASB)

In pronouncing the double-love command, Jesus quotes from Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18. In both of those Old Testament texts, an imperatival future appears in the Hebrew text, which is brought over quite literally as an imperatival future in the Septuagint (or, LXX, an early Greek translation of the Old Testament)—a rendering that Matthew mirrors here.

Mark Strauss has noted that many of the imperatival futures in the New Testament are quotations of Old Testament texts and frequently carry with them an increased sense of formality or emphasis, in contrast to a simple imperatival form—a function similar to modern English usage of the future tense to convey a command.

The future tense communicates an expectation of something that will take place, usually communicated in English with the word “will” or “shall.” There are, however, a variety of ways the future tense can be used in the Greek New Testament.

• Predictive Future: Predicts a future event or at least indicates the expectation that something will take place from the author’s perspective. For example, the angel of God appears to Joseph and declares, “She will bear a Son; and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins,” τέξεται δὲ υἱόν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν· αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν (Matt 1:21 NASB).

• Imperatival Future: Following Old Testament usage, the future is often used to express an imperative or command. In the example given just above (Matt 1:21 NASB), the middle use of the future reveals a command to Joseph: “you shall call his name Jesus,” καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν. When translating, it is perhaps better to use “shall” than “will” since the former communicates the imperatival quality. This use is mostly found when the New Testament writers quote the Old Testament (especially the Ten Commandments): “You shall worship the Lord your God,” Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις (Matt 4:10; quoting Deut 6:13 NASB); “You shall not commit murder,” Οὐ φονεύσεις (Matt 5:21; quoting Exod 20:13 NASB).

• Deliberative Future: Involves a real or rhetorical question that implies some amount of uncertainty as to the response. When Jesus asks the Twelve if they also want to leave him, Peter responds, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life,” Κύριε, πρὸς τίνα ἀπελευσόμεθα; ῥήματα ζωῆς αἰωνίου ἔχεις (John 6:68 NASB). Peter’s rhetorical question is not looking for an answer but functions more like an affirmation (i.e., “Lord, there is no other person like you! You alone have the words of eternal life!”).

Verbs with lexical forms that end with -ω can be active, middle, or passive. If the endings of a verb follow those found in the λύσω Future Active paradigm (-σω, -σεις, -σει, -σομεν, -σετε, -σουσιν), then the verb is active. If it follows the endings found in the λύσομαι paradigm (-σομαι, -σῃ, -σεται, -σόμεθα, -σεσθε, -σονται), then it is middle. And if the verb follows endings found in the λυθήσομαι paradigm (-θήσομαι, -θήσῃ, -θήσεται, -θησόμεθα, -θήσεσθε, -θήσονται), then it is passive in form. Frankly, during the Koine Greek period, passive endings are employed to convey a middle idea, so context is most important in determining meaning. Some grammarians advocate passive endings as “MP” (medio-passive)—as a reminder that they can convey both a middle or passive idea.

Verbs with lexical forms that end with -ομαι can follow either middle or passive endings, but they will always convey a middle idea, regardless of whether middle or passive endings are employed.

The active and middle forms of the future are not difficult to learn if you know the present tense paradigms. The only difference is the addition of a sigma (σ) to the stem (λύω → λύσω; λύομαι → λύσομαι), which is known as a tense formative. Otherwise, both the connecting vowels and the personal endings remain the same. The charts below reflect a historical approach to the morphology of these paradigms. If this extra background information confuses you, feel free to ignore these charts.

Unlike the present and imperfect tenses, the future has distinct middle and passive paradigms. The key in identifying the passive form is the addition of a -θη- to the stem (before the additional sigma). Thus, the passive form has a -θησ- added prior to the same set of connecting vowels and endings employed in the future middle paradigm.

When the sigma (σ) tense formative is added to the stem of the verb, it causes certain consonant combinations that either (1) make it difficult to pronounce (σῳζω + σ = σῳζσω → σωσω) or (2) form a sound that can be conveyed through one Greek letter instead of two (πεμπω + σ = πεμπσω → πεμψω). Such changes occur often and in accordance with regular patterns.

One of the most effective ways to recognize these changes is to understand that closely related Greek consonants will behave in the same way when a sigma is combined with them. For example, the consonants τ, δ, and θ are all dentals. Pronounce each one of them now and pay attention to the way your tongue hits the back of your teeth (your “dental” functionaries) when you say each consonant. These consonants are differentiated by how much your voice box vibrates in your throat and whether air is still escaping from your mouth as you say the consonant. It takes quite a bit of linguistic maneuvering to shift from a dental to the “s” sound of a sigma, so Greek speakers simply dropped dental consonants before sigmas.

Palatals or Velars are consonants made by touching the back of the roof of your mouth (your soft palate) with the top, back part of your tongue (κ, γ, and χ). Say them in succession and you will notice that your tongue is behaving in a similar way. As with dentals, the main difference in your personal linguistic maneuvering is how much your voice box (in your throat) is vibrating as you say the consonant and whether air is still escaping from your mouth (as it does with aspirant letters, such as θ and χ). Any palatal combined with sigma will result in ξ. This combination is easy to predict with κ + σ = ξ. It is less obvious to students that γ + σ and χ + σ also result in ξ, but if you remember that κ, γ, and χ are closely related consonants, the combinations make more sense.

Labials (π, β, and φ) are made when the lips meet together (again, with a difference mainly in how much the voice box vibrates and whether air is escaping from the mouth throughout the articulation of the consonant). Say the consonants in succession and note how your lips are meeting in similar ways with each one. Students easily discern that π + σ = ψ, and when you understand that β and φ are cousin consonants, it’s not surprising that β + σ and φ + σ also result in ψ. Consequently, if you see a ξ or a ψ on the end of a stem, it is usually because a σ has been added (future or aorist).

Here is a chart summarizing such changes:

This information can also be represented a little differently:

Contract verbs do not contract because the added sigma separates the contract vowel (α, ε, or ο) and the connecting vowel/personal ending (ἀγαπήσω). Note, however, that the contract vowel lengthens and that the accent is placed above the lengthened vowel. By the contract vowel “lengthening,” we mean that ο shifts to ω, ε shifts to η, and α shifts to η.

The future indicative of εἰμί is irregular as it follows the middle form. Notice that the only letter of the stem is the initial epsilon (ε-). Because these endings are identical to the middle forms of λύω (see λύσομαι), there is no reason to memorize this paradigm as a separate form.

Later, we will see that several Greek verbs take middle endings for their future forms.

A. Paradigms: Memorize the future active, middle, and passive paradigms of λύσω (see section 10.5). Then write out each paradigm ten times from memory.

B. Parsing: Parse the following verbs.

1. βαπτίσει

2. κράξουσιν

3. σωθήσομαι

4. διωχθήσονται

5. τηρήσω

6. ἔσῃ

7. πράξετε

8. ἕξουσιν

9. βλέψετε

10. φοβηθήσομαι

C. Translation: Translate the following sentences.

1. πέμψω τὸν υἱόν μου (Luke 20:13).

2. ἕξει τὸ φῶς (light) τῆς ζωῆς (John 8:12).

3. ἐρωτήσω τὸν πατέρα (father) (John 14:16).

4. καὶ περιπατήσουσιν μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ (Rev 3:4).

5. αὐτοὶ υἱοὶ θεοῦ κληθήσονται (Matt 5:9). (lexical form of verb: καλέω)

6. ἐγὼ ὑπάγω καὶ ζητήσετέ με (John 8:21).

7. σώσει ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἐκ θανάτου (Jas 5:20).

8. ὁ δὲ θεός μου πληρώσει πᾶσαν (every) χρείαν (need) ὑμῶν (Phil 4:19).

9. ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ (all) τῇ καρδίᾳ σου (Matt 22:37).

10. καὶ ὁ θεὸς δοξάσει αὐτὸν ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ εὐθὺς (immediately) δοξάσει αὐτόν (John 13:32).

11. πίστευσον (Believe!, imperative) ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν καὶ σωθήσῃ σὺ καὶ ὁ οἶκός σου (Acts 16:31).

12. καὶ αὐτοὶ λαοὶ αὐτοῦ ἔσονται, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς μετ᾽ αὐτῶν ἔσται (Rev 21:3).

13. ῥύσεταί (will deliver/rescue, middle-only verb) με ὁ κύριος ἀπὸ παντὸς (every) ἔργου πονηροῦ (evil) καὶ σώσει εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ (2 Tim 4:18).

14. καὶ γνώσεσθε τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐλευθερώσει (will liberate) ὑμᾶς (John 8:32).

D. Translation: Translate the following sentences from English to Greek.

1. The apostle will glorify the Lord of truth.

2. We will not persecute the children.

3. God will save the men who follow him.

4. They will keep and practice the commands of God.

5. You (pl) shall baptize the head of the house.