Present Indicative Verbs

In the last chapter, we offered an overview of the Greek verbal system and introduced the present tense paradigm of the verb εἰμί (“I am”). This irregular verb was prioritized because of its frequent usage in the New Testament. In this chapter, you will learn the paradigms of the regular verbs for the present active and present middle/passive indicative verbs.

If you read through the Gospels in Greek, you will soon notice that the aorist tense is the default tense for historical narrative. In Matt 8:3, for example, we read, “And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched (ἥψατο, aorist tense) [the leper], saying, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately his leprosy was cleansed (ἐκαθαρίσθη, aorist tense)” (ESV). The aorist tense is the normal way of saying, “This happened … then that happened.” But, as you continue reading the Gospels, especially Mark and John, you will regularly run into present tense verbs in the narrative. If you look at English Bible translations, these Greek present tense verbs are invariably rendered with an English past tense verb. (Otherwise, the English translations would sound too strange!) Why did these ancient authors repeatedly employ the present tense during the reporting of past events? Are we missing any nuances by simply labeling these Greek present tense verbs as “historical presents” or “narrative presents” and then translating them with English past tense forms?

The use of the narrative or historical present is certainly not limited to the New Testament, and recent scholarship continues to shed more light on its use in the Koine period. For example, ancient authors frequently employed the narrative present with verbs of speaking and movement. Also, present tense verbs in narratives often indicate a shift in location or the introduction of a new person into the story. So, to employ more technical linguistic terminology, we see the present tense performing a discourse function within historical narrative. That is, authors employed the present tense in historical narratives to help divide up the text—in much the same way we might use subheadings and indentations to help “chunk” our writing into more manageable units.

Following is the Greek text of Mark 1:37–38, with narrative present tense verbs (in bold font in Greek and English) translated literalistically into English present tense verbs:

καὶ εὗρον αὐτὸν καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ ὅτι πάντες ζητοῦσίν σε. καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· ἄγωμεν ἀλλαχοῦ εἰς τὰς ἐχομένας κωμοπόλεις, ἵνα καὶ ἐκεῖ κηρύξω· εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ἐξῆλθον.

And they found him and they are saying to him, “Everyone is seeking you.” And he is saying to them, “Let us go elsewhere—to the surrounding villages so that also there I may preach. For this [reason] I came forth.”

It would be a mistake to translate the Greek text literalistically (as above) because Mark is not using the present tense to indicate that the time frame suddenly switches to the present. Rather, he is conforming to a standard ancient method of segmenting his narrative. Unless you are reading the New Testament in Greek, these subtle authorial indications of narrative structure are inaccessible to you.

The present tense in the indicative mood communicates both the time of action (typically present or non-past time) and aspect (the author depicts the action in process, without attention to the beginning or conclusion). Aspect is a linguistic term that refers to the way an author or speaker chooses to present an action. Undoubtedly, Koine Greek is a language that prioritizes the communication of aspect, with time having a lesser place—and then only in the indicative mood. The present tense-form alone does not necessarily communicate that the action is actually in progress. One must look at two other factors: (1) the inherent procedural nature of the activity described by the verb. Is the action described by the verb durative (ongoing, e.g., “walking”), punctiliar (completed in a moment, e.g., “fall”), stative (referring to an ongoing state, e.g., “standing”), etc.? and (2) context. Context is the most important factor for determining authorial nuance in the choice of the present tense. Here is a sampling of common ways the present tense is used in the Greek New Testament.

• Progressive Present: Expresses an action in progress: “all are looking for you,” πάντες ζητοῦσίν σε (Mark 1:37).

• Iterative Present: Describes an action performed repeatedly or regularly or a state that is ongoing: “Everyone who abides in him does not continue in sin,” πᾶς ὁ ἐν αὐτῷ μένων οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει (1 John 3:6).

• Historical Present or Narrative Present: Used in historical narratives to describe a past event, often with verbs of speaking or motion, and possibly indicating to the reader that there is a change in location or the introduction of new person(s) at this point in the narrative. The present form is translated as a past tense verb in English: “and they came to him bringing a paralytic,” καὶ ἔρχονται φέροντες πρὸς αὐτὸν παραλυτικὸν (Mark 2:3).

As discussed in the previous lesson, the Greek verbal system has three voices.

Verbs with lexical forms ending with -ω can add endings that communicate active, middle, or passive involvement of the verb’s subject. If the endings of a verb follow the endings found in the λύω paradigm (-ω, -εις, -ει, -ομεν, -ετε, -ουσιν), then it is active. But if it follows the endings found in the λύομαι paradigm (-ομαι, -ῃ, -εται, -ομεθα, -εσθε, -ονται), it is either middle or passive (and only context can decide). In contrast, verbs with lexical forms that end with -ομαι can be only middle in meaning, though they may follow middle or passive endings. Middle and passive endings are the same, however, for present tense verbs.

The mood of a verb indicates the author’s attitude toward an event (i.e., its actuality or potentiality). That is, the author indicates that the action is actually taking place (indicative mood), or that the action might happen (subjunctive), or that he is commanding the action (imperative). The indicative mood is the most common mood used in the New Testament and is the one we will seek to master first. In choosing the indicative mood, the author is asserting something as a factual statement or, depending on context, raising a question.

Indicative Statement: “You are the Christ” (σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς, Matt 16:16).

Indicative Question: “Are you the [Christ], the Son of the Blessed One?” (σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ εὐλογητοῦ; Mark 14:61).

You should memorize the forms given in this section. It is best to memorize forms down the columns (λύω, λύεις, λύει—λύομεν, λύετε, λύουσιν). Be sure to know both the form and the meaning of the form.

Present Active Indicative

The present active indicative form of λύω can be translated “I loose” or, perhaps better, “I am loosing.” Deciding between these options will usually depend on the particular verb you are translating as well as the context in which the verb is found. Here is a more precise breakdown of the component parts (morphemes) of the various forms.

For our purposes, it is easiest to memorize the combined endings. Knowing the original connecting vowels and personal endings, however, will prove helpful in learning other forms that will be introduced later. The connecting vowel is omicron (ο) before mu (μ) or nu (ν) and epsilon (ε) before other letters. Additionally, because the connecting vowels in the subjunctive mood will lengthen (ο→ω, ε→η), it helps to be aware of the dissected components of a verb. For example, in Rom 5:1 Paul affirms, “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God.” Although there is a textual variant here, most English versions opt for the indicative mood (ἔχομεν = “we have”). There are, however, several significant manuscripts that have the subjunctive form (ἔχωμεν = “let us have”). The only difference is the lengthening of the connecting vowel. Very likely, omicron and omega were pronounced the same way in the Koine Greek period, and it would be easy for a scribe to interchange them by an accident of hearing or spelling.

The third person plural form of the present active indicative has a movable nu (ν). That is, sometimes the nu is absent but most of the time it is present. Its absence or presence does not affect meaning. Greeks apparently included it for euphonic reasons. (That is, they thought it sounded good!)

Present Middle/passive Indicative

Again, focus on memorizing the combined endings, though knowing the connecting vowel and personal endings will be helpful later.

The conjugation of other verbs can be obtained by placing the combined endings on their stems. For example, the conjugation of the present active indicative of ἔχω (“I have”) is ἔχω, ἔχεις, ἔχει, ἔχομεν, ἔχετε, ἔχουσιν.

Parsing a verb involves describing all the grammatical elements of a verb to determine its meaning. This involves identifying a verb’s (1) lexical form, (2) tense, (3) voice, (4) mood, (5) person, and (6) number. Once this is done, an initial translation of the verb can be offered. Of course, a final translation is dependent on reading the verb within the broader context.

Here are a few examples of how to parse a verb:

A. Paradigms: Memorize the present active and middle/passive paradigms of λύω (see section 5.6). Then write out each paradigm ten times from memory.

B. Parsing: Parse the following verbs.

1. ἀκούεις

2. πιστεύουσιν

3. ἔρχονται

4. βλέπετε

5. ἐγείρεται

6. λέγει

7. ἀποκρίνῃ

8. μένομεν

9. κρίνομαι

10. ἄγεσθε

C. Translation: Translate the following sentences. Be sure to start with the verb. Then find the subject and then the object—if there is one.

1. βλέπω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους (Mark 8:24).

2. ἄγουσιν τὸν Ἰησοῦν (John 18:28).

3. πορεύομαι εἰς (into) Ἰερουσαλὴμ (Acts 20:22).

4. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἀποκρίνεται αὐτοῖς (them) (John 12:23).

5. γινώσκετε τὴν χάριν (grace) τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν (our) Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (2 Cor 8:9).

6. ἐξουσίαν (authority) ἔχει ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ (on) τῆς γῆς (Matt 9:6).

7. δόξαν παρὰ (from) ἀνθρώπων οὐ (not) λαμβάνω (John 5:41).

8. ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑπάγει καθὼς γέγραπται (it is written) (Matt 26:24).

9. τί (why?) κρίνεις τὸν ἀδελφόν σου (your); (Rom 14:10).

10. πιστεύεις ὅτι εἷς (one) ἐστιν ὁ θεός (Jas 2:19).

11. ἀλλὰ ἔρχεται ὥρα καὶ νῦν (now) ἐστιν (John 4:23).

12. πῶς (how?) ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ μένει ἐν (in) αὐτῷ (him); (1 John 3:17).

D. Translation: Translate the following sentences into Greek. Include breathing marks, but not accents.

1. The Lord of the world hears the voice.

2. The law judges the hearts of men.

3. The souls of men know the truth.

4. The slave is led to the Lord.

5. We are teaching the children.