Be Being verbs/phrases from the New Testament

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Murf
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Be Being verbs/phrases from the New Testament

Post by Murf » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:29 am

How can I find some or all of the verses in the New Testament where our english translation doesn't do justise the the Greek verbs?

We are thinking of having a bible study on how we as Christians can "be Being" something instead of just "be something". I believe the verse use the Continuous (or ‘Progressive’) tense, but that is just a guess from a google search.

tim

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steve
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Re: Be Being verbs/phrases from the New Testament

Post by steve » Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:21 pm

I believe the verb tense you are looking for is the present imperative active, as in Ephesians 5:18 ("be filled" or "be being filled") and Galatians 5:1 ("stand fast" or "be standing fast"). I don't know where one might find a complete list of New Testament occurrences of this tense. It would be very common.

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darinhouston
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Re: Be Being verbs/phrases from the New Testament

Post by darinhouston » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:50 pm

Something tells me Paidion may have a tool for you.

Blueletter Bible indicates Eph 5:18 is Present Passive Imperative. I've never heard of a concordance to list uses of moods and tense/voice/mood even for a given verb. As near as I can tell, you'd have to get a listing of all uses of a particular verb and look at each one to determine which ones use the given tense/voice/mood.

Of course, some of the software tool packages are REALLY powerful these days and if you can "identify" something, you can usually "search by it" in some of them, but those are pretty expensive. Take a look at "Bible Works." http://www.bibleworks.com

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steve
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Re: Be Being verbs/phrases from the New Testament

Post by steve » Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:10 pm

Of course, Darin is right! In Eph.5:18, it is clearly passive, not active. I had thoughtlessly just copied it from Zodhiates' "Complete Word Study Nrew Testament," which actually gives the wrong mood. Sorry!

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darinhouston
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Re: Be Being verbs/phrases from the New Testament

Post by darinhouston » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:25 pm

I've been wanting to learn Greek and haven't gotten very far. Verbs are always where I get lost -- I think my formal English grammar background was so weak that I lack some fundamental base of knowledge for what the terminology means as I've tried to learn languages. I get alphabet, syntax and pronunciation and even some rules down (which is fun and sort of a puzzle for me) and even get moving on some vocabulary but I get lost on "forms" of speech every time.

For those who are interested, there is a free seminary course video series available on iTunes from Concordia Lutheran Seminary for Greek (and Hebrew, I believe). I've been wanting to do this for a while, but lack the time and discipline at this time of my life. In any event, it looks like a great resource for someone wanting to learn Greek at home.

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Paidion
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Re: Be Being verbs/phrases from the New Testament

Post by Paidion » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:41 pm

Murf wrote:I believe the verse use the Continuous (or ‘Progressive’) tense, but that is just a guess from a google search
.

There is no continuous tense, but there is a continuous aspect, especially in the present tense. For example, Paul wrote to Timothy the following:

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that,if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. I Timothy 3:14, 15

He used the Greek word "γραφω" ("graphō") for "I am writing". "γραφω" can also mean "I write". In that case, the aspect is "undefined". That is, one does not know whether it is continuous or punctiliar. One must determine which it is from the context.

I don't know how to do the search you wish other than to do a search for "be" in a translation and select what you want from the over 1100 occurrences of the word. For there are a number of different tenses which are used for instructions to "be" this or that.
Paidion

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