LAN 402 Beginning Greek II Class VII: Infinitive

Infinitive 1.1 Infinitive – English Infinitive = verbal noun [participle = verbal adjective] “to” – identity mark “To study is my highest aspiration” [‘to study’ = subject] “I started to sweat when I realized finals were three weeks away” [‘to sweat’ = direct object of the verb]  Greek infinitive functions in a similar manner (+ more)

Infinitive 1.2 Infinitive – Greek Always indeclinable – viewed as sing. neut. Case depends on its function in the sentence Can have direct object and verbal modifiers Tense (present, aorist, perfect) and voice (act., mid., pass.) Aspect, not tense, crucial [cf. participles] Tense Aspect Translation Present Continuous “to continually study” Aorist Undefined “to study” Perfect Completed “to have studied”

Infinitive Paradigm – infinitive Present (continuous) inf. – built on present stem Aorist act/mid (undefined) – aorist act/mid stem Aorist pass. – aorist passive stem Perfect act. (completed) – pf. act. stem Perfect mid/pass – pf mid/pass stem Present 1 aorist 2 aorist Perfect Active λύειν λῦσαι λαβεῖν λελυκέναι Middle λύεσθαι λύσασθαι λαβέσθαι λελύσθαι Passive λυθῆναι γραφῆναι

Infinitive Definitions of infinitive Parsing: tense, voice, “infinitive”, lex. form, infl. meaning βλέψαι. Aorist, active, inf., from βλέπω = “to see” Present 1 aorist 2 aorist Perfect Active To loose To receive To have loosed Middle Passive To be loosed To be received To have been loosed

Infinitive 2.1 The meaning of infinitive (a) Aspect – infinitive has no time significance Present inf. – continuous action Οὐδείς δύναται δυσί κυρίους δουλεύειν No one is able to serve two masters Aorist inf. – undefined action μὴ φοβηθῇς παραλαβεῖν Μαρίαν τὴν γυναῖκά σου Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife Perfect inf. – completed action ἤκουσαν τοῦτο αὐτὸν πεποιηκέναι τὸ σημεῖον They heard he had done this sign  Nuances cannot be translated into English generally

Infinitive (b) Subject Technically infinitive cannot have subject Noun in accusative acts as if it was the subject of infinitive οὐκ ἢφιεν λαλεῖν τὰ δαιμόνια He would not permit the demons to speak Sometimes difficult to determine the ‘subject’ when there are two nouns that are in accusative – generally 1st = subj. ἐν τῷ εἰσαγαγεῖν τοὺς γονεῖς τὸ παιδίον Ἰησοῦν When the parents brought in the child Jesus Exception: ἔξεστιν (‘it is lawful’) παραγγέλλω (I command) that take their direct object (and also subject) in dative

Infinitive 2.2 Translation of infinitive (a) Infinitive as substantive – articular infinitive Articular infinitive – generally preceded by definite article Translate “to” and the verb Sometimes idiomatic ἐμοὶ τὸ ζῆν Χριστὸς καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain

Infinitive (b) Complementary Infinitive – verb + infinitive Translate “to” and the verb ἤρξαντο λαλεῖν ἑτέραις γλῶσσαις They began to speak in other tongues Verbs that require complementary infinitive δεῖ αὐτὴν ἐσθίειν It is necessary for her to eat ἔξεστιν ἐσθίειν αὐτῷ It is lawful for him to eat δύναμαι ἐσθίειν I am able to eat μέλλω - ἄρχομαι I am about to [going to] I begin

Infinitive (c) Articular infinitive and preposition Articular infinitive is preceded by preposition Case of the definite article is determined by the preposition Translation is idiomatic Reason/purpose διὰ (accusative) - because διὰ τὸ βλέπειν Because he sees ὁ Ἰησοῦς χαρήσεται διὰ τὸ βλέπειν αὐτὸν ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν αὐτὸν Jesus will rejoice because he sees that we love him

Infinitive εἰς (accusative) – in order that εἰς τὸ βλέπειν αὐτόν In order that he sees καθίζω ἐν ἐκκλελσίᾳ εἰς τὸ ἀκούειν με τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ I sit in church in order that I might hear the word of God πρός (accusative) – in order that πρός τὸ βλέπειν αύτόν κηρύσσομεν τὸν εὐαγγέλιον πρὸς τὸ βλέψαι ὑμᾶς τὴν ἀλήθειαν We preach the gospel so that you may see the truth

Infinitive Temporal infinitive πρό (genitive) – before [indicating time] πρό τοῦ βλέπειν αὐτόν Before he sees ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς πρό τοῦ γνῶναι ἡμᾶς αὐτόν Jesus loved us before we knew him ἐν (dative) – when/while [indicating time] ἐν τῷ βλέπειν When he sees ὁ κύριος κρινεῖ ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ ἔρχεσθαι αὐτὸν πάλιν The Lord will judge us when he comes back

Infinitive Tips for translating articular infinitive μετά (accusative) – after [indicating time] μετὰ τὸ βλέπειν αὐτόν After he sees μετὰ τὸ βλέψαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν τοὺς ἁμαρτωλούς ἔκλαυσε After Jesus saw the sinners he cried Tips for translating articular infinitive Remember the key words associated with each preposition when used with articular infinitive Use the phrase “the act of” e.g. διὰ τὸ βλέπειν αὐτόν means “Because the act of seeing with reference to him”  Because he sees

Infinitive (d) Infinitive that expresses purpose “in order that” Three ways to express purpose with infinitive (i) Articular infinitive preceded by εἰς or πρός (ii) The articular infinitive w/ article in genitive (no preposition) Ἡρῳδης ζητεῖν τὸ παιδίον τοῦ ἀπολέσται αὐτό Herod is searching for the child to destroy him (iii) The infinitive all by itself [w/o prep. or article] Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον καταλῦσαι τὸν νόμον Do not think that I came to abolish the Law

Infinitive (e) ὥστε followed infinitive can indicate result Translate infinitive with finite [‘regular’] verb ἔπλησαν ἀμφότερα τὰ πλοῖα ὥστε βυθίζεσθαι αὐτά. They filled both boats so full that they began to sink Often difficult to differentiate b/w “purpose” and “result”

Infinitive Practice Homework Parsing and warm-up p. 133 P. 134 no: 6-7, 9-10