# BBG Chapter 28 — Perfective (Aorist) Adverbial Participles

## Files

### Exercises

Exercise | Description
--- | ---
exercises/ch28-aorist-participle-parsing/ | "Spot the Aorist Participle" — 15-item passage drill: parse form, distinguish 1st/2nd aorist, identify use, translate
exercises/ch28-participle-tense-contrast/ | Present vs. Aorist Participle Contrast — 20 clauses: classify CONTEMP / ANTEC, parse, translate

### Flashcards

File | Description
--- | ---
ch28-vocab-deck.md | Human-readable card list — 8 vocabulary words
ch28-vocab-deck.txt | Anki import file (File → Import)
ch28-vocab-deck-fd.txt | Flashcards Deluxe import file

### Notebooks

Notebook | What it shows
--- | ---
Greek Participles | Aorist participle dominance; temporal relationship (aorist = antecedent action)
Genre Comparison | Aorist participle distribution and temporal relationship to main verb

Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar, Mounce, 4th Edition
Data: MACULA Greek TAGNT (~2,800 aorist participle tokens NT-wide)

## 1. The Aorist Participle — Aspect and Formation

The aorist participle expresses perfective aspect: a simple, complete action viewed as a whole. As an adverbial participle it indicates action prior to the main verb.

The aorist participle is built on the aorist stem (the same stem as the aorist indicative) — but without the augment (augment belongs only to the indicative mood).

> Note: Removing the augment is critical. When you form (or identify) an aorist participle, the verb will not have the ε- prefix that marks the aorist indicative. For example: aorist indicative = ἔλυσα; aorist active participle = λύσας (no augment).

## 2. First Aorist Active Participle

### 2.1 Formation

Component | Description
--- | ---
Aorist stem | λυ-
Tense suffix | σα
Participial morpheme | ντ
Endings | 3rd declension (masc/neut), 1st declension (fem)

The masculine nominative singular: λυ + σα + ντ → λύσας (the ντ drops in nominative, leaving -σας).
The feminine: λύσασα.
The neuter nominative: λύσαν.

### 2.2 Paradigm — First Aorist Active Participle (λύω)

Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter
--- | --- | --- | ---
Nominative sg | λύσας | λύσασα | λύσαν
Genitive sg | λύσαντος | λυσάσης | λύσαντος
Dative sg | λύσαντι | λυσάσῃ | λύσαντι
Accusative sg | λύσαντα | λύσασαν | λύσαν
Nominative pl | λύσαντες | λύσασαι | λύσαντα
Genitive pl | λυσάντων | λυσασῶν | λυσάντων
Dative pl | λύσασι(ν) | λυσάσαις | λύσασι(ν)
Accusative pl | λύσαντας | λυσάσας | λύσαντα

> Note: Compare with the present active participle paradigm from Ch27. The forms are structurally parallel — both use 3rd declension for masc/neut and 1st declension for fem. The key difference is the σα tense suffix between the stem and the -ντ- morpheme.

## 3. First Aorist Passive Participle

### 3.1 Formation

The aorist passive participle uses the aorist passive stem (found in the 6th principal part: e.g., ἐλύθην → stem λυθ-).

Component | Description
--- | ---
Aorist passive stem | λυθ-
Tense suffix | ε (lengthens to εί before ντ)
Participial morpheme | ντ
Endings | 3rd declension (masc/neut), 1st declension (fem)

Result: λυθείς (masc), λυθεῖσα (fem), λυθέν (neut)

### 3.2 Paradigm — First Aorist Passive Participle (λύω)

Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter
--- | --- | --- | ---
Nominative sg | λυθείς | λυθεῖσα | λυθέν
Genitive sg | λυθέντος | λυθείσης | λυθέντος
Dative sg | λυθέντι | λυθείσῃ | λυθέντι
Accusative sg | λυθέντα | λυθεῖσαν | λυθέν
Nominative pl | λυθέντες | λυθεῖσαι | λυθέντα
Genitive pl | λυθέντων | λυθεισῶν | λυθέντων
Dative pl | λυθεῖσι(ν) | λυθείσαις | λυθεῖσι(ν)
Accusative pl | λυθέντας | λυθείσας | λυθέντα

> Note: The marker -θε(ι)ντ- is the unmistakable signature of the aorist passive participle. As soon as you see θ + ε/ει + ντ or θ + ε/ει + σ, think: aorist passive participle.

## 4. Second Aorist Active Participle

Many common Greek verbs have a second aorist (2nd aor.) — an irregular aorist that uses a different stem without the -σ- suffix. The 2nd aorist active participle uses the same endings as the present active participle, but on the 2nd aorist stem.

### 4.1 Formation

Component | Description
--- | ---
2nd aorist stem | different from present (e.g., λαβ- from λαμβάνω)
Connecting vowel | ο
Participial morpheme | ντ
Endings | Same as present active participle

Result: λαβ + ο + ντ → λαβών (masc), λαβοῦσα (fem), λαβόν (neut)

### 4.2 Paradigm — Second Aorist Active Participle (λαμβάνω → λαβ-)

Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter
--- | --- | --- | ---
Nominative sg | λαβών | λαβοῦσα | λαβόν
Genitive sg | λαβόντος | λαβούσης | λαβόντος
Dative sg | λαβόντι | λαβούσῃ | λαβόντι
Accusative sg | λαβόντα | λαβοῦσαν | λαβόν
Nominative pl | λαβόντες | λαβοῦσαι | λαβόντα
Genitive pl | λαβόντων | λαβουσῶν | λαβόντων
Dative pl | λαβοῦσι(ν) | λαβούσαις | λαβοῦσι(ν)
Accusative pl | λαβόντας | λαβούσας | λαβόντα

> Note: The only way to distinguish a 2nd aorist active participle from a present active participle is the stem. λαβ- is the 2nd aorist stem of λαμβάνω; λαμβαν- is the present stem. If the form looks like a present participle but the stem matches the 2nd aorist, it is a 2nd aorist participle.

### 4.3 Common 2nd Aorist Participles in the GNT

Verb | Pres. Stem | 2nd Aor. Stem | Masc Nom Sg
--- | --- | --- | ---
λαμβάνω (take) | λαμβαν- | λαβ- | λαβών
ἔρχομαι (come) | ἐρχ- | ἐλθ- | ἐλθών
λέγω (say) | λεγ- | εἰπ- | εἰπών
ὁράω (see) | ὁρα- | ἰδ- | ἰδών
βάλλω (throw) | βαλλ- | βαλ- | βαλών
ἄγω (lead) | ἀγ- | ἀγαγ- | ἀγαγών

## 5. The Adverbial Aorist Participle — Prior Action

The aorist adverbial participle indicates that its action preceded the action of the main verb.

> λύσας τοὺς δούλους εἰσῆλθεν. = "After loosing the slaves, he entered."

Participle | Aspect | Adverbial Translation
--- | --- | ---
Present (λύων) | Imperfective | "while loosing"
Aorist (λύσας) | Perfective | "after loosing" / "having loosed"

### 5.1 GNT Examples

> ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ Πέτρος εἶπεν. (Matt 16:16)
> "Answering, Peter said…"
> — Aorist passive participle (ἀποκρίνομαι), nominative masculine singular; action precedes εἶπεν

> ἐξελθὼν ἐκεῖθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἦλθεν. (Matt 15:21)
> "Having departed from there, Jesus went…"
> — 2nd aorist active participle (ἔρχομαι), nominative masculine singular

> Ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἡρῴδης ἐταράχθη. (Matt 2:3)
> "Having heard [this], King Herod was troubled."
> — 1st aorist active participle, nominative masculine singular

## 6. Present vs. Aorist Participle — Full Comparison

Feature | Present Active | Aorist Active (1st) | Aorist Passive (1st) | 2nd Aorist Active
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Stem | Present | Aorist | Aor. passive | 2nd aorist
Tense suffix | — | σα | θε(ι) | —
Morpheme | ντ | ντ | ντ | ντ
Masc nom sg | -ων | -σας | -θείς | -ών
Fem nom sg | -ουσα | -σασα | -θεῖσα | -οῦσα
Neut nom sg | -ον | -σαν | -θέν | -όν
Key marker | -οντ- | -σαντ- | -θεντ- | 2nd aor. stem + -οντ-
Relative time | Contemporaneous | Prior | Prior | Prior

## 7. The Absolute Use

The aorist participle (like the present) can appear in a genitive absolute construction when its subject differs from the main verb's subject (full treatment in Ch30). The aorist absolute indicates that the participial action was completed before the main clause event.

> ἀπελθόντος δὲ αὐτοῦ, ἐλάλησαν.
> "After he had departed, they spoke."