# BBG Chapter 23 — First Aorist Active and Middle Indicative

## Files

### Exercises

Exercise | Description
--- | ---
exercises/ch23-first-aorist-parsing/ | First Aorist Parsing Drill — 20 forms to parse

### Flashcards

File | Description
--- | ---
ch23-vocab-deck.md | Human-readable card list — 8 vocabulary words
ch23-vocab-deck.txt | Anki import file (File → Import)
ch23-vocab-deck-fd.txt | Flashcards Deluxe import file

### Notebooks

Notebook | What it shows
--- | ---
GNT Verb Morphology | Aorist tense dominance; tense × voice; top lemmas
Genre Comparison | Aorist distribution and voice; most common aorist roots by genre

Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar, Mounce, 4th Edition
Data: MACULA Greek TAGNT (~15,000 aorist active/middle indicative tokens NT-wide)

## 1. The First Aorist — Overview

The first aorist (also called the "weak aorist" in older grammars) is the regular formation for expressing perfective past action. It is characterized by the σα tense formant — the α in σα is the most recognizable marker of the first aorist.

Feature | Value
--- | ---
Tense | Aorist
Aspect | Perfective (action viewed as whole)
Time | Past
Stem | Aorist stem (= present stem for regular verbs, or modified)
Augment | Yes
Tense Formant | σα (characteristic of first aorist)
Endings | Modified secondary endings (α replaces the connecting vowel)

## 2. Building the First Aorist

    Augment + Aorist stem + σα + (secondary) endings

For regular verbs (Pattern 1), the aorist stem = present stem.

Step | Form | Notes
--- | --- | ---
Present stem | λυ- | From λύω
+ augment | ἐλυ- | ε- prefix
+ σα formant | ἐλυσα- | σα added after stem
+ ending | ἔλυσα | 1sg ending = null (σα alone = 1sg)

## 3. First Aorist Active Endings

The σα formant replaces the connecting vowel. The endings attach to σα-:

Person/Number | Ending | Full Form
--- | --- | ---
1sg | — (null) | ἔ-λυ-σα
2sg | -ς | ἔ-λυ-σα-ς
3sg | -ε(ν) | ἔ-λυ-σε(ν)
1pl | -μεν | ἐ-λύ-σα-μεν
2pl | -τε | ἐ-λύ-σα-τε
3pl | -ν | ἔ-λυ-σα-ν

> Note on 3sg: The α in σα shortens to ε before the 3sg ending: σαε → σε. This is the only place where the α disappears.

## 4. Full Paradigm — First Aorist Active Indicative (λύω)

Person/Number | First Aorist Active | Translation
--- | --- | ---
1sg | ἔλυσα | I loosed
2sg | ἔλυσας | You loosed
3sg | ἔλυσε(ν) | He/she/it loosed
1pl | ἐλύσαμεν | We loosed
2pl | ἐλύσατε | You (pl) loosed
3pl | ἔλυσαν | They loosed

## 5. First Aorist Middle Endings

The middle voice adds middle endings after σα-:

Person/Number | Ending | Full Form
--- | --- | ---
1sg | -μην | ἐ-λυ-σά-μην
2sg | -ω | ἐ-λύ-σω (σαο contracts → σω)
3sg | -το | ἐ-λύ-σα-το
1pl | -μεθα | ἐ-λυ-σά-μεθα
2pl | -σθε | ἐ-λύ-σα-σθε
3pl | -ντο | ἐ-λύ-σα-ντο

## 6. Full Paradigm — First Aorist Middle Indicative (λύω)

Person/Number | First Aorist Middle | Translation
--- | --- | ---
1sg | ἐλυσάμην | I loosed (for myself)
2sg | ἐλύσω | You loosed (for yourself)
3sg | ἐλύσατο | He/she loosed (for himself/herself)
1pl | ἐλυσάμεθα | We loosed (for ourselves)
2pl | ἐλύσασθε | You (pl) loosed (for yourselves)
3pl | ἐλύσαντο | They loosed (for themselves)

## 7. Stop Consonant + σ in the First Aorist

The same stop + σ combinations from Ch19 (future) appear in the first aorist:

Present | Aorist | Stop Combination
--- | --- | ---
γράφω | ἔγραψα | φ + σ → ψ
ἄγω | ἤγαγον (2nd aor.) / — | —
πέμπω | ἔπεμψα | π + σ → ψ
κηρύσσω | ἐκήρυξα | κ + σ → ξ
βαπτίζω | ἐβάπτισα | δ + σ → σ
σῴζω | ἔσωσα | δ + σ → σ
πείθω | ἔπεισα | θ + σ → σ

## 8. Liquid Aorists

Verbs with liquid stems (λ, μ, ν, ρ) cannot attach σ directly. Instead:

1. σ drops
2. The preceding vowel lengthens
3. The aorist endings attach without σα

Present | Aorist Active | Notes
--- | --- | ---
μένω | ἔμεινα | ε → ει before ν
ἀποκτείνω | ἀπέκτεινα | ει before ν
αἴρω | ἦρα | ε → η (irregular)
ἐγείρω | ἤγειρα | ε → η (irregular)
ἀποστέλλω | ἀπέστειλα | ε → ει; λλ → λ
κρίνω | ἔκρινα | ι in stem
σπείρω | ἔσπειρα | ε → ει

> Note: Liquid aorists still have the 1sg ending pattern (-α, -ας, -ε, etc.) but without the σ. The vowel lengthening in the stem is the compensatory change for the lost σ.

## 9. Contract Verb First Aorists

Contract verb stems lengthen their final vowel before σ:

Present | Aorist | Lengthening
--- | --- | ---
ἀγαπάω | ἠγάπησα | α → η
ποιέω | ἐποίησα | ε → η
πληρόω | ἐπλήρωσα | ο → ω
λαλέω | ἐλάλησα | ε → η
δηλόω | ἐδήλωσα | ο → ω

## 10. Comparing First and Second Aorist

Feature | First Aorist | Second Aorist
--- | --- | ---
Stem marker | σα formant | Different aorist stem (no σα)
1sg | ἔλυσα (-σα) | ἔλαβον (-ον)
3sg | ἔλυσε(ν) (-σε) | ἔλαβε(ν) (-ε)
Endings | α-based | Same secondary as imperfect
Older grammar term | "Weak aorist" | "Strong aorist"

> Key Diagnostic: Look for σ immediately after the stem (before the ending vowel). If present → first aorist. If absent and the stem is different from the present → second aorist.

## 11. Aspect and Translation

Both first and second aorists share identical aspect — perfective:

Type | Form | Translation
--- | --- | ---
1st aorist | ἔλυσεν | "He loosed"
2nd aorist | ἔλαβεν | "He took"
Imperfect (contrast) | ἔλυεν | "He was loosing"

## 12. GNT Examples

Reference | Greek | Translation
--- | --- | ---
Matt 3:17 | εὐδόκησα | "I am well pleased" (aor. of εὐδοκέω)
John 3:16 | ἠγάπησεν | "He loved" (aor. of ἀγαπάω)
John 19:30 | ἔκλινεν | "He bowed" (liquid aor. of κλίνω)
Acts 2:41 | ἐβαπτίσθησαν | "They were baptized" (pass., Ch24)
Rom 5:8 | ἀπέθανεν | "He died" (2nd aor. of ἀποθνῄσκω)