Verbal Aspect and Non-Indicative Verbs: Further Soundings in the Greek of the New Testament

by Constantine R. Campbell

Constantine R. Campbell continues the work begun in his previous volume, Verbal Aspect, the Indicative Mood, and Soundings in the Greek of the New Testament. In this book, he investigates the function of verbal aspect in non-indicative Greek verbs, which are of great significance for the translation and exegesis of Biblical texts. Campbell demonstrates that the model developed in his first volume provides strong power of explanation for the workings of non-indicative verbs, and challenges some of the conclusions reached by previous scholarship.

154 pages, Paperback

First published May 29, 2008

About the author

also published under Con Campbell

Reviews

[Aidan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fairly accessible (given the subject matter) continuation of Campbell's previous book in Studies in Biblical Greek. His conclusions regarding verbal aspect within the indicative mood are applied here with respect to participles, subjunctives, optatives, imperatives, and infinitives. Whilst the explanatory power of verbal aspect in regard to these 'moods' is clearly articulated, I found the arguments less exhaustive (and therefore less persuasive) than perhaps the subject matter demands.

In order to more wholeheartedly agree with Campbell's conclusions it would have been helpful to see an articulation of where his verbal aspect system proves most troublesome or offers difficulties in interpretation. Perhaps an admission of times where a temporal-based approach offers a more straightforward interprative framework (if such an example exists) would have strengthened his argument. However, the work is a valuable resource and further additions or complexities to the argument would likely detract from its clear simplicity and accessibility.