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Verbal Aspect and Non-Indicative Verbs: Further Soundings in the Greek of the New Testament (Studies in Biblical Greek) by Constantine R. Campbell
Verbal aspect in Ancient Greek has been a topic of significant debate in recent scholarship. In this book, Constantine R. Campbell investigates the function of verbal aspect within New Testament Greek narrative. He argues that the primary role of verbal aspect in narrative is to delineate and shape the various 'discourse strands' of which it is constructed, such as mainline, offline, and direct discourse. Campbell accounts for this function in terms of the semantic value of each tense-form. Consequently, in the search for more effective conclusions and explanations, he challenges and reassesses some of the conclusions reached in previous scholarship. One such reassessment involves a boldly innovative approach to the perfect tense-form.
Unknown Binding
First published June 29, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 18, 2025
Absolutely scintillating.
The section on the perfect particularly drew me in - I felt part of the action! Unfortunately the same could not be said of the aorist chapter. Perhaps something to consider adjusting in the sequels.
The section on the perfect particularly drew me in - I felt part of the action! Unfortunately the same could not be said of the aorist chapter. Perhaps something to consider adjusting in the sequels.
February 4, 2011
A friend, colleague, and student at another institution than the one where I teach asked me about two months ago if I had investigated the idea of “verbal aspect” when I was working with the Koine Greek in the New Testament. I confessed that I had not, but as he began to describe what his professor was presenting with regard to “verbal aspect,” I realized that it resonated with my understanding of the way language works. I, personally, don’t have a linguistic background but I enjoy studying various languages (having dabbled in but not mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Russian in the course of my research projects) and I definitely needed a challenge to refresh my rusting Koine Greek. So, I picked up Constantine R. Campbell’s Verbal Aspect, the Indicative Mood, and Narrative: Soundings in the Greek of the New Testament and have been perusing it and considering it for a period of weeks.
My initial surprise was that, in spite of the title, the soundings go beyond the restricted lexicon of New Testament Greek to consider the biography of Aesop, a historical sample of Thucydides, a goodly portion of the Papyri Oxyrhyncus, the first book of Chariton, and a speech from Lysias. This proved to be a useful methodology because, with some aspectual interpretations of a given verb tense, the exceptions to be found in the biblical texts were sometimes augmented and clarified by the secular uses in the other texts. An additional surprise (although it shouldn’t have been) was how useful “verbal aspect” is to the kind of rhetorical criticism I attempted in my doctoral dissertation and how advanced such combination linguistic/literary studies have become in the more modern discourse analysis. Ah, a marvelous chance to refine my previous research!
The thesis of Campbell’s work seems to be that verbal aspect deals essentially with perfective or imperfective states (simplistically assessed as “done” or “not done”) and that within these states, another factor is whether the author is giving the reader an inside and immediate perspective (proximity)or an outside and wider perspective (remoteness—pp. 49-54). Hence, the spatial quality of the verb is more significant than the idea of temporal quality. In so doing, he tentatively solves some of the problems with the usage of the Greek Aorist (I jokingly told my students that it was the “errorist” with regard to some idiomatic uses of it) as the dominant form of mainline narrative and the Imperfect as a marvelous narrative tool for providing offline-perspective. He clarifies the use of the so-called “historical present” as a timeless means of providing proximity or immediateness to the reader/hearer, but used predominantly in discourse (both direct and indirect)and primarily used either to introduce discourse or provide propulsion from one setting or consideration to another. Interestingly enough, Campbell demonstrates the likelihood that both present tense and perfect tense function in discourse because of their imperfective aspect (p. 186).
His revolutionary suggestion of the imperfective nature of the perfect indicative becomes extremely valuable in the exegesis of II Timothy 4:6-7. Past translations which emphasize the perfective aspect of the tense would see Paul’s ministry as essentially over and the apostle as essentially having written his obituary. The imperfective approach would see Paul’s ministry as remaining vital even though the apostle realizes that he’s been going for a while and may not have much time left (p. 194). The same imperfective immediacy is attached to John 9:35-37, a text that requires one to jump through hoops in order to translate from the perfective aspect (p. 195).
In summary, he presents the perfect tense as imperfective and proximate and the perfect (ironically) as imperfective and of heightened proximity as driving direct discourse, indirect discourse, and authorial discourse. Of course, the future also plays a role in discourse to reflect the uncertainty of the outcome, regardless of the speaker’s confidence. Campbell presents the aorist as driving mainline narrative with the imperfect (as both perfective and remote) and the pluperfect (both imperfective and of heightened remoteness) as driving offline narrative (supplemental). All in all, it’s an incredibly insightful work and has plunged me into an entire new study in all of my biblical languages. It certainly isn’t light reading, but if anyone wants to improve their exegetical ability with New Testament Greek, it’s worthwhile.
My initial surprise was that, in spite of the title, the soundings go beyond the restricted lexicon of New Testament Greek to consider the biography of Aesop, a historical sample of Thucydides, a goodly portion of the Papyri Oxyrhyncus, the first book of Chariton, and a speech from Lysias. This proved to be a useful methodology because, with some aspectual interpretations of a given verb tense, the exceptions to be found in the biblical texts were sometimes augmented and clarified by the secular uses in the other texts. An additional surprise (although it shouldn’t have been) was how useful “verbal aspect” is to the kind of rhetorical criticism I attempted in my doctoral dissertation and how advanced such combination linguistic/literary studies have become in the more modern discourse analysis. Ah, a marvelous chance to refine my previous research!
The thesis of Campbell’s work seems to be that verbal aspect deals essentially with perfective or imperfective states (simplistically assessed as “done” or “not done”) and that within these states, another factor is whether the author is giving the reader an inside and immediate perspective (proximity)or an outside and wider perspective (remoteness—pp. 49-54). Hence, the spatial quality of the verb is more significant than the idea of temporal quality. In so doing, he tentatively solves some of the problems with the usage of the Greek Aorist (I jokingly told my students that it was the “errorist” with regard to some idiomatic uses of it) as the dominant form of mainline narrative and the Imperfect as a marvelous narrative tool for providing offline-perspective. He clarifies the use of the so-called “historical present” as a timeless means of providing proximity or immediateness to the reader/hearer, but used predominantly in discourse (both direct and indirect)and primarily used either to introduce discourse or provide propulsion from one setting or consideration to another. Interestingly enough, Campbell demonstrates the likelihood that both present tense and perfect tense function in discourse because of their imperfective aspect (p. 186).
His revolutionary suggestion of the imperfective nature of the perfect indicative becomes extremely valuable in the exegesis of II Timothy 4:6-7. Past translations which emphasize the perfective aspect of the tense would see Paul’s ministry as essentially over and the apostle as essentially having written his obituary. The imperfective approach would see Paul’s ministry as remaining vital even though the apostle realizes that he’s been going for a while and may not have much time left (p. 194). The same imperfective immediacy is attached to John 9:35-37, a text that requires one to jump through hoops in order to translate from the perfective aspect (p. 195).
In summary, he presents the perfect tense as imperfective and proximate and the perfect (ironically) as imperfective and of heightened proximity as driving direct discourse, indirect discourse, and authorial discourse. Of course, the future also plays a role in discourse to reflect the uncertainty of the outcome, regardless of the speaker’s confidence. Campbell presents the aorist as driving mainline narrative with the imperfect (as both perfective and remote) and the pluperfect (both imperfective and of heightened remoteness) as driving offline narrative (supplemental). All in all, it’s an incredibly insightful work and has plunged me into an entire new study in all of my biblical languages. It certainly isn’t light reading, but if anyone wants to improve their exegetical ability with New Testament Greek, it’s worthwhile.
May 14, 2014
Definitely very interesting look at the verb tense/aspect system in the Greek indicatives. The chapters on the perfect and the comment on Porter's planes of discourse are worth a read if you agree or not. The sequel has been ordered and eagerly waited.
November 13, 2010
Campbell's work is simply outstanding and carries significant weight in the understanding of Koine Greek. Verbal Aspect is here to stay and Campbell's work is a huge addition to that end.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews