Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek

by Constantine R. Campbell

Verbal aspect in the Greek language has been a topic of significant debate in recent scholarship. The majority of scholars now believe that an understanding of verbal aspect is even more important than verb tense (past, present, etc.). Until now, however, there have been no accessible textbooks, both in terms of level and price (most titles on the topic retail for more than $100).

In this book, Constantine Campbell investigates the function of verbal aspect within the New Testament Greek narrative. He has done a marvelous job in this book of simplifying the concept without getting caught up using terms of linguistics that no one except those schooled in that field can understand. The book includes exercises, an answer key, glossary of key concepts, an appendix covering space and time, and an index to Scripture cited.

Professors and students, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, will use this is as a supplemental text in both beginning and advanced Greek courses. Pastors that study the Greek text will also appreciate this resource as a supplement to their preaching and teaching.

Genres: Language, Theology, Linguistics, Reference, Biblical Studies, New Testament, Nonfiction

156 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

also published under Con Campbell

Reviews

[Colby Reese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this and it helped me better understand verbal aspect and the different views. Definitely does not answer all the questions and it needs to be read as one of many views out there. In the second edition he has a helpful appendix responding to the Greek Verb Revisited.

[Glenn Wishnew III · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a book about Koine Greek’s verbal aspect in one day and wasn’t bored for the entire experience.

That alone is a four star accomplishment.

[Zack Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not qualified to review this book.

[Samuel Parkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a helpful, clear, and (relatively!) simple approach to verbal aspect in Greek. The concepts are relatively challenging, especially for those who haven't come across aspect properly in learning Greek, as is likely the case for users of anything but textbooks published in the last decade or so. But Campbell gives the simplest explanations I've cover across.
It's not a book that argues for the position it takes, despite the fact that some of this is quite contentious; and at times I did want to know the alternative.
What it does do is give excellent, concise descriptions of how different Greek 'tenses' actually work, followed by a bunch of excellent examples with translations, and a few simple exercises.
The concepts here are radical if you haven't come across them (there are no 'past tenses' in Greek; the Perfect is imperfect... And so on) but they do make real sense. More importantly, they give tactical reasons to all the mysterious uses of tense, and apparently random tense changes, that you find when you start reading Greek. After most textbooks, these make little sense. After this little book, they do.
Reading this will keep you from a large variety of misreadings and explain and nuance many New Testament passages. It makes the New Testament clearer and more powerful. So it's hard not to recommend!

[Matthew Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went back and forth about whether to give this four or five stars. In such a short space, Campbell has provided a fantastic guide to the Greek Aspect, considering semantics, lexeme, and context in the production of Aktionsart. It reads like a practical guide to Wallace's far meatier 'Exegetical Greek Syntax.' Yet, Campbell and Wallace differ on one significant point: the inclusivity of temporal relevance in indicative verbal form. Wallace believes it crucial, whereas Campbell considers it absent. I appreciate the evidence Campbell sets forth, and yet he fails to address the biggest problem he establishes. Most Ancient Greek scholars agree with Wallace that indicative verbal forms have temporal relevance. This is even clear from the writers of the language, as Aristotle sets out the significance of tense in his book 'On Interpretation.' Other than passing reference to this disagreement, Campbell does not address the evidence for why Ancient Greek scholars differ on this issue. Thus, as great as this book is and as much as I will refer to it for future work, I feel compelled to research the conundrum Campbell has put forth yet has been unable to rectify.

[Simon Wartanian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good introduction to something fascinating in Greek scholarship brought down to beginning/intermediate students. The author is clear in explaining the concept and especially in repetition which in this case certainly makes perfect.

The only downside is that I would have liked him to argue why a particular verse/word belongs to this or that pragmatic category rather than another. In the Mathewson/Emig grammar, for example, they had also a good discussion of aspect but they often commented on why they placed a certain verse in this or that category.

[John Coatney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this quickly to get a better feel for how aspect fits when reading and translating Koine Greek. It was a helpful and concise summary of the discussion (up to 2008) on aspect. The history of the discussion was as helpful as the overview itself. Campbell does a fair job of presenting all sides of controversial aspects of the discussion, and then giving his conclusions and justifications.

[Alex Inouye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really helps the intermediate Greek student dive deeper and think more critically about the so important topic of verbal aspect. Campbell brings great ideas to the table that are definitely worth testing in the scripture. I was immensely blessed by this work, and this book has encouraged me to dive deeper into serious study of the Koine Greek of the NT.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted a book that would help me understand verbal aspect theory, its development, mechanics, and some of the controversies which are associated with it. This book did not disappoint. Very helpful.

[Bfleegs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the concept of aspect in Koine (New Testament) Greek. His categories and explanations are helpful and not overly technical.

[Zachary Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the most engaging and clearly written book on verbal aspect in biblical Greek that I’ll ever read.

[Eddie Mercado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Not sold on his aspectual argument re: the Perfect tense-form, but worth the read.

[Evan]

There are aspects of this that were good, but it was a bit tense and moody at times, and definitely not a perfect book, quite imperfective, but also quite iterative.

[Nathalie Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 but felt generous and rounded up

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much of the argument is beyond my technical ability, but aspect theory appears to start from a position of the subjective intent of the author, determined by the kind of action reflected in the lexical meaning of the verb, or the action in context as determined by the morphology (tense form).

Verbal aspect, he writes, is ‘the way in which the writer or speaker regards the action in its context—as a whole act [aorist], as a process [imperfective], or as a state [perfect]’.

D.A. Carson, “An Introduction to the Porter/Fanning Debate,” in Biblical Greek Language And Linguistics: Open Questions In Current Research (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), 21, citing K.L. McKay, Greek grammar for students, p. 44.

However, authorial intent is many times a chimera, resulting in "intent" being measured not by what is or was in the mind of the author (absent authorial comment on what was intended), but by what was said. A similar restriction applies in determining legislative intent in statutes, or intent of the parties in a contract. Aspect theory appears to create a barrier between the actuality of what is being written about and the reader. In other words, the reader is restricted to the view of the author.

[I]nsofar as verbal aspect has been grammaticalized in the morphology of the Greek verb, one cannot immediately leap to the kind of event to which reference is being made (Aktionsart), or to the time of event to which reference is being made (as in a time-based analysis of the verbal system), but to the writer’s or speaker’s decision to depict the event in a particular way. The bearing of this result on exegesis cannot easily be overestimated.

Carson, 22. This is similar to restricting our knowledge of Jesus to how he was depicted by NT authors, instead of how he was in fact as reported by NT authors. Finally, it is way too early to tell if aspect theory is just the next new thing. Acts 17.21.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An introduction, albeit potentially contentious, to the nature of aspect in the Greek verbal system.

He begins with discussions regarding the terms to be used. He helpfully differentiates aspect from Aktionsart and notes how many "aktionsart" items are unhelpfully considered part of aspect (aspect is non-cancelable; aktionsart is more fluid and cancelable). His discussion of the history of how aspect has been understood is vital; it's interesting to see that aspect was not discussed much until the 19th century and really has only reached its current point within my lifetime (which is not that long!). It goes a long way to explain why so few grammars have a good, strong, coherent picture of aspect.

The author argues for a primarily "spatial" way of looking at the nature of the Greek verbal system over that of "temporal." He identifies only the future tense as primarily marking time; other tenses mark the aspect of "imperfective" (as if seeing the events as they proceed) or "perfective" (as if seeing the event as a whole, as if above). Present, imperfect, and the perfect are seen as imperfective; aorist and future are seen as perfective.

He then further narrows the function of each "tense" by virtue of proximity or remote: thus present is imperfective and proximate while imperfect is imperfective and remote; aorist is perfective and proximate while future is perfective in terms of remoteness. Perfect / pluperfect intensify proximity and remoteness. The author spends some time discussing form and function and provides many examples. Exercises and their answers are also provided.

There's a lot of great stuff here even if you are not entirely on board with all of the author's premises (I remain a bit skeptical of the future as perfective, but that may be my Hebrew background talking...). An essential work for a more developed understanding of Greek verbal aspect.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having almost a year of Greek studies under my belt, I could follow most of Campbell’s arguments fairly well with a little bit of effort. There were bits that were more challenging for me at this stage of learning and some places where the content seemed redundant. All of the Greek in the book is translated which will be helpful for those whose vocabulary is still somewhat limited.

As a first year student, I am not qualified to judge between his proposal and other perspectives without considerably more exposure to the language. However, I think this could be a good starting place for someone wanting to understand the basics of various perspectives on the subject. Kevin Grasso is doing a chapter-by-chapter review of this book on the Biblingo YouTube channel of the places where he believes Campbell has gotten things wrong which is also worth careful consideration.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of “aspect” in NT Greek studies has risen to a position of attention and controversy recently. While there are still many details that need to be researched and clarified further, verbal aspect provides a more precise insight into the Greek verb system by better explaining the associations between verb forms and their contextual meanings.

This book was the first reading I’ve done on this subject. I found it to be a clear and manageable introduction to a detailed topic. Through clear writing, effective illustrations and review, Campbell opens the formerly-locked box of verbal aspect for Greek students.

After demonstrating the need for understanding aspect (ch. 1), the author briefly chronicles the history of aspect study (ch. 2). Chapters 3-5 present perfective and imperfective aspects and explain their impact on our understanding of the tense-forms. Chapters 6-10 then elaborate on the specifics of aspect with reference to each tense. Helpful exercises are included for the reader to test his understanding.

[G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the title, this is still a pretty technical book, but it is serviceable as an introduction to the Tense vs. Aspect debate. Campbell emphasizes Koine Greek as a primarily spatial language as opposed to temporal English. Obviously he views aspect as primary in lexical analysis. Parts of this short book take a couple passes through to absorb, but I did finish it with a better grasp on the subject than I've ever had.

[Tommi Karjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An overview / introduction (as such 4 stars). His later book Advances in the Study of Greek: New Insights for Reading the New Testament uses the same material in this book. The graphs were helpful!

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introductory level book to the discussion of verbal aspect as it relates to Biblical Greek. It was easy to understand and not too long. If you are still interested in learning more on the subject, you will be educated enough by this book to go further.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to the concept of verbal aspect in Greek. Requires quite a bit of base knowledge of Greek, but does a great job of making the complex concepts as simple as possible (the visual depictions of the different aspects are very helpful).

[Servinggod_85 Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work may not be the most exhaustive in its representation of the discussion taking place amongst scholars, but it is presented in an easier-to-read form. Helpful for those of us who are just entering into the discussion and are trying to find our bearings.

[William Dicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and definitely recommendable to those who have an interest in Biblical Greek.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful introduction. I've referred back to this book several times over the past few years for a refresher on verbal aspect.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, but I'd rather shoot myself than read it again. Drier than noon in the Gobi.