THE PRESENT INDICATIVE IN
NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS
by
John
A. Battle, Jr.
Submitted in partial
fulfillment of requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Theology in
Grace
Theological Seminary
May, 1975
Please report any errors to Ted Hildebrand
at: ted.hildebrandt@gordon.edu
Accepted by the Faculty of Grace
Theological Seminary
in partial fulfillment of requirements
for the degree
Doctor of
Theology
Grade A
Examining
Committee
James L. Boyer
Homer A.
Kent
Charles R.
Smith
PREFACE
The study of the Greek New
Testament is perhaps the most rewarding
and exhilarating task possible.
But this study requires exegetical tools.
The syntax of Greek verb tenses
stands at the center of accurate exegesis,
and this grammatical tool must
be formed and sharpened by inductive study
of New Testament usage.
It has been this writer's happy task to seek to define
more
closely the value of the Greek
present indicative verb. He wishes to
thank all those who have
assisted in this effort. First of all, thanks
are due to Dr. James L. Boyer,
the chairman of the examining committee,
and to its other members, Dr.
homer A. Kent, Jr., and Dr. Charles R. Smith,
for their patient and expert
advice at several important points. Also,
thanks are due to Dr. John C.
Whitcomb, Jr., who directs the Postgraduate
Division of Grace Theological
Seminary, for his help and encouragement
throughout the entire program.
In addition, this author wishes to express
his gratitude toward several of
his colleagues in the faculty of Faith
Theological Seminary who have
assisted with their advice, help, and per-
sonal libraries: Dr. A.
Franklin Faucette, Dr. Stephen M. Reynolds, Dr.
Sang Chan Lee, and Dr. Richard
C. Curry. But the one person who has
helped the most deserves
special thanks, the author's wife, Tammie. In
addition to spending many, many
hours in difficult work, she has always
been an inspiration and
encouragement during this paper's preparation.
Of course, our chief gratitude
must be directed to the One who inspired
the New Testament, and of whom
it speaks.
iv
It is
this author's hope that this study of the present indicative
will shed more light on the New
Testament. Julius R. Mantey has advised,
"I trust in your
dissertation you will cite several examples in the New
Testament where the present
tense functions remarkably well in exegesis,
so much so that its readers
would be deprived of much insight if it were
not used" (personal
letter, September 13, 1974). Indeed, if the reader
will more thoroughly appreciate
the meaning of the New Testament, this
paper's purpose will be
fulfilled.
v
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS vi
LIST OF TABLES ix
PART
Chapter
I. THE PLACE OF TENSE IN GREEK
The Importance of Tense in Exegesis 1
Common Misunderstanding of Tense 4
Modern Translation Approach of Eugene
A. Nida 7
Complexity of the Present Indicative
16
Aktionsart and Aspect 18
II. THE PLAN OF ATTACK 24
An Inductive Approach 24
Method of Procedure 26
Summary of the Study's Results 28
III. THE FREQUENCY OF THE PRESENT
INDICATIVE 30
Total Occurrences 30
Present Indicative Frequency 35
Doubtful Cases 41
Morphological Note on Movable Nu 42
PART II. PRESENT INDICATIVE
EXEGESIS
I. THE USAGE CATEGORIES 45
Traditional Usage Classifications 45
Proposed Classifications 49
II. THE PRESENT INDICATIVE IN PRESENT TIME
53
Progressive Present 53
The Verb "To Be" 56
vi
Chapter Page
The Question of Aoristic Presents 58
Declarative Present 61
Customary Present 63
Abstract Present 68
Perfective Present 75
The Present in Kingdom Passages 81
Conclusion for Presents in Present Time 84
III. THE PRESENT INDICATIVE IN PAST TIME 85
Historical Present Frequency 85
Synoptic Comparison 90
The Zero Tense Controversy 107
Relevant New Testament Data 117
Exegesis of the Historical Present 130
Otter Past Time Usages 135
Conclusion 137
IV. THE PRESENT INDICATIVE IN FUTURE TIME 138
Futuristic Present Frequency 138
Futuristic Present Vocabulary 142
Futuristic Present Aspect 149
Futuristic Present Exegesis 151
Present for Immediate Future 154
Conclusion 157
V. THE PRESENT INDICATIVE IN RELATIVE TIME 159
Relative Present 159
Indirect Present 160
VI. THE PRESENT INDICATIVE IN CONDITIONAL
SENTENCES 163
Present of the Protasis 163
Other Uses with Ei]
172
Present of the Apodosis 173
Conclusion 179
PART III.
CONCLUSION
The Problem of the Present
Indicative 181
Suggested Solution 183
The Limits of Syntax 184
APPENDIX A. PRESENT INDICATIVE
VERB CLASSIFICATION 186
vii
Page
APPENDIX B. TIE MOVABLE NU IN MATTHEW
245
APPENDIX C. HISTORICAL PRESENT
CONTEXT 246
APPENDIX D. PRESENT OF THE
PROTASIS 252
BIBLIOGRAPHY 256
viii
LIST OF
TABLES
Table Page
1. Present Indicatives per Chapter 30
2. Present Indicatives per Book 34
3. Present Indicatives per 100 Words 35
4. Present Indicatives per 100 Verb Forms 39
5. Present Indicative Preference by Book 40
6. Present Indicative Preference by Author 40
7. Progressive Present Frequency 55
8. Declarative Presents 61
9. Customary Presents 67
10. Abstract Presents 74
11. Perfective Present 81
12. Historical Present Frequency 86
13. Synoptic Historical Presents 93
14. Synoptic Historical Present Figures 104
15. Historical Present Vocabulary 119
16. Historical Present Verb Types 122
16A. Verb Type Percentages 123
17. Historical Present Contexts 126
18. Historical Present Connections 127
19. Futuristic Present Frequency 138
20. Futuristic Present Vocabulary 142
21. Present for Relative Time 161
ix
Table Page
22. Protasis Present Frequency 165
23. Apodosis Present Frequency 176
4
PART
I. THE PLACE OF TENSE IN
GREEK
The verb is the center of the sentence. Verbs turn mere
phrases
into clauses. They supply the
heart, the force of the sentence. Accu-
rate exegesis must begin with
the verb.
The two primary features of verb syntax are mood and
tense. This
paper will deal exclusively
with the indicative mood. Within that mood
Biblical Greek has at least six
tenses: present, imperfect, future,
aorist, perfect, and
pluperfect.1 Each of these
tenses carries with it
an exegetical background and
flavor, implications and associations which
belong to that tense alone.2
The exact force of these tenses is still
highly debated. One of them,
the present tense, especially has become
the object of recent inquiry
and discussion. This paper shall concen-
trate on that single tense, the
present indicative.
The Importance of Tense
in Exegesis
The Bible student has a special interest in Greek exegesis.
The
New Testament in Greek is God's
last direct revelation to His people,
inspired and inerrant. Each
word reflects the meaning that God intended.
1 For the few possible NT
examples of the non-periphrastic future
perfect,
see A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the
Greek New Testament in the
Light of Historical
Research
(hereinafter referred to as Grammar;
Broadman
Press, 1934), pp. 906-07.
2 Ibid., p. 822: "In the beginning the verb-root was used with
personal
suffixes. At first this was enough. Some verbs developed some
tenses, others other tenses,
some few all the tenses."
2
Whatever meaning can be
extracted from a passage's syntax will be true,
useful, and profitable (2 Tim.
3:16).
The exegesis of the tenses stands at
the center of such study.
No element of the Greek language is of more
importance to the student
of the New Testament than the matter of
tense. . . . Though it is an
intricate nd difficult subject, no phase of
Greek grammar offers a
fuller reward. The benefits are to be reaped
only when one has invested
sufficient time and diligence to obtain an
insight into the idiomatic
use of tense in the Greek language and an
appreciation of the finer
distinctions in force.1
This attitude springs from the
conviction that the various authors selected
their tenses purposefully.
It is certainly unsafe, however, to proceed
upon any supposition other
than that he New Testament writer used the
tense which would convey
just the idea he wished to express. This is
the rule, and all seeming
exceptions are to be regarded with doubt.2
While ample provision must be
allowed for individual variations of style,
as this paper will demonstrate,
it should be assumed that each author em-
ployed tenses in accordance
with general usage and propriety.
Further, traditional grammarians have assumed that each
tense had
its own distinct usage and
force, and that one could not be switched with
another without changing the
flavor or even the meaning of the passage.
One hundred years ago Alexander
Buttmann defended the distinct meaning of
each tense:
In the use of the Tenses the N.T. writers
are by no means deficient
in the requisite skill. Consequently the
so-called Enallage Temporum
or Interchange of Tenses, which was applied
by some of the older inter-
preters of Scripture often and
indiscriminately, is to be opposed
1 H. E. Dana and Julius
R. Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek
New
Testament (hereinafter referred
to as Manual Grammar;
2 Ibid.
3
on behalf of the N.T. language at the
outset, and discarded on
principle.1
A. T. Robertson, with
characteristic care and caution and historical aware-
ness, likewise emphasizes the
unique aura of each tense: