Biblical Concept: The Koine Greek Verbal System

Introduction:  Biblical Greek verbs have: mood, tense, voice, person, and number.

Mood: Mood is that quality of Greek verbs that indicates the relation of the action to reality, in the mind of the speaker.

• Indicative Mood: The mood of reality or certainty.
• Subjunctive Mood: The mood of probability or potential.
• Optative Mood: The mood of possibility or contingency.
• Imperative Mood: The mood of command or entreaty.

Tense: Tense is that quality of a verb which has to do with action. The action is expressed concerning the kind of action and time of the action.

• Present Tense: The tense of progressive action in present time.
• Imperfect Tense: The tense of progressive action in past time.
• Future Tense: The tense of progressive or punctiliar action at a future      time.
• Aorist Tense: The tense of punctiliar action in past time.
• Perfect Tense: The tense of completed action, with existing results, in   present time.
• Pluperfect Tense: The tense of completed action, with existing results, in past time.

Voice: Biblical Greek has active, middle, and passive voices.

• Active Voice: The subject produces the action of the verb.
• Middle Voice: The subject produces (a stress on agency) and participates (sometimes) in the action of the verb.
• Passive Voice: The subject receives the action of the verb.

Person and number: Biblical Greek has a first, second, or third person.  These three are used in the singular or plural.

Note: Biblical Greek has two other verbal forms, the infinitive and the participle.  The infinitive is a verbal noun and the participle is a verbal adjective.  The infinitive is usually related to a main verb while the participle is usually related to the subject or object.  There are many adverbial participles, however.

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