NT Greek Question: Aorist Passive Infinitives

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Yunus39
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NT Greek Question: Aorist Passive Infinitives

Postby Yunus39 » Sun Oct 23, 2022 7:24 am

Hey all,

2 Thessalonians 1:5 in modern English translations almost always translates καταξιωθῆναι as some future form, but it's an aorist passive infinitive.

Translate 1.5:

ἔνδειγμα τῆς δικαίας κρίσεως τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς τὸ καταξιωθῆναι ὑμᾶς τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἧς καὶ

I would like to translate it more literally as "to be counted" but that's quite difficult to do and still have comprehensible English. I also don't own a grammar that goes into aorist passive infinitives in any depth.

Anyone have thoughts on translating this and reasoning for translating it one way or another? Can you point me to a grammar that covers different uses of the aorist passive infinitive?

Other examples of aorist passive infinitives I found in the NT:
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/luke/12-50.htm
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/3-14.htm
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Re: NT Greek Question: Aorist Passive Infinitives

Postby Yunus39 » Wed Oct 26, 2022 4:09 am

What I have found so far on this:

The infinitive aorist καταξιωθῆναι expresses the verbal idea simply, without any regard to time. See Kühner, II. p. 80.


From Meyer's Critical and Exegetical Guide: 2 Thessalonians 1 - Meyer's Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament - Bible Commentaries - StudyLight.org

He goes on to say that we have to move on to logic and theology to interpret the verbal idea and makes a case for future citing a string of past commentators.

Kuhner's Vol 2 grammar in English can be found here: https://ia902604.us.archive.org/19/item ... lfgoog.pdf
but Meyer seems to be quoting the German edition, and I have not been able to locate the section on aorist passive infinitives.

Fee's NICNT commentary argues it's a past/present/future truth.

I also found a modern (though admittedly oddball) translation that has a different take:

5A clear indication of the justice of God’s judgment in finding you worthy of God’s Kingdom (on behalf of which you also suffer),


David Bentley Hart. The New Testament (p. 411). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
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Re: NT Greek Question: Aorist Passive Infinitives

Postby Beli Tsar » Wed Oct 26, 2022 12:28 pm

Sorry for a brief reply - I lost an earlier longer one due to PC problems - but a brief note here:

1. The aorist is not marked for time, except in the indicative. It indicates only aspect: see any more recent grammar; Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics would be fairly standard. Aspect-wise, it indicates an outside view of the action as a complete action, unlike the present and the imperfect. Therefore, in any use of the aorist that isn't indicative, you have to make a call as to whether it is being used in the past or future or whatever based on other contextual clues or on logic, as the translators you quote have done.

2. Translation here has to be based on the syntax - this is a purpose clause: εἰς τὸ καταξιωθῆναι, and in these clauses the infinitive indicates the purpose being talked about, in this case, 'to be counted worthy' or similar. i.e. a neutral translation would give 'so that you may be considered/counted worthy'.

3. From a quick check, the main English translations don't actually settle on the future here. The NIV does, and the NIV is notable for being happy to add a bit more interpretation in translation. It's a great translation, and generally makes the right call, but for exactly that reason, perhaps not ideal for checking your own translations. It's not alone (e.g the CSB) but from the KJV on, the neutral translation I give above, or something like it, is usual - and you can see it in modern but more wooden translations like the ESV and the Lexham. I personally prefer using the Lexham for translation, since it's really quite wooden. Indeed, the neutral translation is also used cross-denominationally (see the Catholic Douay-Rheims) and by the one recent leading commentator I've had time to check (Wanamaker). Further - and I'd give this weight - it seems to be the sense given by Chrysostom, who as a native Greek speaker near in time to the original, ought to know.

In short, I can see why you don't like the future here. It's definitely a legitimate option, but perhaps not the best one.
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Re: NT Greek Question: Aorist Passive Infinitives

Postby Yunus39 » Thu Oct 27, 2022 3:02 am

Thanks Beli, that was great!

1. Noted! It's a well-known fallacy to claim the aorist is always past, but I do wish I could find a grammar that addresses aorist passive infinitives directly in some depth (Wallace's hefty tome doesn't go in depth on it).

2. That's helpful.

3. The Lexham is also my favorite.

What do you think about translating it in the past tense? A friend of mine gave:

This [is] evidence of the righteous judgment of God. As a result you have been counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which you are suffering.
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Re: NT Greek Question: Aorist Passive Infinitives

Postby Beli Tsar » Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:46 am

Yunus39 wrote:Thanks Beli, that was great!

1. Noted! It's a well-known fallacy to claim the aorist is always past, but I do wish I could find a grammar that addresses aorist passive infinitives directly in some depth (Wallace's hefty tome doesn't go in depth on it).

Yes; unfortunately I can’t see anything in my own small collection that does that. Perhaps the place to look would be Roberston’s 'A Grammar of the Greek New Testament'? Or a solid grammar of Attic, rather than of Koine? The best bet would probably be to ask the question again on the Texkit forum, or the ‘Nerdy Biblical Language Majors’ Facebook Group, if you haven’t already.

That said, I’m not convinced that it would be that helpful to study this particular form, at least in this case. The aorist is the default, unmarked tense outside the indicative, so it’s what you’d expect; the passive is clearly passive because of the meaning - the whole point is that it’s someone else counting them worthy. And it’s an infinitive because that’s what goes in an ‘εἰς τὸ’ clause. In other words there doesn't seem to be anything surprising or unusual or needing further explanation.

Decker, for instance, says that when an infinitive is preceded by a preposition, the meaning is more idiomatic and less obviously dictated by morphology:
When an infinitive is preceded by a preposition, there are specific, idiomatic nuances of meaning that a Greek speaker/writer assumes.
(Rodney Decker, Reading Koine Greek)

In other words, ignore the morphological details in themselves and concentrate on the use of this form in this particular use. Similarly, Decker also gives examples of aorist passive infinitives without prepositions used as simple purpose clauses (e.g. Luke 3:12).

You might get more value here from looking up things on infinitives in general and on purpose clauses, simply since there is nothing really remarkable/unusual/special about the aorist and passive part of things.

Yunus39 wrote:What do you think about translating it in the past tense? A friend of mine gave:

This [is] evidence of the righteous judgment of God. As a result you have been counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which you are suffering.

Good question. It’s clearly a possible translation - if the aorist is unmarked for tense, then if you think the context demands it, then it’s feasible. Further, it makes total sense in the broader context of Paul’s own writings in other places (and beyond, of course). So it would be hard to say that it was wrong. I admit I like it more than the future reading - not that anyone cares about what I like!

2 Thessalonians is quite a hard little book. And that context is important - verse 11 in particular:
εἰς ὃ καὶ προσευχόμεθα πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν, ἵνα ὑμᾶς ἀξιώσῃ τῆς κλήσεως ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν
for which purpose we also pray always for you, that you may be counted worthy of the calling of our God

One question worth more investigation would be whether there is a deliberate past-present-future interplay going on, a deliberate tension, through the letter. It has notes both of absolute confidence - as in verse 5, where he’s saying you’ve given proof that you are/have been counted worthy, and again in 2:13; and notes of the need to continue to demonstrate that by holding on: show, by holding on, that you really are the real deal… of which 1:11 is an example.

My basic instinct is to avoid the past tense - if it’s unmarked, then we don’t want either to force attention on a feature that isn’t actually present in the original Greek. This would argue against the future too, of course. Certainly it could be a problem in a public translation - it's too easy to imagine people putting great significance on ‘this says we already have been counted, so this is something that has already happened’... and so on. It also makes life awkward for anyone who does know Greek and disagrees with you who is teaching the text!

In general, adding information to the Greek is just something I’d always avoid if possible. A neutral reading lets the reader work it out for themselves.

In this particular case… the very hardness of the book would make me even more wary of adding information and over-interpreting. If Paul’s making a point, I wouldn’t want to obscure it, nor to prevent others from working it out for themselves.
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Re: NT Greek Question: Aorist Passive Infinitives

Postby Yunus39 » Thu Oct 27, 2022 1:51 pm

Super helpful. Thank you!
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