The Infinitive Mood
INTRODUCTION | The Infinitive — A Verbal Noun
The infinitive mood in the Greek language has a dual nature, being used:
• As a verb: it expresses an action and possesses tense (aspect) and voice (e.g., John 1:33 — "He who sent me to baptize").
• As a noun: it can function as the subject or object of a sentence, often accompanied by the neuter definite article (τό, τοῦ, τῷ). In the New Testament, there are about 300 articular infinitives out of a total of nearly 2,300 occurrences.
Examples: "For to me, to live (τὸ ζῆν) is Christ" (Phil 1:21 — subject); "God works in you both to will and to work" (Phil 2:13 — objects).
Morphology: Forms of the Infinitive of λύω
The main characteristic of verbs in the Greek infinitive is the ending -ειν, -αι, -ναι, or -σθαι:
| Tense | Active Voice | Middle Voice | Passive Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | λύειν (to release) | λύεσθαι | λύεσθαι (to be released) |
| Aorist | λῦσαι (to release) | λύσασθαι | λυθῆναι (to be released) |
| Future | λύσειν | λύσεσθαι | λυθήσεσθαι |
| Perfect | λελυκέναι | λέλυσθαι | λέλυσθαι |
1. Liquid verbs (λ, μ, ν, ρ) form the active aorist infinitive without the sigma (e.g., κρίνω → κρῖναι).
2. The Aorist 2 changes the stem, but takes the same ending as the present infinitive (λαμβάνω → λαβεῖν in the active voice; ἐσθίω → φαγεῖν / φάγεσθαι; ἔρχομαι → ἐλθεῖν).
Syntax | Uses of the Infinitive
1. Complementing the idea initiated by another verb (Object):
• Οὐδεὶς δύναται δυσὶ κυρίοις δουλεύειν· (Matt 6:24) → "No one is able to serve two masters."
• ἤρξαντο λαλεῖν ἑτέραις γλώσσαις (Acts 2:4) → "they began to speak in other tongues."
2. In Indirect Discourse:
• λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ὑμεῖς δὲ τίνα με λέγετε εἶναι; (Matt 16:15) → "And you, who do you say that I am?"
• ἠρώτων αὐτὸν μεῖναι παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς· (John 4:40) → "they asked him to stay with them."
3. Expressing Purpose:
• ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὄρος προσεύξασθαι. (Luke 9:28) → "he went up on the mountain to pray."
• οὐκ ἦλθον καταλῦσαι ἀλλὰ πληρῶσαι. (Matt 5:17) → "I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill."
4. Expressing Result (often introduced by ὥστε):
• συνέρχεται πάλιν ὁ ὄχλος, ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι αὐτοὺς μηδὲ ἄρτον φαγεῖν. (Mark 3:20) → "the crowd gathers again, so that they were not even able to eat bread."
Articular Infinitive with a Preposition
| Construction | Syntactic Idea | Translation Tip and Example |
|---|---|---|
| πρὸ τοῦ + Infinitive | Time posterior (to the main verb) | “before...” — πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν (before you ask him — Matt 6:8) |
| μετὰ τό + Infinitive | Time anterior (to the main verb) | “after...” — μετὰ δὲ τὸ ἐγερθῆναί με (after I am raised — Matt 26:32) |
| ἐν τῷ + Infinitive | Simultaneous time (concomitant) | “while / when...” — ἐν τῷ σπείρειν (while sowing — Mark 4:4) |
| διὰ τό + Infinitive | Cause | “because / because of...” — διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν ῥίζαν (because it had no root — Mark 4:6) |
| εἰς τό / πρὸς τό + Inf. | Purpose | “to / for the purpose of...” — πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι αὐτοῖς (to be seen by them — Matt 6:1) |
When the subject of the infinitive verb is different from the subject of the main verb, the subject of the infinitive is in the ACCUSATIVE case:
• ἐπλήσθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ τεκεῖν αὐτήν (Luke 2:6) → "the days were fulfilled for her (αὐτήν) to give birth".
• δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆναι (John 20.9) → "it was necessary for him (αὐτόν) to rise from the dead".
When the subject is the same as that of the main clause, it remains in the Nominative (e.g., John 5:18 — ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἀποκτεῖναι = "The Jews were seeking to kill him").
Vocabulary
Vocabulário do Capítulo
- διώκω: I persecute; I pursue
- ἐργάζομαι: I work; I operate; I do
- θεραπεύω: I heal
- οἰκοδομέω: I build, I edify
- παραλαμβάνω: I receive, I take along with me
- πείθω: I persuade, I convince
- προσκυνέω: I worship; I bow down
- ἀνάστασις (ἀναστάσεως), ἡ: resurrection
- γενεά (γενεᾶς), ἡ: generation
- ἱμάτιον (ἱματίου), τό: garment, cloak
- σωτηρία (σωτηρίας), ἡ: salvation
- φόβος (φόβου), ὁ: fear, dread
- καινός, καινή, καινόν: new
- λοιπός, λοιπή, λοιπόν: remaining, rest; finally
- μέσος, μέση, μέσον: middle; in the midst of
ἐμοὶ γὰρ τὸ ζῆν Χριστὸς καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος
(For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain — Philippians 1:21)