Chapter 18
Pluperfect (Indicative Mood)
The pluperfect (existing only in the indicative mood) portrays the “past of the past”: an action completed in the past whose results were present at a time also in the past. It is the rarest tense in the New Testament (86 occurrences).
Morphology: Pluperfect of λύω
Characteristics: 1. Reduplication (as in the perfect); 2. Augment (ἐ-, sometimes omitted in Koiné); 3. Diphthong -ει- in the active voice before the personal endings:
| Person | Active Voice | Translation (Active) | Middle/Passive Voice | Translation (Passive) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg | (ἐ)λελύκειν | I had loosed | (ἐ)λελύμην | I had been loosed |
| 2nd sg | (ἐ)λελύκεις | you had loosed | (ἐ)λέλυσο | you had been loosed |
| 3rd sg | (ἐ)λελύκει | he/she/it had loosed | (ἐ)λέλυτο | he had been loosed |
| 1st pl | (ἐ)λελύκειμεν | we had loosed | (ἐ)λελύμεθα | we had been loosed |
| 2nd pl | (ἐ)λελύκειτε | you had loosed | (ἐ)λέλυσθε | you had been loosed |
| 3rd pl | (ἐ)λελύκεισαν | they had loosed | (ἐ)λέλυντο | they had been loosed |
The Two Most Frequent Verbs in the Pluperfect: οἶδα and ἵστημι
Since οἶδα is a perfect with a present meaning (“I know”), its pluperfect has an imperfect meaning (“I knew” — 33x in the NT). The same occurs with ἵστημι (in the pluperfect = “I was standing / had stood” — 14x in the NT):
| Person | Verb οἶδα (I knew) | Verb ἵστημι (I was standing) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg | ᾔδειν | εἱστήκειν |
| 2nd sg | ᾔδεις | εἱστήκεις |
| 3rd sg | ᾔδει | εἱστήκει |
| 1st pl | ᾔδειμεν | εἱστήκειμεν |
| 2nd pl | ᾔδειτε | εἱστήκειτε |
| 3rd pl | ᾔδεισαν | εἱστήκεισαν |
Vocabulary
Vocabulário do Capítulo
- ἀποκτείνω: I kill
- δέχομαι: I receive, I welcome
- ἐρῶ: I will speak, I will say (future of λέγω)
- γλῶσσα (γλώσσης), ἡ: tongue, language
- ἐπαγγελία (ἐπαγγελίας), ἡ: promise
- καρπός (καρποῦ), ὁ: fruit
- ὄρος (ὄρους), τό: mountain, hill
- πρόσωπον (προσώπου), τό: face, countenance
- σημεῖον (σημείου), τό: sign, miracle
- ἑαυτοῦ, ἑαυτῆς, ἑαυτοῦ: of/to oneself (reflexive pronoun)
- μηδείς, μηδεμία, μηδέν: no one, nothing, no
- δεξιός, δεξιά, δεξιόν: right (side)
- πιστός, πιστή, πιστόν: believing, faithful
- πονηρός, πονηρά, πονηρόν: evil, bad, wicked
- πρεσβύτερος, -α, -ον: elder, presbyter; older
Memory Verse
παρέθεντο αὐτοὺς τῷ κυρίῳ εἰς ὃν πεπιστεύκεισαν
(they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed — Acts 14:23b)