Tenses

5.2. Tenses
The tenses in Greek are Present, Imperfect, Perfect, Pluperfect, Aorist, and Future. These tenses need special attention. Greek tenses have two connotations: aspect and time. The aspect refers to the type of action. There are three types of action: continuing (present and imperfect), undefined (aorist and future) and completed (perfect and pluperfect).
The present and the aorist appear the most in the New Testament. The following table is a graphic presentation of the appearance of the tenses in the New Testament.
Tenses in the New Testament|
Tense|Percentage|
Aorist|41.2%|
Present|41.1%|
Imperfect|6.0%|
Future|5.8%|
Perfect|5.6%|
Pluperfect|0.3%|
If you want to study the form and function of Greek tenses, you should pay a lot of attention to the present and the aorist. They represent 82.3% of all the tenses in the New Testament.
The important question for us at this time is: what do these tenses mean? Their morphology is not discussed here, because just like the nouns, TW and ES will analyse the verb for you.
5.2.1. Matthew 7:7
Let us start with the present tense. Its meaning is illustrated by two examples from the New Testament. The present is used of action in progress, or of an event that repeatedly happens. A good example of this is Matthew 7:7:
αιτειτεG154 G5720 ASK…
ζητειτεG2212 G5720 SEEK…
κρουετεG2925 G5720 KNOCK …
If you consult the morphological code, you will see that these verbs are in the present tense. They all have the following code: V-PAM-2P, which is the same as the Strong code G5720. This code is explained as follows:
Tense: Present
Voice: Active
Mood: iMperative
Person: 2nd
Number: Plural
The present tense here refers to an event that should be repeated. In other words, ‘keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking’. And, because the mood is imperative, it is a command to keep on asking. If Matthew was not thinking about repeated action, but just wanted to say ask, seek and knock, he would have used the aorist tense.
Robertson and Vincent did not comment on this verse. Let me quote from a modern grammar:
The force of the present imperatives is ‘Ask repeatedly, over and over again . . . seek repeatedly . . . knock continuously, over and over again’ (Wallace 1996:521).

5.2.2. 1 John 3:9
A problem in 1 John 3:9 can be solved by understanding the Greek tense behind the word. The KJV reads: ‘Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin’. Is this verse saying that Christians do not sin? Some have interpreted the verse to mean that. Which Greek tense did John use in the phrase: αμαρτιαν ου ποιει (harmartian ou poiei)? The verb in this phrase is ποιει G4160 V-PAI-3S. The grammatical code can be explained as follows:
Tense: Present
Voice: Active
Mood: Indicative
Person: third
Number: Singular
The V at the beginning of the code indicates that the word is a verb. The verb is in the present tense. This is what Robertson said about this phrase: ‘Linear present active indicative as in verse 4 like αμαρτανε in verse 8. The child of God does not have the habit of sin.’
In the second part of the verse he suggested the following translation: The present active infinitive αμαρτανειν can only mean ‘and he cannot go on sinning’. John made a very bold statement here. A believer does not have the habit of sinning; he cannot go on sinning. He does sin, but that is not his habit. The NIV brought this out clearly in its translation.
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
The aorist is the most frequently occurring tense in the NT. Because of the different forms it can take, it is divided into aorist I and aorist II. They both mean the same thing. TW and ES will indicate the difference. Burton (§ 35), said the following about the aorist.
The constant characteristic of the Aorist tense in all of its moods, including the participle, is that it represents the action denoted by it indefinitely; i.e. simply as an event, neither on the one hand picturing it in progress, nor on the other affirming the existence of its result.

5.2.3. John 1:21
In John 1:21 the priest and Levites who were sent from Jerusalem asked John who he was. The Greek word for ‘they asked’ is ηρωτησαν (ērōtēsan) G2065G5656V-AAI-3PTHEY ASKED. This grammatical code is explained as follows:
Tense: Aorist
Voice: Active
Mood: Indicative
Person: third
Number: Plural
It was a simple question, not referring to a repeated action.
5.2.4. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.
The aorist and the perfect tense are used in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.
απεθανεν (apethanen)G599 G5627 DIED V-2AAI-3S
εταφη (etaphe)G2290 G5648 HE WAS BURIED V-2API-3S
εγηγερται (egegertai) G1453 G5769 HE WAS RAISED V-RPI-3S
The first two verbs are in the aorist tense and the third is in the perfect tense. The aorist does not focus on the duration of the events or the results afterwards. Its focus is on the fact that the thing happened. Christ died as a fact, and he was buried as a fact. These are undeniable facts of the gospel. The next phrase is in the perfect tense. Paul did not just want to speak about the resurrection as an event that took place, as a fact. He wanted to emphasise the lasting results of it. He therefore used the perfect tense. Christ died as a fact, He was buried as a fact; however, He is raised with lasting results; He will never die again.
5.2.5. Acts 19:18
In Acts 19:18 there is an interesting account; a group of people who believed and came forward to confess to their deeds. I wonder when they believed. Had they just accepted the good news and become believers, or did they start believing some time ago? The Greek text reads:
των T-GPM πεπιστευκοτων V-RAP-GPM(ton pepisteukoton) ‘Those who believe’. The verb is a (RAP) peRfectum, Active, Participle. Robertson and Vincent did not comment on this verse. This phrase is translated as follows:
Those who had believed (Acts 19:18 NET).
Many that believed (Acts 19:18 KJV).
Those who were now believers (Acts 19:18 ESV).
Many who became believers (Acts 19:18 NLT).
The perfect here is explained by one commentator as follows:
‘Believers’, absolutely, cf. 18:27, 21:20, 21:25. They had embraced Christianity but had not hitherto given up their evil practices (Page 1886:206).
It means that just like many Christians in our day, they continued with their evil practices after they had become believers. Luke did not use an aorist here to indicate the fact that they were believers. He used a perfect tense, to refer to those who had believed and were still believing.
The next word in the verse is ηρχοντο (ērxonto)V-INI-3P‘came’. Robertson commented on this word. According to him, the Imperfect tense should be understood as, ‘kept coming, one after another’.
This basic introduction will not explain the detail of Greek tenses. It serves as an introduction to the differences between Greek and English grammar. Scholars also differ in the way they explain the meaning of the tenses. My advice is; always check with an authority in the field. A modern grammar that is helpful for interpreters is the one by Daniel Wallace (1996).