Conjunction – ὅτε ‘when’

ObjectivesLearning objectives

The syntax and semantics of ὅτε ‘when’ (not to be confused with ὅτι ‘because, that’)

VocabularyVocabulary

Greek	Gloss	Part of speech	Paradigm
ὁ ἐνιαυτός, -οῦ	the year	noun	B.a.β.i
ὁ θησαυρός, -οῦ	the treasure	noun	B.a.β.i
ὁ κόπος, -ου	the hard work	noun	B.a.β.i
θεραπεύω σε	(I) heal you (acc)	verb	C.a.α
τοῦτ’ ἔστιν	which means	phrase
ὁ Ἰουδαῖος, -ου	the Judean	noun	B.a.β.i

SyntaxSyntax: Conjunction – ὅτε

Just like the conjunction ὅτι, ὅτε ‘when’ also introduces a subordinate clause. It is most commonly found with an Aorist verb after it, though you will occasionally see it preceding an Eluon verb as well. It is not used with the future under ordinary circumstances. The one exception is when it is modifying a noun that refers to a particular time. For example, a phrase like ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὅτε (Rom 2:16), where the ὅτε introduces a subordinate clause that modifies the noun ἡμέρᾳ, may be followed by a Luso verb when the event being described is in the future.

SemanticsSemantics: Conjunction – ὅτε

The basic meaning of the conjunction ὅτε is to introduce a time that is related to another time. These times are usually the times when events take place. In other words, the conjunction relates two different times and says that there is overlap between those two times. Overlapping times are two times that share a value, such as an interval of time like 2–3 pm and a point of time within that interval like 2:45 pm. More concretely, if Brad was driving from 2–3 pm and his 12 kids all got car sick at 2:45 pm, there is (unfortunately for Brad) temporal overlap between these two events. Thus, we can say Brad’s 12 kids got carsick when he was driving. The nature of the verb, particularly its aspectual value, will determine the relationship between the two times.

When ὅτε is followed by an Aorist, the time being referred to is normally immediately after the end of the event represented by the Aorist that goes with ὅτε. In this case, the temporal overlap is between the end of the first event and the beginning of the second event:

Example 132One event happens immediately after another event

ὅτε δὲ ἤγγισεν ὁ καιρὸς τῶν καρπῶν, ἀπέστειλεν τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς γεωργοὺς (Matt 21:34)

But when the time of the fruits arrived, he sent his slaves to the farmers

The word ὅτε relates the time of the first event, the ‘time of the fruits’ or ‘harvest-time,’ to the next event of the owner sending his servants to the farmers. In other words, just after the harvest-time came, the slaves were sent.

The second interpretation of ὅτε is commonly found with the Eluon form where it refers to a time period in which an event takes place:

Example 133Time period in which an event happens

ὅτε ἦν ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ [when he (Jesus) was in Galilee] some women followed him and ministered to him (Mark 15:41)

The state of Jesus being in Galilee continues to hold while these women followed him and ministered to him. Instead of the event coming to an end and the next event taking place as we saw with ὅτε + Aorist, ὅτε + Eluon normally refers to an eventuality that temporally overlaps with another eventuality (like Brad’s driving and his kids getting sick). This follows from the nature of the Aorist and Eluon. When ὅτε relates an eventuality with an endpoint (an Aorist verb) to another eventuality, the two eventualities are interpreted in succession because the Aorist eventuality has ended. However, when ὅτε relates an eventuality without an endpoint (an Eluon verb) to another eventuality, the two eventualities are interpreted as overlapping because the Eluon eventuality has not ended.

End of Chapter 15Take the Chapter 15 exam10 questions covering all 4 lessons in this chapter

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