Verb – Non-finite μι-verbs

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The semantics of the phrase εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω
• The morphology of -μι verbs as participles, subjunctives, imperatives, and infinitives

VocabularyVocabulary

Noteεἰς τὰ ὀπίσω

The phrase εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω means ‘backwards’ or ‘behind a person’ and is used with verbs that refer to looking, turning, or returning to a place. Luke 9:62 describes the worker who is not fit for the kingdom if he looks back (βλέπων εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω), meaning he looks behind himself. In John 6:66, many of Jesus’s disciples are described as having gone back (ἀπῆλθον εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω), meaning that they went back home and stopped following him.

NoteSubjunctive

• Remember: the reduplication in Luo -μι verbs disappears in the Aorist (see 21.1.3.1)
• There is no theme vowel (see 23.1.3.1)

NoteParticiple

• The Luo and Aorist ptcps have the shorter form of the stem (e.g. δί δο μεν rather than δί δω μι), but this is lengthened in the nom (e.g. δού ς rather than δό ς)
• The Perfect ptcps have regular endings and reduplication

NoteImperatives and infinitives

• The impv and inf forms also use the shorter stem (e.g. δο, not δω)
• The Aorist sg form attaches -σ to the stem, while the Luo has reduplication and -ε (which contracts with the final vowel)
• The Luo act inf ends in -ναι, and the Aorist ends in -εναι
• The Aorist psv forms are regular