Verb – Aorist optative

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The forms of the Aorist optative paradigm
• The use of the optative in independent clauses

VocabularyVocabulary

MorphologyMorphology: Verb – Aorist optative

• Reminder: the sign of the opt is οι
• The endings of the thematic Aorist opt verbs are identical to the Luo opt forms

• The psv forms are made by combining the verbal stem + θ + Luo opt εἰμί (see 47.3.3.1). There are only three psv Aorist opt forms in the NT, all of which are 3s: τηρηθείη, λογισθείη, πληθυνθείη (3x).
• Verbs with the other person and number possibilities are found in the LXX and would be λογισθείην (1s), λογισθείης (2s), λογισθείημεν (1p), λογισθείητε (2p), λογισθείησαν (3p).
• The sigmatic Aorist opt forms are made by replacing οι with σαι and adding the appropriate endings. The following act forms are found in the NT: 3s—πληρώσαι, κατευθύναι, πλεονάσαι, περισσεύσαι, ἁγιάσαι, παρακαλέσαι, στηρίξαι, καταρτίσαι, ἐπιτιμήσαι and 3p–ποιήσαιεν, ψηλαφήσειαν. The mid forms, both 1s, are: εὐξαίμην, ὀναίημην.
• The only -μι verb found is δίδωμι, which is δῴη (3s).

SyntaxSyntax-Semantics: Verb – Optative (independent clauses)

Like the subjunctive, the optative can also be used in independent clauses with various functions. It is regularly used to express a wish of the speaker:

The optative in and of itself says nothing about the content of the wish, which may be positive (Rom 15:13), negative (Acts 8:20), or neutral (as in Luke 1:38 above).

The most common phrase found with the optative is μὴ γένοιτο, often translated ‘by no means’ or something to that effect. It is used as an exclamation that there is no way something is true:

The rhetorical question that begins Rom 7:13 is answered by Paul with the negative exclamatory in order to express that there is no way the answer is yes. Since the negation of a possibility is a stronger way to express negation, the optative may also be used in negative sentences to refer to a strong prohibition:

Jesus’s statement is more than a mere wish. In fact, Peter explicitly says that Jesus ‘cursed’ (καταράομαι) the fig tree (Mark 11:21), and the curse was effective enough to make the fig tree wither by the next morning. Whenever the speaker is making an implicit appeal to someone to carry out his or her wish, the optative is indeed interpreted as a wish, but when the speaker’s words carry authority, negative sentences with the optative become closer to true prohibitions.