Verb – Passive: all parts

SyntaxSyntax-Semantics: Verb – Passive (1 – Subject affected)

While we have said that voice is a syntactic category and not a semantic one, the passive voice does still correlate with certain meanings. Objects in active sentences are often affected by the event of the verb in some way, so subjects in passive sentences (which are the original objects in the active sentence) are also normally affected by the event of the verb. This is why the passive voice is called “passive” – the subject is passive in the sentence. While the subject is not always truly passive, it is indeed almost always affected in some way.

The active verb λύω normally takes a subject that is actively untying something, and the object is the thing that is untied. In the passive, the thing untied (that is, the thing affected) becomes the grammatical subject, the ‘bond of his tongue’ in the below example:

fromLesson 17.1: Verb – Aorist passive singular

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Passive (2 – Change of state)

When we introduced the passive, we said that the subject is affected by the action of the verb in some way, but this is a very broad criterion. One specific way the subject could be affected is by entering a new state. The contrast between the two verbs of sleeping καθεύδω and ἐκοιμήθην exemplify this. While the former refers to the state of being asleep, the latter normally refers to falling asleep, and it is commonly used as a euphemism for dying:

fromLesson 18.1: Verb – Aorist passive plural

SyntaxSyntax: Verb – Passive (3 – Double accusatives)

We have noted that some verbs, like ποτίζω and διδάσκω, can take two accusative arguments, a recipient and a theme (the thing that the recipient is receiving) (20.1.3.2). When these verbs are passivized, it should in theory be possible to have either the recipient or the theme become the subject, but in practice, it is almost always the recipient:

The one who gave the drink is not expressed in the clause because it would be the subject in the active verb ποτίζω. The recipient would be ‘us’, and this becomes the subject. The second accusative, the ‘drink’ given (which is here metaphorically represented by ἕν πνεῦμα) remains in the accusative, so this is a rare case of a passive verb with an accusative object.

fromLesson 35.2: Verb – Aorist passive subjunctive

SyntaxSyntax: Verb – Passive (4 – Agents; 5 – Causers)

Remember, passive verbs suppress the original subject in an active verb and turn the object into the new subject. So where does the original subject go when a passive verb is used? Under the standard analysis of the passive, it is not deleted – it just isn’t expressed, and it can be added back in. The preposition used to reintroduce the argument depends on the argument’s role in the eventuality and the nature of the eventuality the verb refers to. Some verbs, for example, might not allow an agent in the passive because there is no agent in the active. At other times, a verb allows for both agents and causers, and the difference between the two might be exegetically significant. Agents are expressed with ὑπό:

• (367) Agent of passive verb introduced with ὑπό πειραζόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ σατανᾶ (Mark 1:13)
• Being tempted by the Satan

In this context, Satan was speaking to Jesus and telling him to do certain things; in other words, he was actively engaged in tempting Jesus, i.e. he was an agent. In contrast, the preposition ἀπό introduces causers. A causer is not an active participant in the event, though it is necessary for the event to take place. The verb πειράζομαι may also have a causer argument reintroduced:

James says this is what we should not say. The difference in preposition is significant here. James is not speaking about God being a potential agent of temptation as Satan was to Jesus. That option is not on the table. We might think, though, that God is a cause of our temptation even though he is not an agent, but James’s argument is that he is not even a cause.

fromLesson 37.1: Verb – α-contract (lengthening)