The book of Revelation is well-known for its grammatical infelicities. More specifically, Revelation exhibits apparently an `odd' use of Greek verb tenses. Most attempts to describe this `odd' use of verb tenses start with the assumption that Greek verb tenses are primarily temporal in meaning. In order to explain Revelation's apparent violation of these temporal values, scholars have proposed some level of semitic influence from the Hebrew tense system as making sense of this `strange' use of tenses. However, recent research into verbal aspect, which calls into question this temporal orientation, and suggests that Greek verb tenses grammaticalize aspect and not time, has opened up new avenues for explaining the Greek verb tense usage in Revelation. This book applies verbal aspect theory to tense usage in Revelation and focuses on how the tenses, as communicating verbal aspect, function within sections of Revelation.
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| The Challenge of Revelation's Language | p. 1 |
| The Problem of Verb Tenses | p. 3 |
| Summary | p. 14 |
| Method and Approach | p. 16 |
| Verbal Aspect Theory | p. 19 |
| Verbal Aspect | p. 19 |
| Defining the Aspects | p. 29 |
| Summary | p. 39 |
| Aspect and Discourse Analysis | p. 40 |
| Aspect and the Genre of Revelation | p. 45 |
| Conclusion | p. 46 |
| Verbal Aspect in Revelation | p. 49 |
| Introduction | p. 49 |
| The Major Greek Tenses in Revelation | p. 51 |
| The Aorist Tense | p. 51 |
| The Present Tense | p. 66 |
| The Imperfect Tense | p. 89 |
| The Perfect Tense | p. 91 |
| The Future Tense | p. 108 |
| Conclusion | p. 114 |
| Shifting Tenses in the Apocalypse | p. 117 |
| Introduction | p. 117 |
| Analysis of Selected Texts | p. 123 |
| Revelation 5 | p. 123 |
| Revelation 7.9-17 | p. 129 |
| Revelation 9 | p. 134 |
| Revelation 11.1-13 | p. 137 |
| Revelation 12-13 | p. 143 |
| Revelation 17.1-18 | p. 150 |
| Revelation 18.4-20 | p. 154 |
| Revelation 19.11-21 | p. 158 |
| Summary | p. 162 |
| Other New Testament Texts | p. 164 |
| Extra-Biblical Texts | p. 166 |
| Conclusion | p. 169 |
| Conclusion: Verbal Aspect and the Nature of Revelation's Greek | p. 173 |
| Bibliography | p. 183 |
| Author Index | p. 193 |
| Reference Index | p. 197 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9789004186682
ISBN-10: 9004186689
Series: Linguistic Biblical Studies
Audience:
General
Format:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 204
Published: 26th July 2010
Publisher: BRILL ACADEMIC PUB
Dimensions (cm): 24.638 x 16.51
x 1.524
Weight (kg): 0.499