Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν

Meaning ὁ λόγος

The 1st aorist expresses a simple past event.

1st Aorist Verbs It is called first aorist because it is the first of two
main patterns for aorist forms.
Chapter 11
Aorist Tense “I loosed”

Imperfect Tense “I was loosing”

ἀόριστος),
ἀόριστος meaning
The word “aorist” is from Greek (ἀόριστος
“without boundaries,” or “not defined.”

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Meaning ὁ λόγος Meaning ὁ λόγος

1. Constative Aorist 2. Inceptive Aorist

Presents the action as a whole without regard to its beginning or end, Emphasizes the beginning of a state or action.
or the length of time it took to accomplish the action.

ἐδάκρυσεν)
ἐδάκρυσεν
“Jesus began to weep (ἐδάκρυσεν
ἐβασίλευσεν)
ἐβασίλευσεν from Adam
“Death reigned (ἐβασίλευσεν
(John 11:35).
until Moses” (Rom 5:14).

The reign of death extended over a long period of time, but by The aorist form alone communicates the inception of the state.
using the aorist verb, the action is summarized as a whole. Words like “begin to” or “came to” are not always needed in Greek.

Active λύω
Present
M/P λύοµαι
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Meaning ὁ λόγος
Active ἔλυο
ἔλυ ον
Imperfect
M/P ἐλυόµ
ἐλυόµην
3. Epistolary Aorist

Active λύσ
λύ σω
Used in epistles where the author writes from the perspective of the
readers (past) although he is currently writing or sending the letter Future Middle λύσ
λύσοµαι
(present). It usually occurs with the verbs γράφω and πέµπω.
πέµπω Passive λυθήσοµαι
υθήσοµαι

Active ἔλυσα
ἔπεµψα)
ἔπεµψα [Tychicus] to you”
“I am sending (ἔπεµψα Middle ἐλυσάµ
υσάµην
άµην
Aorist
(Eph 6:22).
Passive ἐλύθην

1
 1st Aorist Active 1st Aorist Active
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Indicative ὁ λόγος
Indicative ὁ λόγος

λυσ λυσα
1. Stem 1. Stem
2. Connecting Vowel

1st Aorist Active 1st Aorist Active

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Indicative ὁ λόγος
Indicative ὁ λόγος

λυσαµεν ελυσαµεν
1. Stem 1. Stem
2. Connecting Vowel 2. Connecting Vowel
3. Personal Ending 3. Personal Ending
4. Augment

1st Aorist Active 1st Aorist Active

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Indicative ὁ λόγος
Indicative ὁ λόγος

Singular Plural

ἐλύσαµεν 1st Person ἔλυσα ἔλυσαµεν

1. Stem 2nd Person ἔλυσας ἔλυσατε
2. Connecting Vowel
3rd Person ἔλυσε(
σε(ν) ἔλυσαν
3. Personal Ending
The aorist has an augment and similar endings to the imperfect (except
4. Augment for the 1st per sg). Also, the 3rd per sg has no alpha variable vowel.

2
 1st Aorist Middle 1st Aorist Middle
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Indicative ὁ λόγος
Indicative ὁ λόγος

λυσ λυσα
1. Stem 1. Stem
2. Connecting Vowel

1st Aorist Middle 1st Aorist Middle

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Indicative ὁ λόγος
Indicative ὁ λόγος

λυσαµεθα ελυσαµεθα
1. Stem 1. Stem
2. Connecting Vowel 2. Connecting Vowel
3. Personal Ending 3. Personal Ending
4. Augment

1st Aorist Middle 1st Aorist Middle

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Indicative ὁ λόγος
Indicative ὁ λόγος

Singular Plural

ἐλυσάµεθα 1st Person ἐλυσάµην

άµην ἐλυσάµεθ
άµεθα
εθα
1. Stem 2nd Person ἐλύσω ἐλύσασθε
2. Connecting Vowel
3rd Person ἐλύσατο
σατο ἐλύσαντο
σαντο
3. Personal Ending
Notice: the 2nd person singular form has no alpha variable vowel.
4. Augment

3
 Aorist Passive Aorist Passive
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Indicative ὁ λόγος
Indicative ὁ λόγος

λυω ελυ
1. Augment
Start with
verb stem

Aorist Passive Aorist Passive

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Indicative ὁ λόγος
Indicative ὁ λόγος

ελυθη ελυθηµεν
1. Augment 1. Augment

2. Addition of θη after the stem 2. Addition of θη after the stem

3. Personal ending

Aorist Passive Aorist Passive

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Indicative ὁ λόγος
Indicative ὁ λόγος

Singular Plural

ἐλύθηµεν 1st Person ἐλύθην ἐλύθηµ

θηµεν
2nd Person ἐλύθης ἐλύθητε
1. Augment

2. Addition of θη after the stem 3rd Person ἐλύθη ἐλύθησαν

3. Personal ending

4
 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Morphology ὁ λόγος Morphology ὁ λόγος

Like the imperfect, the augment Augments and verbs beginning with vowels
communicates that the action is in the past
If a verb begins with a vowel, the vowel is lengthened
ἔλυον η) or an omega (ω
to an eta (η ω).
“I was loosing”

ἔλυσα “I loosed”
ἀκούω

ε + ακουσα

ἤκουσα
ἐρωτάω
ε + ερωτησα

ἠρώτησα
ἐθεράπευον “I was healing” ὁρίζω
ε + ορισα

ὥρισα
If the stem of the verb begins with the diphthong αι–, the alpha (α) lengthens to an
ἐθεράπευσεν “I healed” eta (η), causing the iota (ι) to become subscripted (αἰτεῖτε → ᾐτήσατε).

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Stem Variations ὁ λόγος Vocabulary ὁ λόγος

ἀναβαίνω,
ἀναβαίνω I go up, ascend (anabasis)
Dentals δ, ζ , θ, τ

σ (ἐδόξα
+σ ἐδόξασα)
ἐδόξασ
ἀπέρχοµαι,
ἀπέρχοµαι I go away, depart
Velars γ, κ, σκ/σσ, χ + σ
σκ/σσ,

ξ (ἐδίω
ἐδίωξα)
ἐδίωξ
ἀποθνῄσκω,
ἀποθνῄσκω I die (euthanasia)
βάλλω,
βάλλω I throw, cast out (ball, ballistic)
Labials πτ, φ + σ
π, β, πτ,

ψ (ἔβλε
ἔβλε α) ψ
εἰσέρχοµαι,
εἰσέρχοµαι I go in, enter
Contract verbs will usually lengthen the contract vowel: ἠγαπή
ἠγαπήθην

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Vocabulary ὁ λόγος Vocabulary ὁ λόγος

ἐκβάλλω,
ἐκβάλλω I drive/send out πίνω,
πίνω I drink
ἐσθίω,
ἐσθίω I eat πίπτω,
πίπτω I fall
ἐξέρχοµαι,
ἐξέρχοµαι I go out, depart, leave προσέρχοµαι,
προσέρχοµαι I go to, approach
εὑρίσκω,
εὑρίσκω I find, discover (heuristic, Eureka!) φέρω,
φέρω I bear, carry (metaphor)
καταβαίνω,
καταβαίνω I go down, descend ἐπαγγελία,
ἐπαγγελία ἡ, promise