Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν

Meaning ὁ λόγος

Present Tense-Form
Present Indicative
Progressive Present: Expresses an action that is in progress:
Verbs “all are looking for you,” πάντες ζητοῦσίν σε (Mark 1:37).

Chapter 5 Iterative Present: Describes an action that is performed repeatedly or

regularly or a state that is ongoing: “Everyone who abides in him does
not continue in sin,” πᾶς ὁ ἐν αὐτῷ µένων οὐχ ἁµαρτάνει (1 John 3:6).
Historical Present: Describes a past event (esp. verbs of speaking or motion),
possibly indicating a change in location or person: “and they came to him
bringing a paralytic,” καὶ ἔρχονται φέροντες πρὸς αὐτὸν παραλυτικὸν (Mark 2:3).

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Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Morphology ὁ λόγος
Morphology ὁ λόγος

λυ λυο
1. Stem 1. Stem

2. Connecting Vowel

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Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Morphology ὁ λόγος
Morphology ὁ λόγος

λυοµεν λύοµεν
1. Stem 1. Stem

2. Connecting Vowel 2. Connecting Vowel

3. Personal Ending 3. Personal Ending

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1
 Present Active Present Mid/Pass
Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Indicative ὁ λόγος
Indicative ὁ λόγος

Singular Plural Singular Plural

1st Person λύω λύοµεν 1st Person λύοµαι

οµαι λυόµεθα
εθα
2nd Person λύεις λύετε 2nd Person λύῃ λύεσθε
3rd Person λύει λύουσι(
ουσι(ν) 3rd Person λύεται λύονται
* This is called a “moveable nu” and is sometimes added when
the verb is the last word in a clause or sentence.

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Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Morphology ὁ λόγος Morphology ὁ λόγος

Regular Endings Mid/Pass Ending The stem can be determined from the lexical form
Person Sg Pl Sg Pl
Lexical Form Separate Ending Stem
οµαι -οµ
οµεθ
οµεθα
εθα
1st -ω
ω -οµεν
οµεν -οµ
οµαι ἀκούω  ἀκού
ω
 ἀκού
2nd -εις
εις -ετε
ετε -ῃῃ -εσθε
εσθε λέγω  γίν
οµαι 
λέγ
ω λέγ

-ουσι
ουσι(
ουσι(ν)
γίνοµαι
 ἔρχ
οµαι  γίν
3rd -ει
ει -εται
εται -οονται ἔρχοµαι
  ἔρχ

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Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Morphology ὁ λόγος The Connecting Vowel ὁ λόγος

Middle-only verbs The connecting vowel alternates

between epsilon (e) and omicron (o)

Active = λύω paradigm, “I am loosing”

λύ
ο
µεν
Lexical Form: λύω
λύω
Mid/Pass = λύοµαι
λύοµαι paradigm, “I am loosing λύ
ε
τε
for myself,” or “I am being loosed.”

Lexical Form: πορεύοµαι
πορεύοµαι
It is omicron (οο) before the letters µ and ν and epsilon (ε) before other
letters. In some forms (λύλύω, λύου
λύω λύουσιν
ουσιν,
σιν λύῃ
λύῃ) the connecting vowel has
 middle meaning only, “I am going”
been transformed by the ending.

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2
 Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν
The Connecting Vowel ὁ λόγος The Connecting Vowel ὁ λόγος

Regular Endings Mid/Pass Ending Why is the connecting vowel important?

Person Sg Pl Sg Pl
Noticing connecting vowels is important for
1st -ω
ω -οοµεν -οοµαι -οοµεθα
εθα determining the “mood” of the verb. In this chapter
all the verbs are in the “indicative” mood.
2nd -εεις -εετε -ῃῃ -εεσθε The indicative mood indicates a fact. The writer is
making an assertion that the action is a fact or is
3rd -εει -ουσι
ουσι(
ουσι(ν) -εεται -οονται asking a definite question.

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Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν
The Connecting Vowel ὁ λόγος Personal Endings ὁ λόγος

Romans 5:1 Connecting vowels and personal endings

“Therefore having been justified by faith
For our purposes, we can consider the
we have peace with God”
connecting vowel as part of the ending.

ἔχο
ἔχοµεν
 “we have”
ἔχω
ἔχωµεν  “let us have” Stem λυ οµεν Personal
Ending
ἔχο
ἔχοµεν is indicative and ἔχω
ἔχωµεν is subjunctive.

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Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Personal Endings ὁ λόγος
Parsing ὁ λόγος
Parsing = to provide all the information for a verb.
Personal Endings indicate who is doing the action
Lexical form Dictionary form (1st, Sg)

Remember: a separate personal pronoun is not Tense Pres [Imp, Fut, Aor, Pf, plupf]
required in Greek as in English. Voice Active, Middle, Passive
Mood Indicative [Subj, Impv, opt]
λύοµεν
λύοµεν  “we are loosing”
Person 1st (I/we), 2nd (you), 3rd (he/they)
Number Singular, Plural

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3
 Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Parsing ὁ λόγος
Crasis ὁ λόγος

Lexical form Tense Voice Mood Person Num Translation

Crasis: the merger of two words into one
λύω P A I 3rd Pl “They are
loosing”
λύουσιν
λύουσιν Sometimes the resulting word will keep its
breathing mark.
Lexical form Tense Voice Mood Person Num Translation

πορεύοµαι P M I 2nd Sg “You are καί + ἐγώ

 κἀγώ
going”
πορεύῃ
πορεύῃ
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Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Vocabulary ὁ λόγος Vocabulary ὁ λόγος

βαπτίζω,
βαπτίζω I baptize, immerse, dip ὄχλος,
ὄχλος ὁ, crowd
(baptize) προφήτης,
προφήτης ὁ, prophet (prophet)
θεραπεύω,
θεραπεύω I heal (therapeutic) γάρ,
γάρ for, because
κράζω,
κράζω I cry out ἐκεῖ,
ἐκεῖ there, in that place
ἄγγελος,
ἄγγελος ὁ, angel, messenger (angel) κἀγώ,
κἀγώ and I (καί + ἐγώ)
µαθητής
µαθητής,
θητής ὁ, disciple, follower
(mathematics)
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Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν
Vocabulary ὁ λόγος

οὖν,
οὖν then, so, therefore
οὕτως,
οὕτως in this manner, thus, so
τέ,
τέ and, but
οὐ,
οὐ οὐκ,
οὐκ οὐχ,
οὐχ no, not
οὐχί,
οὐχί no! (emphatic)

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