What is the supposed alternative Aorist Active Imperative for ἵστημι? -στα???

[Enoch]

The AAImp2S in BDAG is στῆθι, yet both Goetchius (The Language of the NT) & Jay (NT Greek) grammars say it is "στῆθι (-στα)".  I don't know what these grammarians mean by "(-στa)".

The hyphen is obtuse, as στῆθιστα violates a basic accent rule & neither it nor στηθιστα produced any hits when I searched with Accordance.  I could find not such -στa form in either BDAG or LSJ.  Does anybody have any explanation of the grammarians' claim?

 

[Ken Simpson]

I am not familiar with either of these grammars, but I would read it as the so called "stem" of the word (not the root in the accordance sense). for example the future (στήσω) and the aorist (ἔστησα) if you strip the suffixes and prefixes and play contraction football you get "στα". I don't think they are saying these are alternative AAImp2S endings.

 

The symbols should be enumerated in the intro/glossary, but I presume you have read them.

 

Mounce has the same annotation for ἵστημι, but with an asterisk. *στα (see below)

 

In fact, I just found this in Mounce's morphology

 

"For example, the stem of ἵστημι is *στα. To form the present stem, the σ is reduplicated, the stem vowel lengthened, and the alternate ending is used (*στα → σιστημι). The first σ is then replaced with a rough breathing ( → ἵστημι). Cf. ἵημι (v-6a)."

 

William D. Mounce, The Morphology of Biblical Greek, Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 42.

 

https://accordance.bible/link/read/Mounce_Morphology#840

 

or this

"The other three classes are stems ending in α (*στα → ἵστημι), ε (*θε → τίθημι), and υ (*δεικνυ → δείκνυμι). These three classes are discussed in chapter 36. What is nice about μι verbs is that if you know one pattern, you know them all. In other words, whatever δίδωμι does in the future, τίθημι will also do in the future, although the stem vowel will be an η instead of ω."

 

William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar: 4th edition, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019), 391.

 

and for my final trick, Stevens.

 

"The stem of ἵστημι is στα-."

 

Gerald L. Stevens, New Testament Greek, Accordance electronic ed. (New York: University Press of America, 1997), 358.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Ken Simpson

[Lorinda H. M. Hoover]

Someone else who has Goetchius! That’s the textbook my seminary Greek class used, and I loved it.  I did later learn, however, that it’s not well known. 

[c. stirling bartholomew]

On 10/31/2023 at 4:20 AM, Lorinda H. M. Hoover said:

Someone else who has Goetchius! That’s the textbook my seminary Greek class used, and I loved it.  I did later learn, however, that it’s not well known. 

 

In a previous world it was well known as an alternative to Machen.  In '76 I picked it up in the Western Sem. Portland Campus Book Store with no intention of learning the language. Decade later I used it because the author was a linguist. His approach to grammar was pre-Chomsky similar to Zellig Sabbettai Harris. Edward Hobbs who taught at both Wellesley and Berkeley told me he had used Goetchius' class notes for years before the book was published. I would never have studied Greek if I hadn't discovered Goetchius using a framework that was already very familiar.

[Enoch]

I suffered with Machen. Paradigm upon paradigm; paradigm upon paradigm line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. (apologies to Isaiah -- why would anyone quote Isaiah on this as if he were recommending the method he describes?)  After 1st year Greek, I returned for 2nd year, only to find that about the only paradigm I remembered was Pres Act Indic.  Machen also omitted the word te from its vocabulary. My University advisor told me that Machen was about the worst intro grammar he had ever seen.

I registered to audit 1st year Greek again & the teacher had changed to wonderful Goetchius. IMHO the emphasis should be on the morphs, units which indicate grammar, like prefixed epsilon for a past tense & indicative mood, reduplication with iota vs with epsilon, theta eta for aorist passive, etc. Eeny meeny miney moe, catch the imperative by the tō.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Enoch

[Enoch]

On 10/31/2023 at 1:42 AM, Ken Simpson said:

I am not familiar with either of these grammars, but I would read it as the so called "stem" of the word (not the root in the accordance sense). for example the future (στήσω) and the aorist (ἔστησα) if you strip the suffixes and prefixes and play contraction football you get "στα". I don't think they are saying these are alternative AAImp2S endings.

 

The symbols should be enumerated in the intro/glossary, but I presume you have read them.

 

Mounce has the same annotation for ἵστημι, but with an asterisk. *στα (see below)

 

In fact, I just found this in Mounce's morphology

 

"For example, the stem of ἵστημι is *στα. To form the present stem, the σ is reduplicated, the stem vowel lengthened, and the alternate ending is used (*στα → σιστημι). The first σ is then replaced with a rough breathing ( → ἵστημι). Cf. ἵημι (v-6a)."

 

William D. Mounce, The Morphology of Biblical Greek, Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 42.

 

https://accordance.bible/link/read/Mounce_Morphology#840

 

or this

"The other three classes are stems ending in α (*στα → ἵστημι), ε (*θε → τίθημι), and υ (*δεικνυ → δείκνυμι). These three classes are discussed in chapter 36. What is nice about μι verbs is that if you know one pattern, you know them all. In other words, whatever δίδωμι does in the future, τίθημι will also do in the future, although the stem vowel will be an η instead of ω."

 

William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar: 4th edition, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019), 391.

 

and for my final trick, Stevens.

 

"The stem of ἵστημι is στα-."

 

Gerald L. Stevens, New Testament Greek, Accordance electronic ed. (New York: University Press of America, 1997), 358.

I don't think it is usual or standard practice to indicate a root or a stem with a hypen. And the (-sta) is not at the start of a discussion of the lexeme, but at one point in one paradigm tense/voice of the imperative verb.  BTW, the so-called LXX also uses στῆσον, & it appears that the distinction is that this latter form is transitive & στῆθι is intransitive (which seems to be a common distinction where 2 Aor is intransitive & 1st Aor is transitive.

& neither Jay nor G have such a list of abbreviations and/or symbols in any preface.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Enoch

[Enoch]

On 11/1/2023 at 6:16 PM, c. stirling bartholomew said:

 

In a previous world it was well known as an alternative to Machen.  In '76 I picked it up in the Western Sem. Portland Campus Book Store with no intention of learning the language. Decade later I used it because the author was a linguist. His approach to grammar was pre-Chomsky similar to Zellig Sabbettai Harris. Edward Hobbs who taught at both Wellesley and Berkeley told me he had used Goetchius' class notes for years before the book was published. I would never have studied Greek if I hadn't discovered Goetchius using a framework that was already very familiar.

Chomp Chomp Chompsky! I RECENTLY BOUGHT SOME WORKBOOKS FOR Goet, as they are evidently long, long out of print, but I found a few here and/or there as with Abe Books.  I wanted to review my grammar.  I wish that the publisher would  put it on Archive.org where it might be downloaded & self-printed. Next time if I work thru Goet again, I will need not to write in the workbook itself.