9.62 Exercises

The following notes should help you in understanding the Practice Sentences provided by Croy. You might also find it very helpful to look at a Segmented Version of the sentences. In fact, to encourage you to make use of the Segmented Version, the audio for these sentences has been prepared using the segmented text.

1. οἱ πονηροὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ οὗτοι ἐξέρχονται εἰς τὸν προφήτην. αὐτοὶ δύνανται σῴζεσθαι;

Note that αὐτοὶ is being used here as a pronoun, the subject of the verb δύνανται. The verbs ἐξέρχονται and δύνανται are deponent verbs, so those endings are middle, not passive. The infinitive σῴζεσθαι, on the other hand, is a passive form.

2. ὑμεῖς ἀκούετε τῆς φωνῆς ἀγγέλου, ἡμεῖς δὲ διδασκόμεθα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτοῦ.

Normally nominative pronouns are not included in Greek, because you can already tell the subjects from the verbs themselves ( ἀκούετε is second person plural, and διδασκόμεθα is first person plural). In this sentence, however, there is a strong opposition between ἡμεῖς on the one hand and ὑμεῖς on the other hand. The nominative pronouns are used to emphasize this contrast between "we" and "you," with the postpositive δὲ calling attention to that contrast. How is αὐτοῦ being used in the phrase ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτοῦ: is this the intensive use ("God himself") or the identical use ("the same God")?

3. ἄνθρωπος οὐ γίνεται δίκαιος ἐξ ἔργων. ἡ εἰρήνη πρὸς τὸν θεόν ἐστι δῶρον.

Note that the use of the deponent verb γίνεται. This is a middle verb form and means "becomes." Like other lnking verbs, it can have a δίκαιος adjective, which is in the nominative, agreeing with the subject of the verb.

4. διερχόμεθα διὰ τῆς ἐρήμου ἀλλὰ οὐκ ἔχομεν ἄρτον οὐδὲ βλέπομεν τὴν θάλασσαν.

The verb διερχόμεθα is a deponent verb, so the form you see here is middle, not passive.

5. μετὰ ταῦτα ἔρχεται ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ κυρίου καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγείρονται.

The verb ἔρχεται is a deponent verb, so the form you see here is middle, not passive. Note also that the subject of the verb, ἄγγελος, actually comes after the verb (this word order is typical in Greek, but not in English, where the subject regularly comes before the verb.) The verb ἐγείρονται is passive, not middle.

6. εἰσέρχονται τὰ τὲκνα εἰς τὸν οἴκον σὺν τοῖς μαθηταῖς.

The verb εἰσέρχονται is a deponent verb, so the form you see here is middle, not passive. The subject of the verb, τὰ τὲκνα, comes after the verb (that is typical in Greek, but not in English, where the subject must precede the verb).

7. ἡ ἀδελφὴ ἡμῶν θέλει γινώσκειν τὴν ἀλήθειαν περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτῆς, ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἀποκρίνεσθε αὐτῇ.

The verb ἀποκρίνεσθε is a deponent verb, so the form you see here is middle, not passive. Normally nominative pronouns are not included in Greek, because you can already tell the subjects from the verbs themselves ( ἀποκρίνεσθε is second person plural). In this sentence, however, there is a strong emphasis placed on ὑμεῖς as shown by the use of the nominative pronoun, further accentuated by the use of the postpositive particle δὲ immediately following the pronoun.

8. οὐ θέλω ἄρχειν τῆς βασιλείας ταύτης· πορεύομαι οὖν πρὸς ἄλλην γῆν.

The verb πορεύομαι is a deponent verb, so the form you see here is middle, not passive. Note that the verb ἄρχειν takes the genitive (to rule over something, have control of something). Note how the particle οὖν is used to connect these two sentences.

9. ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ πλοῖα λύονται καὶ ἡ θάλασσα οὐ δύναται εὑρίσκεσθαι.

The verb δύναται is a deponent verb, so the form you see here is middle, not passive. The verb λύονται and the infinitive εὑρίσκεσθαι, on the other hand, are passive forms. You will learn the future tense of the verb very soon, but as in this sentence you can see that Greek sometimes uses the present tense verb to express a future idea (compare the English use of the present continuous to express a future situation: "I'm staying home this weekend.")

10. ὁ ὄχλος γίνεται μικρὸς ὅτι κακοὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ εἰσέρχονται εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν.

The verbs γίνεται and εἰσέρχονται are deponent verbs, so the forms you see here are middle, not passive.

11. ἄρχεσθε πιστεύειν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν, ἀλλὰ οὐκ ἐξέρχεσθε ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς ἁμαρτίας.

The verb ἐξέρχεσθε is a deponent verb, so the form you see here is middle, not passive. Note the middle use of ἄρχεσθε meaning "you begin" ("you are beginning"), with the complementary infinitive πιστεύειν.

12. σὺν τῇ ἀδελφῇ σου ἔρχῃ πρὸς τὸν προφήτην βαπτίζεσθαι ὑπ' αὐτοῦ.

The verb ἔρχῃ is a deponent verb, so the form you see here is middle, not passive. You must make sure you are famliar with this odd-looking second person singular middle/passive ending, since if you are not careful, you can mistake it for a noun! The stem is a verbal stem, however, which is how you know that ἔρχῃ is a verb. The infinitive βαπτίζεσθαι is passive with an agent, ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. The infinitive is being used to express purpose, much like the English infinitive ("you go (in order) to be baptized"). Who is the antecedent of the pronoun αὐτοῦ?

13. ὁ ἀδελφὸς ὑμῶν οὐκ ἀποκρίνεται τῷ λαῷ μετ' ἀγάπης· κρίνεται οὖν ὑπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ.

The verb ἀποκρίνεται is a deponent verb, so the form you see here is middle, not passive, but the verb κρίνεται is a passive, as shown clearly here by the presence of an agent: ὑπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ.

14. πορευόμεθα πρὸς τὴν θάλασσαν, ἀλλὰ οὐ θέλομεν διέρχεσθαι ταύτην τὴν γῆν.

The verb πορευόμεθα and the infinitive διέρχεσθαι are deponent, so the forms you see here are middle, not passive. Note that διέρχεσθαι can sometimes be used with the preposition διὰ (see sentence #4, "pass through..."), but it can also be used transitively, as here, with a direct object ("to traverse...").