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Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek

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As soon as I received this book, I was flooded with memories of the time I was first introduced to it during my college days as a classics major. I remember how elusive the concept was back then, and it does not surprise me how quickly it still returns to its elusive state. The lecture was delivered by Dr. Erwin Cook at University of Texas, who admitted that aspects was just not part of the English language as much as it is in Russian. He bemoaned the fact that his Russian did not fully grasp verbal aspect as it one should to appreciate Dostoevsky's works.

Despite its elusiveness, the Greek verbal aspect is making its way into the scene of biblical studies, where a command of the biblical languages is simply a must to engage in proper exegesis. As many others have already observed, Campbell's work has made verbal aspects accessible, both in the publisher's pricing and the readability. H.W. Smyth's Greek Grammar devotes a whole sentence to aspects: "Greek also makes extensive use of aspect distinctions to qualify the type (rather than the time) of an action." The extensive work of Smyth ironically does not lend itself to an extensive treatment of aspects.

In line with Zondervan's widely-used series of Greek textbooks, Campbell's work makes the complicated subject more engaging and accessible for even the beginners of biblical Greek to become quickly acquainted with the theory, the need, as well as the issues in verbal aspect. The book is divided into two main parts.

The first part explains the basic features of the verbal aspect, tracing its history and getting the reader up-to-snuff with the main voices in the field. In biblical studies, two names traditionally come up when speaking of verbal aspects: Porter and Fanning. Campbell briefly assesses those voices, along with others like Olson, Decker, and Evans, in terms of their contributions and the receptions of their works. Campbell sides with Porter and Decker, downplaying the role of tenses, while emphasizing the pragmatic use of their reference to time.

Despite the lack of consensus in verbal aspect studies, Campbell lists the agreements:

* Aspect holds the key to understanding the Greek verbal system.
* There are at least two aspects in Greek: perfective and imperfective.
* Debate about aspect must come to some kind of resolution as quickly as possible.
* Greek grammars and New Testament commentaries need to update and come to grips with the new playing field.
* Responsible exegesis of the Greek text must incorporate aspectual sensitivity (32).

And there is also room for more exploration in the areas of :

* Temporality and tense. Are Greek verbs tenses?
* Number of aspects. Should the stative aspect be included with the perfective and imperfective? (31-32)

The second part deals with the verbal aspect in the New Testament. Campbell offers examples that have these features of semantics, lexeme, and context, which lead up to the Aktionsart. What kind of an action is presented? The types of action range: progressive, stative, ingressive (beginning and subsequent progression), iterative (repetitive), and conative (attempted but not accomplished). Exercises and answers are included to help the reader to think and work through the grammar.

This book is highly recommended. It makes verbal aspects intelligible for biblical Greek students, and is very affordable.

This book is an excellent, readable introduction to the mysteries and complexities of verbal aspect in Biblical [Koine] Greek.
I am a mere amateur in this area being at the beginner/intermediate level, and my review is primarily aimed at people in the same category. To make sense of this book, you need to be at least at that level -- having completed first-year greek (Mounce / Basics or an equivalent), and be conversant with the next stage (per Wallace Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics or equivalent). Campbell does provide translations of greek passages quoted.

The book is divided into two parts: firstly, general aspect theory and its history and development (chapters one to five); secondly, the focus on the greek of the New Testament (chapters six to 10.)
Campbell is excellent in explaining his terms as he uses them, and also provides a glossary, scripture index, and general index at the end of the book. (I note from another reviewer that there was no scripture index. There is definitely in mine). He also provides some basic exercises in part 2 and there is an answer key for the exercises at the end.

Campbell starts off by giving us the background to the problem, describing aspect theory versus aktionsart. He crucially answers the "so what?" question, illustrating the shortcomings of aktionsart and its doctrinal implications and showing how aspect theory alleviates those problems. He provides a clear definition of semantics and pragmatics and the characteristics and attributes of each of those disciplines. He goes on to give an historical outline to aspect theory, mentioning Porter, Fanning etc. and the various strands of thought within aspect theory (how many aspects are there? etc.).

In chapters 3 onwards, we dive into the nitty-gritty, discussing perceptive and imperfective aspect, proximity, the role of tense, the problem of the perfect tense (chapter 5). Part 2 relates aspect (semantics) to aktionsart (pragmatics) and describes how the various verbal lexemes are used to achieve various categories of aktionsart -- showing how it all fits together. The impression given is not that aktionsart is all wrong and is overturned by aspect theory, but that the manifest shortcomings with aktionsart, the problems of categorizing temporal properties of greek verbal lexemes as semantic rather than pragmatic, are overcome when aspect theory is applied. He builds a strong case.

CONCLUSION
This book does what it says in the title. If you want to know the basics of verbal aspect in New Testament greek, how it relates to Aktionsart, why it matters, how it works, then this book will answer all those questions in a clear, logical and concise (159 pages) way. I was surprised at the readability of the book. Normally technical books are a war of attrition for me but with this one, I'd got through 37 pages and followed the argument with relative ease before realizing I'd made it almost a quarter of the way through! Doubtless the experts will disagree on Campbell's work, but as an introduction to the subject, I think Campbell has achieved a great deal in opening up the subject to the beginner with much clarity -- and at an accessible price too!

Highly recommended.

In the field of Verbal aspect, there is no end of debate or discussion. With his new book Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek (BVA), Constantine Campbell has opened the door for those who have long stood outside trying to get a glimpse and a hearing of what this discussion is all about. Granted, there are areas where one person or another will find that they are in disagreement with Dr. Campbell, but that is to be expected in a field like this. Dr. Campbell has taken the time and recognized that there was a need for a primer like the one he has produced, one in which has long been overdue for the student of Koine who is just getting his feet wet in Greek. While I will not take the time to offer an in-depth review (other have done this, and they have done it quite well), I will discuss the areas of strengths and weaknesses of BVA for the intermediate Greek student and why I think that it is a fine addition for a pastor as well as a seminary student.

This reviewer has been a student of Koine for 4.5 years (3 in undergraduate, and 1.5 in seminary). While learning Greek I was aware of verbal aspect, but it was briefly discussed and then moved away from. As I progressed in my studies, the focus was always on usage of nouns, verbs, participles, etc. and their relationship within a clause and discourse. Many times I was left to wonder why the author of a particular book used the present tense where an aorist would have sufficed. This questioned festered in me and continued to grow. In frustration, I picked up Stan Porters book on aspect and was left lost in his analysis of linguistics and their importance for understanding aspect. Needing a Ph.D. to understand what he was getting at, I put the book down. When I heard of Campbell's new book, my spirits were lifted and I was sensing there was a light at the end of the aspectual tunnel.

I. Strengths of BVA

1. It is Assessable and Easy to Grasp

One of the problems with reading books on aspect by Porter and Fanning is that they are very technical and have a specialist in mind for their audience. What Campbell has done with his new book is given the student who desires to get involved in the discussion his ticket into the show. He is clear and precise in his presentation, thus allowing the student to begin to grasp the theory of verbal aspect. No doubt there will be some (i.e. see Porter's blurb on the back of the book) who will disagree with Campbell's conclusions, but I will ask this: why have they then not attempted to produce a work this assessable for the student? For this reason alone all students of Koine should graciously thank Dr. Campbell for taking the time to write such a book for us.

2. It Has Examples and Exercises to Work Though

The exercises that are included are quite helpful and allow the reader to be able to put theory into practice. Dr. Campbell as explains himself in a clear and concise way, and also has included an answer key at the back, thus allowing the reader to be able to go through the exercises and check his work and progress.

3. It is Geared for the Student and Pastor

If one keeps in mind who the audience is intended to be, then some of the criticisms would most likely end. This book is meant to be a primer and not an in-depth analysis on aspect. Dr. Campbell has already produced two academic monographs that engage the scholar and critic alike. What we have here is a book for us students and pastors alike that brings us into the discussion and allows us the opportunity to learn the lingo and jargon that is espoused in discussions on aspect.

II. Weaknesses of BVA

1. No Scripture Index

This is an obvious weakness. For later reference one might one to see if such and such a verse is explained and discussed, but without an index he is unable to do so. Maybe in the next edition Zondervan will include this.

2. It Was a Tad Short

At the end of the reading, I was left wanting more discussion and examples. Because there is a slew of books and articles written on aspect, there is most certainly room for more discussion and examples.

At the end of the day, Dr. Campbell has given us a gem of a primer. BVA is a great help for the student desiring to enter into the world of verbal aspect. It is clear, concise, and above all free of most of the technical jargon that makes other books almost impossible for the student to read and interact with. We owe Dr. Campbell a hearty thank you for his work and for giving us students a place at the table of scholars on verbal aspect.

A common problem with understanding Greek verbs is we are often tempted to analyze them within the framework of English language with its strictly temporal sense; past, present, perfect and future. One of the mistakes we are most prone to make, I think, is to assume just because a verb is aorist, the action must have happened in the past. While the concept of aspect and aktionsart are covered in many intermediate Greek textbooks, it is good to have a little booklet that concentrates on the subject in greater depth like what Prof. Campbell does here. The highlights are as follows:

1. He presents an interesting technique to arrive at the aktionsart of a verb, namely, by looking at the aspect (proximity, remoteness), lexeme (punctiliar, stative, transitive etc) and context, which I think is useful. Strangely however, in the last chapter when he covers participles, he doesn't use the same methodology, but instead, he seems to jump into Aktionsart right after identifying the kind of participles (present, aorist, periphrastic) and its corresponding aspect without trying to identify the context. The Aktionsart categories he proposes are useful as well, namely, contemporaneous, stative, past-event, and attendant circumstance; the latter is a repetition of what Wallace teaches in Greek Grammar (p.640-645).

2. He differs from Wallace in dividing aspects into 2 (perfective and imperfective) while Wallace adds a third element stative (Greek Grammar, 501). I tend to agree with Campbell more.

3. Unlike the conventional view of the perfect tense having a perfective aspect, Campbell thinks it is imperfective with a heightened proximity view, more proximate than that of the present tense. I need to do more study on this to verify the validity of this claim.

4. I disagree on some case studies; the two that I disagree most strongly are:
- Rom 8:11 (zwopoihsei) where Campbell thinks it is ingressive (p.146) while I think it has a sense of future summary or future bodily transformation (cf. Moo, 493).
- John 1:10 (ouk egnw) where Campbell thinks it is ingressive (p.145), but this doesn't make sense. How could the world "begin" not to know Christ? I tend to go with gnomic or summary (cf. Carson, 124), leaning more toward the former. It is a universal truth the world does not know God (cf. 1 John 3:1).

This book was a required text book in my Greek Syntax/Exegesis class at Southern Seminary. Coming into this class, I knew nothing about verbal aspect in Biblical Greek. My intro grammer in Elementary Greek was Mounce's "Basics of Biblical Greek," which was very much based off of a time-aspect verbal system. This book definitely made me think about verb tenses (aorist, present, perfect, etc) not having inherent time in them, but rather communicated aspect. Other books introduce Greek students to the issue of verbal aspect, but they are often boring and very tedious. While the subject cannot be made extremely exciting, I think that Constantine Campbell does a very good job of keeping the details to a minimum while still giving the student a very good introduction to think through the issues.

Campbell's book is the first I have read that is specifically on the subject of the verbal aspect in Biblical Greek. I was pleasantly surprised to find it a clear and helpful book (as I had imagined it would be a difficult subject to read on). Campbell easily shows us the need for a proper understanding of verbal aspect. The following quote from the book was one example that he used in the introduction to show how verbal aspect can be abused or distorted in the pulpit.

" Romans 5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Some commentators write that because an aorist is used here, Romans 5:6 proves that Christ's death was a once-for-all event, never to be repeated, and therefore Christ could not be reoffered time and time again (as in the Roman mass).While I do not want to deny the once-for-all nature of Christ's death (cf. 1 Peter 3:18), the aorist in Romans 5:6 does not prove the point at all. Why not? Because that's not what an aorist means. People who argue such things about this verse base their argument on a faulty understanding of the aorist indicative. [pg 13] "

Basically, Campbell's definition of verbal aspect is viewpoint, that is, the author is viewing the action from the outside or inside; the former being called perfective aspect and the latter being called imperfective aspect. However, some features of verbal aspect are not agreed upon by linguists, such as the role of tense in regards to verbal aspect.

The book is divided into two sections: 1) Verbal aspect theory, and 2) Verbal aspect and the New Testament text. The first section contains five chapters which provides an explanation of terminology (tense, aktionsart, and aspect), a historical survey on verbal aspect, explanations of perfective and imperfective aspects, and a chapter on the puzzle of the perfect form. The second section of this book focuses upon the Greek of the New Testament and is composed of five chapters. These touch upon such things as lexemes, the semantics and pragmatics of present and imperfect tense-forms, aorist and future tense-forms, perfect and plu-perfect tense forms, and participles.

Basically, Campbell argues that tense is not something inherent to the Greek verb (semantics). An example of this is that Campbell says the aorist verb does not have an inherent meaning of past time, but rather of remoteness. Typically, this remoteness is used in the sense of time (i.e. remote from the present), however there are occasions when the aorist does not refer to time past but it is referring to another kind of remoteness (e.g. spatial remoteness).

This primer of verbal aspect is very accessible for the beginning Greek student, which is quite surprising considering verbal aspect is complex (and somewhat controversial on certain aspects). The book also contains exercises and answers to help the reader understand verbal aspect. The book then ends with a concluding postscript, a glossary, and two indices (scripture and general). Although, a bibliography for further reading would have been a very good addition to this book. This is an inexpensive book, so go to Amazon and buy it!

Although the importance of verbal aspect for understanding the Greek of the New Testament is widely acknowledged among scholars and professors, there has been limited interaction with the idea at the introductory level.

With this volume, Constantine Campbell seeks to fill this gap by organizing the controversial and technical linguistic discussion into a "primer on Greek verbal aspect--an introduction, a textbook, a way in for nonspecialists" (p. 9). Campbell is a lecturer of Greek and New Testament at Moore Theological College and has written several monographs in this area. Convinced that "understanding Greek verbs matters," Campbell aims to present the common ground of the debate in a way that can provide a foundation for students of Biblical Greek.

Campbell divides his book into two main parts. The first part delineates verbal aspect theory. He defines verbal aspect along with related topics, charts the history of verbal aspect developments, briefly explains "perfective" and "imperfective" aspect, and then discusses issues involved with the perfect tense-form. The second part outlines how verbal aspect functions in the forms that actually appear in the New Testament text. In this part, Campbell seeks to relate verbal aspect to the other semantic and contextual factors involved in exegesis. After providing some "verbal lexeme basics," he interacts with the major tense-forms and then concludes with a chapter on participles.

One useful feature of this volume is the clear distinctions and clarifications Campbell provides. He explains that aspect "refers to viewpoint--how the action is viewed," and that Aktionsart "refers to how an action actually takes place--what sort of action it is" (p. 22). Tense, then, is seen as primarily conveying a "morphological form" rather than a temporal reference (p. 24).

He also distinguishes between "semantic" and "pragmatic" aspects of verbs. Semantics refers to "the values that are encoded in the verbal form" and are properties that cannot be cancelled (p. 22). Pragmatics refers to "the expression of semantic values in context and in combination with other factors" (p. 23). Campbell asserts that aspect is a semantic value while tense and Aktionsart are pragmatic. He employs these distinctions in the subsequent discussion, which is consistently brief and focused. Though each section has the potential to attract swarms of footnotes, Campbell keeps the chapters flowing at a steady pace.

Another important feature is Campbell's analysis of verbal aspect as a compositional tool of an author. Verbal aspect "represents a subjective choice" that an author makes when "portraying a particular action, event, or state" (p. 20). Accordingly, Campbell highlights the "narrative function" of each particular aspect in the various tense-forms. The exercises at the end of each chapter in part two are intended to guide a student through the process of applying these intentional "aspect choices" to the interpretation of texts.

The "key methodological principle" which governs Campbell's approach is "the power of explanation" (p. 33). Whichever model of the verbal system is able "to account for all uses of the verb" should be adopted (p. 33). This is a helpful guide and functions as an authority for Campbell's linguistic choices. However, this issue is the fulcrum of the debate over aspect theory. Not all Greek scholars will agree with Campbell's ordering and assessment of verbal aspect.

Someone familiar with the broader discussion will recognize the significant choices Campbell makes. For instance, agreeing with Stanley Porter, Campbell denies that tense-forms semantically encode temporal reference. Regarding the number of aspects, Campbell sides with Buist Fanning and argues that there are two rather than three (denying stative aspect).

As Campbell notes, some of these particular issues are of "enormous importance" (p. 32). He does point out in the footnotes where he argues for these decisions in his larger works. Even so, a more detailed history of the debate, further interaction with opposing views, or an appendix tracing the arguments for some of the contested positions would strengthen the volume. Because of the book's brevity, these added elements would not detract from the succinct nature of this useful introduction.

Languages are complex. Ask any immigrant to America who has had to learn English. The fundamental problem is that rules of grammar and syntax are broken daily. This makes English tremendously unpredictable and confusing to those who are non-native speakers. Trouble is, all languages suffer this same malady. Dead languages are no easier to master.

Biblical languages have always been my hardest courses. Locating the best resources made a difference. Zondervan has added to their long list of helpful language resources with Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek. Campbell has done what few others have done: he's provided an accessible introduction to a complicated subject.

Verbal Aspect is one of those subjects which seems to break all the rules Greek grammar students spend sleepless nights attempting to memorize. Campbell provides us with a helpful and succinct overview of verbal aspect. Part II involves demonstrating the difference that verbal aspect makes in exegesis. He also includes exercises for readers to do with an answer key.

I appreciate the succinct chapters and helpful examples. Verbal aspect is an important subject in the study of Biblical Greek. Even if you disagree with the concept, Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek will give you a concrete understanding with which you can disagree.

Note: I was provided this title by the publisher as compensation for my review. I was not required to draft a positive review.

If you are, like me, a relative newcomer to this subject and the debate surrounding it, endeavoring to sort out the wide array of viewpoints from proponents such as McKay, Porter, and Fanning while still learning the fundamental concepts, this book will be a godsend.

In the first part of the book, Dr. Campbell introduces some basic concepts and terminology of linguistics, and then provides a brief history of how the concept of aspect has developed over the previous two centuries. Accompanying this history is a very helpful overview of the key contributors that includes a summary of their positions on verbal aspect as applied to Biblical Greek.

With this foundation in place, he then proceeds to describe his theory and perspective on the aspect of each tense-form in the verbal system of Biblical Greek. I found his diagrams illustrating the notion of proximity and its relationship to aspect particularly helpful for understanding and comparing distinctions among the various tense-forms. Not only were they useful for initially grasping the concepts, but I found myself referring back to them to recall and reinforce the theory when it was applied in the subsequent sections of the book.

One position of Dr. Campbell that might surprise a number of readers is his admittedly controversial view that the Perfect tense-form has an imperfective aspect. He argues convincingly that the Perfect tense-form closely mirrors that of the Present but with a heightened level of proximity; the Perfect tense-form is a zoomed-in version of the Present, or "super-present" as the author calls it.

After introducing and describing the concepts of aspect and proximity and how they function in Biblical Greek, the author next proceeds to apply the theory to translation and exegesis in a highly consistent and systematic fashion. In fact, he is so consistent that some might consider his approach tedious or "cookbook." For me, however, this approach was tremendously beneficial to the process of apprehending such a complex subject that involves a profoundly different understanding of verb function and meaning.

In the application section of the book, the author uses the formula:
Semantics + Lexeme + Context = Aktionsart,
and applies it repeatedly to each of the tense-forms in the Greek verb system, including participles and infinitives, with many examples from the New Testament. This section crystallizes and synthesizes all of the ideas and concepts presented in the theory section, and illustrates their value to exegesis.

The chapters in this section are organized by tense-forms with complementary aspectual relationships: Present/Imperfect, Aorist/Future, and Perfect/Pluperfect. This organization also helps the reader see the analogous relationships between Present and Perfect tense-forms, and Imperfect and Pluperfect. For example, he describes the Present tense-form as "imperfective aspect with close proximity," and the Perfect as "imperfective aspect with spatial value of heightened proximity." The Imperfect and Pluperfect forms have a similar relationship, but the proximities are described as "remote" and "doubly remote" respectively. Thus, Perfect and Pluperfect tense-forms are heightened versions of their Present and Imperfect cousins with respect to spatial value (proximity/remoteness), but all are imperfective in aspect according to Dr. Campbell.

The final section of the book is an expanded description of aspect in participles, including periphrasis. The book ends with a postscript that helps clarify spatial and temporal concepts in language and describes their diachronic development. Here Campbell argues that the verbal system of the Greek language began as a spatial one and transitioned to the Modern Greek system of today that is temporal. During the koine era, this transition was underway, but Campbell argues that all of the tense-forms except the Future were still more spatial in nature than temporal.

I highly recommend this book to readers who are curious about the subject and want an overview of the ideas and issues surrounding it, and to students of Biblical Greek seeking a foundation from which to launch further and deeper study into this important linguistic concept. Such a foundation will significantly reduce the time and effort required to grasp, evaluate, and apply these ideas and to engage with those leading their ongoing development. It is well written and organized, straightforward to read, and provides useful information and insight.

This book came in splendid condition, just as advertised, and I am very pleased by the way this will help me with my Greek class!