Second Class Conditions in New Testament Greek -- By: James L. Boyer

Journal: Grace Theological Journal
Volume: GTJ 03:1 (Spring 1982)
Article: Second Class Conditions in New Testament Greek
Author: James L. Boyer


Second Class Conditions
in New Testament Greek

James L. Boyer

Less frequent than other types of conditional sentences, second class conditions are also more specialized in their meaning and more restricted in their grammatical format. In these alone the verb tenses used provide the formal key to their identification. The major exegetical question, and the only serious divergence on the part of grammarians, centers around these tenses. This study concludes that the tenses used were determined by normal aspectual considerations, not by arbitrary rule of grammar.

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Second class conditional sentences occur less frequently than other types in the NT; there are only 47 examples.1 Called by some “Contrary to Fact” or “Unreal,”2 by others “Determined as Unfulfilled,”3 they enjoy more agreement on the part of the grammarians than the other types and are less problem for the exegete.

Identification of the Type

Second class conditions are more formally structured than either of the other types. Both first and third class show a characteristic structure only in the protasis, but the second class shows a distinctive pattern in both the protasis and apodosis; indeed, it is the apodosis which clearly identifies it.

The protasis uses the conditional conjunction εἰ with the verb in the indicative mood. In this it is like the first class. But the second class uses only past tenses,4 whereas the first class may use any tense. Thus, theoretically, there can be ambiguity in the form of the protasis, but in few cases does this cause confusion of identification.5

The apodosis of second class conditions also uses a past tense of the indicative, usually6 with ἄν. In almost7 every instance, the apodosis is a simple statement of a non-fact; what would be or would have been but was not. This contrasts strongly with the great variety of apodosis forms occurring in the first and third classes.

The negative in the protasis is almost always μή, with only two instances of οὐκ.8 This gives many examples of εἰ μή coming together where μή i...

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