Hellenistic Greek © 2010
Lesson 20: The Middle Voice,
The Aorist Middle

Grammatical Discussion

The voice of a verb indicates the role that its grammatical subject plays in relation to the action or state of being expressed by the verb. The middle voice is used mainly to imply that the subject benefits or suffers directly from the action expressed by the verb. It is often the case, though not always, that the subject also represents the cause of that action.

ἀπενίψατο τὰς χεῖρας
He washed his hands (Matthew 27:24)
ἐπαύσαντο
They stopped (Luke 8:24)
οὐκ ἐνεδύσατο ἱμάτιον
He wore no garment (Luke 8:27)
He was naked
διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτιά μου ἑαυτοῖς
They divided my clothes among themselves (John 19:24, quoted from Psalm 22:18, Psalm 21:19 in the LXX)

Understanding and Translating the Middle Voice

Some English-speaking students find the middle voice difficult to understand because English does not have a middle voice verb form. Where Ancient Greek used the middle voice, we often use an active voice verb and sometimes, but not always, a reflexive pronoun (one of the -self pronouns as discussed below).

To know how to translate middle voice forms, English speakers must understand the possible functions of these forms. Grammarians have traditionally distinguished between at least three main functions or usages of the Greek middle voice: reflexive, reciprocal, and "intensive" (a somewhat inaccurate term for when the middle form is neither reflexive, nor reciprocal).

What unifies all three of these functions is the notion that the subject of the verb expresses the recipient or beneficiary of the action expresseed by the verb.

English Reflexives and the Greek Middle Voice

Consider the following English sentences:

She bought a puppy
She bought herself a puppy
She bought her a puppy

Why is it that in the sentence "She bought herself a puppy" we understand that the word "herself" refers to the same person as "she," the subject of the sentence, but in the sentence" She bought her a puppy" we do not infer that "her" and "she" refer to the same person?

We understand the sentences in this way because of a simple pattern in English grammar: If the subject of a sentence represents the same person as a word in the predicate portion of the same sentence, then that word in the predicate is replaced by an appropriate pronoun ending in -self (a reflexive pronoun).

In the sentence "She bought her a puppy," we do not assume that the pronoun her refers to the same person as the subject, since if it did, the author would have written herself instead of her.

While Hellenistic Greek, like English, had reflexive pronouns that could be used in this way, it also had a verb form that could accomplished this same purpose and much more. The middle voice forms signaled to the listener or reader that the subject of a sentence represents in some sense the benefactor of the action expressed by the verb. No pronoun was necessary.

Many English sentences that have a reflexive pronoun, could be expressed in Hellenistic Greek without a pronoun by using the middle voice, but the Greek middle voice was also used in other ways. For this reason, you cannot assume that a middle voice verb in Greek should be translated as a reflexive clause in English.

Greek Middle Voice Plurals and English Reflexive and Reciprocal Usage

When the subject of a sentence is identified directly with a noun or noun phrase in the predicate portion of a sentence, Linguistics call the usage "reflexive."

When the subject is plural, however, there is more than one way we could see the relationship between the subject and the noun or noun phrase in the predicate. The sentence could be about a group of people each of whom acts for his or her own benefit, in which case we call the usage reflexive, or the sentence could be about a group in which each member acts for the benefit of another member, in which case we call the usage reciprocal.

In Hellenistic Greek, both reflexive and reciprocal statements could be communicated by using the middle voice verb form, but because these functions require different forms in English, these usages are not translated the same way. Observe the following examples:

In Greek, the context usually makes it clear whether a plural middle voice form should be understood as reflexive or reciprocal.

The Most Common Middle Voice Usage

Most middle voice verbs are neither reflexive nor reciprocal. Here the subject is presented as acting alone, of its own accord, or for its own benefit, yet without being identified with the object of the action expressed by the verb. The subject represents the AGENT, but not the PATIENT in these instances. Observe the following examples:

Here “chose” translates an aorist middle form (2nd aor. mid. of αἰρῶ [αἰρέω], choose). Paul uses the middle voice to express the view that God chose the people for God's own reasons or for God's own benefit, not to suggest that God is the one chosen. The presence of ὑμᾶς ("you"), functioning as the direct object, means this clause cannot be reflexive. Θεός represents the AGENT (the one doing the choosing), but not the PATIENT (the person or thing chosen).

“Touched” translates an aorist middle form (of ἅπτω, touch, grasp). Matthew uses the middle voice to portray Jesus as acting alone, and of his own accord: He alone healed Peter's mother-in-law whose hand he touched. Here again, the presence of a direct object (τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῆς, her hand) means the usage cannot be reflexive.

This is the most natural and frequent use of the middle voice. Only in very appropriate contexts—when there is no direct object stated—should it be understood and translated as reflexive.

Lexical Middles (Traditionally called Deponent)

Some verbs do not have active voice forms. These are listed in the lexicon and in the vocabulary lists in this grammar with the present middle voice ending -ομαι. Such verbs have traditionally been called deponent (defective). This is an unfortunate term since there is nothing defective about these verbs. Their meaning is simply well suited for the Greek middle voice or the passive voice, so they do not need Greek active voice forms.

You have already learned the verb ἔρχομαι (I come, go), for example. It has no active voice forms in the present tense. Still, its translation into English is active voice.

Since the person who goes somewhere is also the person who benefits or suffers directly from that action, it is easy to see how this verb could have only middle voice forms in some tenses in Greek.

The English verbs, "come" and "go" share an important element of meaning:

James goes to class.
James comes to class.

In these sentences, James is both the person who performs the action expressed by the verb and the person who benefits (or suffers) from it. This fits well with the Greek middle voice, and Greek verbs that share this argument structure sometimes lack active voice forms.

The vocabulary list for this lesson contains a list of eight lexical middles that occur more than one hundred times each in the New Testament. You should learn these verbs well. Notice that while they have middle voice forms, their translation is active.

When learning vocabulary it is always important to notice which ending the form in the vocabulary list has. Most verbs are listed with active voice endings. One listed with a middle voice ending is a lexical middle. Learn which verbs are lexical middles, since this information will be needed for understanding and translating Hellenistic Greek.

When you encounter an unknown verb with a middle voice form in your readings, you should assume that it is not a lexical middle. If you do not recognize the verb as a lexical middle, make sure your translation indicates that the subject in some sense benefits from or suffers from the action indicated by the verb.

Transitivity

Many verbs that lack active voice forms in Greek would be extremely awkward, if not impossible, to translate into English as anything other than active. The reason for this difficulty is sometimes a difference in the way English and Greek represent transitivity.

A transitive verb is one that has an object in the active voice.

An intransitive verb does not have an object in any voice.

Of course some verbs can be used as either transitive ("I ate dinner") or intransitive ("I ate").

English uses active voice forms to express intransitive verbs. In fact, making a verb passive will automatically make it transitive in English.

In Ancient Greek, however, some verbs are lexical middles: they appear as middle even if they are intransitive—even when they have no object and assign only one semantic role. If these verbs are intransitive, their English translations must have an active voice form.

The same is true of some forms traditionally called passive. If the verb is intransitive (if it assigns only one semantic role) it's translation in English will be active voice.

Formation of the Aorist Middle

The aorist and imperfect middle indicative are formed using an augment (ε) plus the verb stem, a connecting vowel (or σ plus connecting vowel), then the secondary middle endings. Study the examples below.

Notice that the 1st aorist has its characteristic σ before the connecting vowel (α). The 2nd aorist and imperfect use ο as the connecting vowel.

The basic suffixes (endings) for the aorist and imperfect middle are those traditionally called the secondary middle endings. They appear as follows:

The second person singular ending, in its pure form, is -σο, but when it is preceded immediately by a connecting vowel (ο or α), the σ falls between two vowels (it is intervocalic), and this placement causes changes in the form of the ending. The σ is omitted, and the connecting vowel contracts with the remaining ο in the ending (α + ο = ω; ο + ο = ου).

You will see later that the σ is not omitted if the preceding vowel is part of the verb stem rather than a connecting vowel, as is the case with μι conjugation verbs. So if the verb is a μι conjugation verb, the second person singular ending is spelled -σο.

Practice Recognizing 1st Aorist Middle Forms.

Because γίνομαι is intransitive, and its English translation is also intransitive, the usual sense of the middle voice is lost.

As is the case with a number of other Greek intransitive verbs, γίνομαι has no active voice forms and has traditionally been called "deponent." In this grammar, we refer to such verbs simply as lexical middles. That is, their lexical form is middle voice.

Practice Recognizing2nd Aorist Middle Forms.