I think it might be helpfull to understand how the Greek “Aorist tense” impacts the meaning of scripture. In the event that you’ve not read much about it, there are several articles here at CAF. Should you be interested, here’s a good one to start with.
catholic.com/thisrock/1995/9509fea2.asp
Understanding this one language construct changed the way I came at scripture.
Peace!
Matthew 1:25
25 and did not know (
5707) her till she had brought forth (
5627) her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS
5707
Tense-Imperfect See 5775
Voice-Active See 5784
Mood - Indicative See 5791
Count-857
5775 Tense-Imperfect
The imperfect tense generally represents continual or repeated action in the past. Where the present tense might indicate “they are asking,” the imperfect would indicate “they kept on asking.”
In the case of the verb “to be,” however, the imperfect tense is used as a general past tense and does not carry the connotation of continual or repeated action.
5784 Voice-Active
The active voice represents the subject as the doer or performer of the action. e.g., in the sentence, “The boy hitthe ball,” the boy performs the action.
5791 Mood-Indicative
The indicative mood is a simple statement of fact. If an action really occurs or has occurred or will occur, it will be rendered in the indicative mood.
5627
Tense-Second Aorist See 5780
Voice-Active See 5784
Mood - Indicative See 5791
5780 Tense-Second Aorist
The “second aorist” tense is identical in meaning and translation to the normal or “first” aorist tense. The only difference is in the form of spelling the words in Greek, andthere is no effect upon English translation.
See “Aorist” 5777
5777 Tense-Aorist
The aorist tense is characterized by its emphasis on punctiliar action; that is, the concept of the verb is considered without regard for past, present, or future time. There is no direct or clear English equivalent for this tense, though it is generally rendered as a simple past tense in most translations.
The events described by the aorist tense are classified into a number of categories by grammarians. **The most common of these include a view of the action as having begun from a certain point (“inceptive aorist”), or having ended at a certain point (“cumulative aorist”), or merely existing at a certain point (“punctiliar aorist”). **The categorization of other cases can be found in Greek reference grammars.
The English reader need not concern himself with most of these finer points concerning the aorist tense, since in most cases they cannot be rendered accurately in English translation, being fine points of Greek exegesis only. The common practice of rendering an aorist by a simple English past tense should suffice in most cases.
I’m not sure this helps your understanding and may very well lean towards my understanding.
