Biblical Greek for Everyone (BG4E)
希臘文的前身，Proto-Indo-European 語言只有 active、middle 兩種語態，而「被動的概念」則是用 middle 形式來表達。
古典希臘文用來表達 active 語態；用來表達 middle 語態。
但隨著希臘國力與文化的擴張，從 Classical Greek 時期開始，就出現 -θη- ；到了Koine Greek 時期，逐漸侵蝕原本的
: A, M, and P - “Active”, “Middle” (μαι/σαι/ται;μην/σο/το), and “Passive” (-θη- forms), “laying aside” the designation of many of the forms hitherto tagged as one or another kind of “deponent” and tagging them simply as M or P. A
mood 的含意：±subject-affectedness
active: -subject-affectedness 不代表 subject 沒受到 verb 影響，只是 un-marked (沒有刻意凸顯)
middle: +subject-affectedness 刻意凸顯 (marked) subject 受到 verb 影響。至於影響的程度高低，則要從上下文來判斷。
e.g. 太27:35
Σταυρώσαντες δὲ αὐτὸν διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ βάλλοντες κλῆρον ,
διεμερίσαντο 這個動詞 (P) 有直接受詞 (C)，但動詞語態用的是 middle ——代表動作的影響，不僅止於直接受詞 (衣服)，而且主詞 (內含在動詞裡面的 3P = 兵丁) 也受到了動作的影響 (每個兵丁都拿到一塊衣服)。
太 27:35 Σταυρώσαντες δὲ αὐτὸν διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ βάλλοντες κλῆρον ,【他們既將他釘在十字架上，就拈鬮分他的衣服，】
αἰτέω 為例：
雅4:2-3 ἐπιθυμεῖτε καὶ οὐκ ἔχετε , φονεύετε καὶ ζηλοῦτε καὶ οὐ δύνασθε ἐπιτυχεῖν , μάχεσθε καὶ πολεμεῖτε , οὐκ ἔχετε διὰ τὸ μὴ αἰτεῖσθαι ὑμᾶς , αἰτεῖτε καὶ οὐ λαμβάνετε , διότι κακῶς αἰτεῖσθε , ἵνα ἐν ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ὑμῶν δαπανήσητε .
1Jo 5:14-16 Καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ παρρησία ἣν ἔχομεν πρὸς αὐτόν , ὅτι ἐάν τι αἰτώμεθα κατὰ τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ ἀκούει ἡμῶν . καὶ ἐὰν οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἀκούει ἡμῶν ὃ ἐὰν αἰτώμεθα , οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἔχομεν τὰ αἰτήματα ἃ ᾐτήκαμεν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ . ¶ Ἐάν τις ἴδῃ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτάνοντα ἁμαρτίαν μὴ πρὸς θάνατον , αἰτήσει καὶ δώσει αὐτῷ ζωήν , τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν μὴ πρὸς θάνατον . ἔστιν ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον · οὐ περὶ ἐκείνης λέγω ἵνα ἐρωτήσῃ .
John 16:23-26
Mark 6:22-25
Mat 29:20-22
Mark 10:35-38
- The terms “deponent” and “deponency” are not useful in a discussion of ancient Greek voice, a fact that has been noted at least since A. T. Robertson’s big NT Greek Grammar. Conventionally the term has been used to refer to verb forms that have middle or passive voice forms but no active voice forms, e.g. δύναμαι, ἀποκρίνομαι, πορεύομαι. A distinction commonly employed is that between “middle deponents” (verbs with middle forms in the present tense and in the aorist tense, e.g. μάχομαι, ἐμαχεσάμην) and “passive deponents” (verbs with middle forms in the present tense and passive forms in the aorist tense, e.g. πορεύομαι, ἐπορεύθην). Some verbs having active forms in the present tense but future tense forms that are middle (e.g. μανθάνω, μαθήσομαι) are often referred to as “future deponents.” The term is sometimes also employed to refer to verbs that have middle or passive voice forms in the present tense but active forms in the aorist or perfect tense (e.g. ἔρχομαι, ἦλθον, ἐλήλυθα; γί(γ)νομαι, γέγονα). The term “deponent” has been explained as deriving from the participle of the Latin verb depono, deponens with the sense “setting aside” or “laying aside,” the idea being that “deponent” verbs “set aside” or “lay aside” their present-tense forms. Although the term “deponent” seems to derive from Latin grammatical descriptions of Latin verb forms, it is really questionable whether the term is properly applicable even to Latin verbs — but that is another matter altogether. My objection to the terms “deponent” and “deponency” is that they seem to imply that Greek verbs having no active present tense forms do not conform to standard Greek patterns of morphology or that they are somehow irregular, while I would contend that these verbs are so numerous in ancient Greek that they should not be deemed less standard than the admittedly larger body of verbs that do have active present tense forms. Alternatively the term “defective” is sometimes used for verbs that lack forms in one or more of the morphological paradigms of the ancient Greek verb; that might be a better term, but I think it would be preferable to acknowledge that a great many of the verbs in common everyday usage are “irregular” in that they do not display the full array of verb-forms one sees in the paradigms of λύω or παιδεύω in the appendices of primers of ancient Greek. https://sites.wustl.edu/cwconrad/ancient-greek-voice/
- Categories of “Middle” verbs:
Suzanne Kemmer offers the following categories of verbs that typically find expression in middle-voice morphology. I present a compilation from her listings and the illustrative verbs in Greek are, for the most part, my own compilation:
Neva Miller has drawn up her own categories of what I have called “subject-focused” verbs and placed into them just about all, if not absolutely all, the so-called “deponent” verbs found in the Greek New Testament. Whether or not one finds these lists of Kemmer and Miller fully satisfactory, I think they are very instructive for our understanding of what these verbs are and what they have in common.
Class 1: Reciprocity
A. Positive [i.e. friendly] Interaction (δέχομαι, δωρέομαι, εἰσκαλέομαι, ἐναγκαλίζομαι, ἐπιμελέομαι, ἐπισκέπτομαι, ἰάομαι, ἱλάσκομαι, χυναντιλαμβάνομαι, χαρίζομαι) B. Negative [i.e. hostile] Interaction (διαμάχομαι, δράσσομαι, ἐνάλλομαι, ἐπαγωνίζομαι, ἐπιλαμβάνομαι, μάχομαι, μέμφομαι) C. Positive and Negative Communication (αἰτιάομαι, ἀνατάσσομαι, ἀποκρίνομαι, ἀρνέομαι, ἀσπάζομαι, διαβεβαιόομαι, διακατελέγχομαι, διαμαρτύρομαι, ἐξηγέομαι, μαρτύρομαι, παραιτέομαι, ψεύδομαι)
Class 2: Reflexivity (ἀπολογέομαι, ἐγκαυχάομαι, ἐγκρατεύομαι, ἀπαναπαύομαι, μασάομαι, μιμέομαι, πειράομαι), directional: ἀφικνέομαι, διαπορεύομαι, διεξέρχομαι, ἐξάλλομαι, ἐπανέρχομαι, ἐπεκτείνομαι, ἔρχομαι, ὀρχέομαι, πορεύομαι
Class 3: Self-Involvement
A. Intellectual Activities (αἰσθάνομαι, διαλογίζομαι, ἐπυπνιάζομαι, ἐπιλανθάνομαι, ἐπίσταμαι, ἡγέομαι, λογίζομαι, οἴομαι, πυνθάνομαι) B. Emotional States (βδελύσσομαι, διαπονέομαι, ἐμβριμάομαι, ἐμμαίνομαι, εὐλαβέομαι, μετεωρίζομαι, ὀμείρομαι) C. Volitional activities (βούλομαι, ἐναντιόομαι)
Class 4: Self-Interest (διαδέχομαι, διαπραγματεύομαι, κτάομαι, ἐμπορεύομαι, ἐργάζομαι) Class 5: Receptivity (γεύομαι, ἐπακροάομαι, θεάομαι) Class 6: Passivity (γίνομαι, ἐπιγίνομαι, κοιμάομαι, μαίνομαι, μαντεύομαι) Class 7: State, Condition (δύναμαι, ἐπίκειμαι, καθέζομαι, κάθημαι, κεῖμαι, παράκειμαι)