2.3 Mathateusate 2 Pl Aor 1 Imper Active.
μαθητεύσατε
Main Verb (Governing Verb):
This is the main verb and the primary action of the sentence.
Mood: Imperative Mood:
See 9.1.2.2.1 and 9.1.2.2.2 Categories of Mood.
Mood Classes:
Mood Classes: According to Dana & Mantey, there are four (4) classes of imperative mood:
1. The Imperative of Command. This is where one will makes a direct, positive appeal to another will
2. The Imperative of Prohibition. This is essentially a negative command.
3. The Imperative of Entreaty. Here the force of urgency or request is more in view than the finality of a command.
4. The Imperative of Permission. The command signified by the imperative may be in compliance with an expressed desire or a manifest inclination on the part of the one who is the object of the command, thus involving consent as well as command.
Mood Summary:
Summarizing the key points about the imperative mood:
Mood of command or entreaty—the mood of volition.
Expresses the appeal of will to will. One will addresses another.
It does not express probability or possibility, but intention. It is therefore the furthest removed from reality.[1]
Where the mind purposes the realization of a possible action through the exercise of the will upon an intermediate agent and conditioned upon the agent’s response—being volitionally possible—the imperative is used.[2]
Imperative mood indicates the action contemplated.
Normally the imperative carried with it the forcible tone of command. The ancient Greeks so regarded it, and hence never employed the imperative in communication with superiors. This fact makes it significant that the imperative is so abundant in the New Testament. The apostles and their associates did not regard it as appropriate to address their readers “with carefully softened commands; and in the imperial edicts of Him who ‘taught with authority,’ and the ethical exhortations of men who spoke in His name, we find naturally a large proportion of imperatives.”[3]
Mood-Which Applies Here?
From these four classes, we can eliminate the Imperative of Prohibition immediately. Jesus is not prohibiting something, but rather commanding something. Further, examining the context, it is clear Jesus is not “entreating” His followers to make disciples, nor is He asking “permission” of His disciples for them to become disciple makers. Consequently we are left with the Imperative of Command as the class that applies to the text here.
The Aorist Imperative in Commands:
When the aorist imperative is used, it denotes summary action. This is an action that is either transient or instantaneous, or to be undertaken at once. The distinction between the aorist imperative and present imperative depends on the writer whether or not he will represent the action as occurring, in a point of time and momentary, or as only commencing, or likewise continuing.[4]
Comment:
As the Imperative of Command, these injunctions are true commands, from a superior (in fact, though not because He pushed the fact). These commands are: “must do.” This is not ‘optional’ fare. These are not principles to be considered, or suggestions to be pondered. These are principles to be obeyed!
Further, He is not wringing His hands entreating us in an emergency, nor is He asking our permission, or begging our consent, for what He is laying out in front of us. This is pure command from a superior to inferiors. Orders to be obeyed!
BUT this is more than just an appeal of the intellect to intellect, of superior to inferior. This is appeal of will to will, and truly this is much stronger, for an appeal to the will, when accepted, is much more forceful and long lasting through tough times, than an appeal to the mind. This is the appeal of a superior voluntarily placing Himself on the same level as the inferior and appealing will to will. This is powerful! Jesus is clearly superior, but talks to us as an equal. Not only powerful, but very humbling.
What less can I do but salute from the whole heart and embrace His command with all that I have in me?
The Aorist tense is used in this text. See 9.1.2.3.2 and 9.1.2.3.2.1 Tense Categories and 9.1.2.3.2.3 Aorist Tense for discussions on the Aorist tense.
Tense Aorist Kind of Action:
Since this verb is in the imperative mood, and since there is no distinction of time between the tenses in the imperative mood, the aorist imperative refers ONLY to the KIND of action (●) without saying anything about the time of action -- its duration or repetition.[5]
Tense Aorist Category:
Which Aorist Category to use in this context?
Jesus had been discipling His apostles and even wider, the 70, for some three years. He has now completed His work, gone to the cross, been buried and resurrected and is now preparing to ascend back to the Father. He meets with His disciples and gives them His going away instructions. (Jesus speaking) As you are going through life, you make disciples of all the nations.
The discipling had not yet begun, so we can rule out the Cumulative Aorist. None of the Special Uses of the Aorist apply, so we can also rule them out in this text. If the Ingressive Aorist were in view by Jesus, it would typically come with verbs, which signify a state or condition, and the Ingressive Aorist would denote entrance into that state or condition. The verb matheteus is not a “state or condition” type verb. On the contrary, it partakes strongly of action. Thus we would be impelled to rule out the Ingressive Aorist as the case at hand.
By elimination we are left with the most common case, the Constative Aorist, the case that sees the action in its entirety. Does this fit well in the context? We believe so. Jesus very well could be looking at this command to begin discipling as action in its entirety. If so, then it would be consistent with, and we would be compelled to classify it as Constative Aorist.
Constantive Aorist summary:
It views the action in its entirety. It takes the occurrence and, regardless of its extent of duration, gathers it into a single whole. It may be graphically represented by < ● >.
This is very basic: simply ‘you’. This indicates the subject is second person
Number: Plural
This verb is indicating the subject is plural in number. Thus: ‘you plural’.
Active here is contrasted with passive voice, and indicates the subject (you–pl) is to take some action (as opposed to receiving some action upon himself). Note: this is also contrasted with the Middle Voice where the subject acts upon its own self. Here the subject is enjoined to be active, not passive.
Means literally:
To learn; to be taught; to learn by practice or experience; acquire a custom or habit; be informed; to understand or comprehend; to train in discipleship. Comes from the root meaning “discipline.” In view here is the rigorous, repetitive work out of an athlete training for the Olympics. There is a lot of preliminary “grunt work” and a long time that precedes the glory of the Olympic day of victory.
Comment:
This is considered a group effort; there are no ‘lone ranger’ disciplers. Note even Jesus in setting an example during His ministry sent out disciples in pairs.
Further, the discipling is viewed in its entirety as action viewed by Jesus from the “as you are going,” through the baptism, the teaching, and out to the extent of all the nations is viewed by Jesus as a whole event.
Note:
Disciple comes from the root meaning discipline. There is to be more than a hint of discipline in this effort. Because the present age and world system is, in general, very undisciplined, this will require an effort that is against the natural flow and beyond the normal experience. Obedience to this command will feel unnatural to most. However, as any soldier in battle, the commander is not so much interested in the soldier’s feelings as he is in obedience. As Christians, we would do well to learn this lesson earlier in our walk rather than later in our walk.
Translation:
Jesus speaking: Given that all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, therefore (now, by all means - emphatically) ‘as you are going…’ (or ‘while on your way through life…’ or ‘as you are proceeding in your chosen manner through life …’), I (as superior to a subordinate laying aside my authority to command you) appeal to you (and particularly your will), its imperative that you actively disciple < ● > (train, acquire habits, disciple oneself) …
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