More Matthew 1:22

τούτο δε όλον γέγονεν
and this all occurred

ίνα πληρωθῇ
in order that it might be fulfilled

το ρηθέν υπό κυρίου
that which was spoken by the lord

διά του προφήτου λέγοντος
through the prophet saying . . .

Last time we looked at the first line of this verse; today we'll continue on to the second:

ίνα πληρωθῇ
in order that it might be fulfilled

The word 'ίνα' is translated here 'in order that.' But the next four words in English - 'it might be fulfilled' - require only one word in Greek: 'πληρωθῇ'. (Incidentally, the mark above the last letter is a circumflex accent - this is pronounced the same as an acute accent for our purposes.)

The word 'πληρωθῇ' is from the verb (in the present tense) 'πληρόω', which has the basic meaning 'to fill', 'to make full', 'to fulfill'. But our form is passive; that is, the basic meaning is 'made full' or 'fulfilled'.

Something is 'made full' of 'fulfilled' by an agent that is not the subject of the phrase. So what is the subject - i.e., the person or thing that is being acted upon? In this case the subject is 'it' - referring to 'that which was spoken by the lord', which comes next in the verse. So if we are reading word by word, and not looking ahead, we don't know what is being fulfilled yet.

The verb form is third person singular, indicating 'he/she/it was fulfilled', not 'we were fulfilled' or 'I was fulfilled', etc. The verb form is also aorist. The meaning of the aorist tense does not precisely correspond to the meaning of any English verb tense. It is - in the indicative - mostly a simple past tense; e.g., 'I said' (aorist) vs. 'I say' (present tense) or 'I was saying' (imperfect).

But this is not an indicative form; 'πληρωθῇ' is third person, aorist passive subjunctive. In the subjunctive the aorist does not really have a past tense meaning. In non-indicative tenses the aorist is more an indication that the action involved involves a single and completed occurrence. Here we bring out the subjunctive sense by the use of the English helping word 'might'.

The aorist is a subject of some discussion among Greek grammar experts.

Remember to check www.greekbiblestudy.org for much more information about each word that we look at. Χαίρετε!