The “Bottom Line” on μι-Verbs

Don’t be intimidated by these "irregular" New Testament Greek verbs. If you pay attention, they too reveal structural "patterns" that you can find some comfort level in recognizing in context. The primary "bottom line" characteristics of μι-Verbs are presented below, and also as a downloadable PDF, which includes Indicative Mode formation charts and a listing of the most frequently occurring μι-Verbs in the New Testament. 

Go to: "It's All Greek to YOU!" (Wermuth's Greek Blog)

Wermuth’s “Famous Quotes & Memory Joggers” —OR— “Beginning Greek Grammar’s ‘Top 20′”

“Christian Love’s Crowning Touch: Loving One Another” (1 John 4:12, Greek & Latin)

Interestingly, during last Sunday’s worship service, I found the Greek and the Latin complementing each other quite well as I observed the Greek and Latin (side-by-side) text of 1 John 4:12b. In the context of the entire verse, Christians, obligated by the love that God has shown to us in Christ, are told that “if we should love one another, God’s love has been fulfilled/made perfect (τελειόω) in us.” The Latin Vulgate closely parallels the Greek here, using a verbal form (consummata est) from which one can easily recognize the roots of our English word “consummation.” Among the lexical Latin definitions of the root word (including: "add/reckon/total/sum/make up; finish off, end; bring about, achieve/accomplish; bring to perfection; be grown)" is to “put the finishing/crowning touch.” Broken down even further, the student of Latin (or English) can readily spot the basis for the English word “summit” within this Latin word. So, like water increasingly poured into a previously empty glass, or as one standing upon a mountain’s “summit,” God’s love is “fulfilled,” in us, matured to the “crowning touch” when we love one another in Christ.

1 John 1:7, 9: God’s Forgiveness through Jesus Christ:

"Arise my soul, arise, shake off thy guilty fears;
The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears;
Before the Throne my Surety stands . . .
My name is written on his hands." (Charles Wesley, Trinity Hymnal, #223)

Ephesians 1:4-5; Romans 8:29-30: God’s Adopted Children

2 Peter 1:5-11: Your Invitation to the Divine Dance

By way of refresher, this passage runs the "laundry list" of all the qualities necessary for the Christian to possess and increase in as he diligently seeks "entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (v. 11). These verses had always seemed ominous to me and seemingly unattainable from a human standpoint:

". . . applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge . . . self-control . . . perseverance . . . godliness . . . brotherly kindness, and . . . love." (vv. 5-7)

1 John 1:9: What Is Confession Really?

John 3:16: Jesus Christ: God’s Unique Son

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not die, but should have eternal life."

Yet as familiar as it is to most people, there is still a golden Greek "nugget" embedded within this verse. 

Once again, by observing a single Greek word, a beautifully clear truth can be recognized. Our attention should center on the word commonly translated as "only begotten." The Greek word is from μονογενής (only, only begotten). Even the casual non-Greek student observer can readily discern from a phonetic spelling of this word ("mono-genēs") that there's more going on here than initially meets the eye.

1 John 4:16b: Abiding Godliness—God’s Communicable Attribute of “Love”

"God is love, and the one abiding in love is abiding in God and God is abiding in him."

It's easy to see the algebraic equation embedded in the above verse from 1 John. Most have studied and remember this mathematical function (apart from many we may have forgotten): "If A = B, and if B = C, then A = C." This exact premise is being postulated here in our verse. And while that's easy enough to discern from the English, the Greek rendering, based on word order and proximity, can be even more keenly observed. With God = "A," love = "B" and the believer (i.e., the one abiding) = "C," examine the Greek word order:

Matthew 26:25: Judas and Jesus—A Reminder of Our Depravity

Here is a verse that provides and excellent example of how, oftentimes, our English bible translations simply fail to render the original Greek in the most accurate manner. Within Greek grammatical rules is a grammatical structure where if one of two Greek negatives, οὐ, is used in a question, then the questioner is expecting a "Yes" answer. Conversely, if the other of the two negatives, μή, is used, a "No" answer is expected. In the following verse under consideration, the New American Standard version gets it right, while the highly reputable English Standard version unexpectedly seems to miss it.

The setting is the last Passover Jesus will share with the twelve disciples. Among the twelve, of course, is Judas, who has already secured his booty of silver from the chief priests in exchange for his impending betrayal of Jesus (v. 15). This fact is key to understanding the importance of the Greek grammatical structure in verse 25!