Temporal Deixis of the Greek Verb in the Gospel of Mark with Reference to Verbal Aspect

The Author: Rodney J. Decker is Associate Professor of New Testament at Baptist Bible Seminary, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. He received his Th.D. in New Testament from Central Baptist Seminary, Minneapolis. His articles on linguistic, exegetical, and theological topics have been published in various journals. He has taught Greek and New Testament for the past ten years.

«Rodney J. Decker’s study of the temporal deixis of the Greek verb is important for students beginning to study verbal aspect in the Greek New Testament and for those who have been involved in the renewed discussion of this topic over the past decade. Beginning students will find in this book a quick entrée into the discussion of verbal aspect; Decker provides for them the definitions of key terms and a summary of the recent theoretical discussion concerning verbal aspect in the Greek New Testament. For those who have followed the discussion for the last decade, Decker’s study is the kind of work we have been waiting for. He tests one of the two main competing temporal theories of the Greek verb on extended portions of the Gospel of Mark. Decker’s work is a must for students of New Testament Greek and exegetes of the New Testament who desire to stay abreast of the discussion concerning verbal aspect in the Greek New Testament.» (W. E. Glenny, Northwestern College, St. Paul, Minnesota)«I am pleased to recommend Rodney J. Decker’s study of verbal aspect both to those interested in matters of Greek linguistics and to New Testament exegetes. Informed study of Greek verbal structure, especially verbal aspect, has become a topic of increasing importance over the last decade. Decker’s study not only offers a worthwhile survey of much of this recent work, but applies an informed concept of verbal aspect to important passages in Mark’s Gospel with telling results. His attempt to quantify these results is a definite aid to further study of this vital topic.» (Stanley E. Porter, University of Surrey Roehampton, London, United Kingdom)