The aorist passive is the last principal part, and with it the set is complete: λύω, λύσω, ἔλυσα, λέλυκα, λέλυμαι, ἐλύθην. Six forms, and from them every form of the verb can be built.
It is also the commonest of these forms by a wide margin. There are 863 aorist passive indicatives in the New Testament — more than any other middle or passive form — which makes this the chapter of the four to get right.
The first aorist passive
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ἐλύθην | ἐλύθημεν |
| 2nd | ἐλύθης | ἐλύθητε |
| 3rd | ἐλύθη | ἐλύθησαν |
Three pieces: the augment, then θη — the passive marker, and the thing to look for — then the endings.
And here is the surprise. Those endings are the secondary active ones from chapter 7: -ν, -ς, —, -μεν, -τε, -σαν. A passive built with active endings. Do not fight it; just note that θη is what marks the voice, and the endings mark nothing but the person.
The third singular ἐλύθη has no ending at all, which makes it the shortest and the commonest shape you will meet.
When the stem ends in a consonant
A stem ending in a consonant collides with the θ, and the two combine. The three rules are worth reading once and then leaving:
| κ, γ, χ | + θ → | χθ | ἄγω → ἤχθη |
| π, β, φ | + θ → | φθ | πέμπω → ἐπέμφθη |
| τ, δ, θ | + θ → | σθ | βαπτίζω → ἐβαπτίσθη |
These are the same three groupings that governed the future in chapter 3 and the aorist active in chapter 7. It is one sound rule you have now met three times, and the useful residue is this: a θ preceded by χ is very often an aorist passive — χθ more than half the time. The other two are weaker: φθ is an aorist passive about a quarter of the time, and σθ about the same, because most of the σθ on the page is the middle and passive ending from chapter 12, -σθε and -σθαι. So treat χθ as a clue and the other two as a prompt to look.
Second aorist passives
Some verbs form the aorist passive with no θ at all — the η attaches straight to the stem. As with second aorists and second perfects, the difference is form only.
ὅσα γὰρ προεγράφη, εἰς τὴν ἡμετέραν διδασκαλίαν ἐγράφη
"For whatever was written beforehand was written for our instruction." The principal part is ἐγράφην, "I was written", and both verbs here are third singular: ἐγράφη, and the compound προεγράφη with προ- on the front and the augment tucked inside.
ἀπεστάλη ὁ ἄγγελος Γαβριὴλ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ
"The angel Gabriel was sent from God." The principal part is ἀπεστάλην and the form here is its third singular ἀπεστάλη — again no θ, and again the augment tucked inside the compound.
A verb with a second aorist passive has a second future passive too, likewise without the θ.
The future passive
Build the aorist passive stem, drop the augment, add σ and the primary middle endings from chapter 12: λυθήσομαι, λυθήσῃ, λυθήσεται…
So a future passive carries both marks at once — the θη of the passive and the σ of the future — which makes it one of the most recognisable forms in the language. The commonest are δοθήσεται (16), σωθήσεται (13) and ἀφεθήσεται (12).
μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." A future passive with no agent named — the divine passive of chapter 12, and one of the places where leaving God unnamed is the whole force of the line.
The passive at work
ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί, ἐδικαιώθη ἐν πνεύματι, ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις, ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν, ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ, ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ
"He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory."
Six aorist passive indicatives in a row, and every one has the same shape: augment, stem, θη or its consonant variant, ending. ἐκηρύχθη shows the κ-group rule and ἀνελήμφθη the π-group. The rhythm, and the bare Ὅς that opens it with no antecedent, are why this is usually taken to be an existing hymn being quoted rather than composed.
A note on the text. That observation depends on the reading. This course follows the SBLGNT, which has Ὅς; other witnesses have θεός — which is where the King James got "God was manifest in the flesh" — and others the neuter ὅ. It is the best-known variant in the Pastoral letters, and worth knowing that a Greek observation can turn on which Greek you have open.
Notice too what the passive is doing across the whole hymn. Christ is the subject of every line and the actor in none of them. That is a deliberate choice, and it is not available in an English translation that turns the verbs active.
Ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
"All authority in heaven and on earth was given to me." Most English versions have "has been given", which reads well and quietly turns an aorist into a perfect — the distinction chapter 10 spent its length on. Given by whom is not said, and does not need to be.
Passive in form, active in sense
Now the warning this chapter exists for, and it is the same shape as οἶδα in chapter 10.
The commonest aorist passive in the New Testament is not passive. ἀποκρίνομαι supplies 104 of the 863, more than any other verb, and ἀπεκρίθη means "he answered" — not "he was answered".
ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς λέγων
"But Pilate answered them, saying." A passive form, an active meaning, and a dative object.
It is not alone. ἐπορεύθη is "he went", ἐγενήθη is "it became", ἐφοβήθησαν is "they were afraid". Altogether 251 of the 863 aorist passives — nearly one in three — belong to verbs that have no active form anywhere in the New Testament.
So the θη tells you the form. It does not, on its own, tell you the meaning.
What to watch for
Look for θη, not for an ending. The endings are the secondary active ones, and they will mislead you if you read them first.
Check whether the verb has an active. One aorist passive in three does not, and translating those as passives produces nonsense.
Both marks together mean future passive. θη plus σ, as in σωθήσεται.
And when no agent is named, that may be the point. Ask whether the writer is avoiding saying "God" — in the sayings of Jesus, Black notes, he often is.