Aktionsart and Ask, Seek, Knock (Matt 7:7-8)
In first year Greek, we teachers need to make a bigger deal of Aktionsart. Meaning isn’t conveyed just by the meaning of the word, or its tense, or its aspect. Language gives us many tools to nuance what we want to say, and our students need to know that meaning can also help convey aspect.
For example, Mark 5:2. “And he opened his mouth and taught (ἐδίδασκεν) them” (ESV, also NRSV). ἐδίδασκεν is imperfective, but the ESV thinks that the meaning of “to teach” is sufficiently continuous that the verb doesn’t need to be expressly continuous. Most translations treat it as an inceptive imperfect: “he began to teach” (NASB, CSB, NIV, NLT), pointing forward to the Sermon on the Mount.
But what about Matt 7:7-8. A normal translation reads, “Ask (αἰτεῖτε) and it will be given to you, seek (ζητεῖτε) and you will find, knock (κρούετε) and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks (ὁ αἰτῶν) receives, and everyone who seeks (ὁ ζητῶν) finds, and for everyone who knocks (τῷ κρούοντι) it will be opened.”