Last August I posted on “Con Campbell’s Book on Verbal Aspect Released in Carson’s SBG Series.” His second volume, a companion to the first, is now hot off the press:
Constantine R. Campbell, Verbal Aspect and Non-Indicative Verbs: Further Soundings in the Greek of the New Testament (ed. D. A. Carson; Studies in Biblical Greek 15; New York: Lang, 2008), xiv + 155 pp.
Carson writes in the series editor’s preface,
One of the self-imposed limitations of Dr Campbell’s earlier volume in this series, Verbal Aspect, the Indicative Mood, and Narrative: Soundings in the Greek of the New Testament, was the restriction of the analysis to verbs in the indicative mood found in narrative settings. The book you now hold in your hand plugs part of that gap: Dr Campbell now does for the non-indicative verbs what he earlier did for the indicative. His approach is similar: judicious soundings, careful examination of the context, thoughtful translation—all couched in highly readable prose. The two volumes belong together, and together they establish one of the most credible (and certainly accessible) analyses of verbal aspect in the Greek of the New Testament. The issues are complex and frequently subtle, so inevitably grammarians will differ in their assessments of some elements of Dr Campbell’s presentation. Nevertheless this contribution is strong evidence (if more evidence is needed) that verbal aspect theory has come of age and cannot responsibly be ignored by New Testament scholars (pp. xi–xii).
Endorsements on the back cover are by Peter T. O’Brien (Campbell’s colleague at Moore Theological College) and Rodney J. Decker.
Related: Andrew David Naselli, “A Brief Introduction to Verbal Aspect in New Testament Greek,” Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 12 (2007): 17–28.
Mike says
My frustration is that it has taken so long for discussions of aspect ot make it into NT studies. Verbal aspect has been discussed in Russian language studies for almost a hundred years.
I’m looking forward to reading your primer on the subject, Andy, when I either come across a copy of DBSJ or when the next volume of the Theological Journals Library comes out.
Mike