Greek NT — Verb Morphology by Book¶
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Verb tense and mood distribution as a percentage of all verbs in each Greek NT book.
Tenses: Present, Imperfect, Future, Aorist, Perfect, Pluperfect (2nd-form variants consolidated).
Verb Tenses¶
Chart¶
Tense Data Table¶
| Book | Present | Imperfect | Future | Aorist | Perfect | Pluperfect | Verbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew | 35.7% | 3.6% | 8.8% | 49.0% | 2.8% | 0.2% | 4,055 |
| Mark | 37.1% | 11.0% | 4.7% | 43.4% | 3.5% | 0.3% | 2,715 |
| Luke | 33.9% | 8.2% | 7.0% | 46.8% | 3.8% | 0.4% | 4,521 |
| John | 42.3% | 8.1% | 4.7% | 36.7% | 7.3% | 0.9% | 3,651 |
| Acts | 31.3% | 10.5% | 2.8% | 50.9% | 4.1% | 0.4% | 4,022 |
| Romans | 52.6% | 1.3% | 8.5% | 30.8% | 6.7% | 0.1% | 1,177 |
| 1 Corinthians | 61.2% | 1.5% | 6.3% | 23.9% | 7.1% | 0.0% | 1,324 |
| 2 Corinthians | 53.4% | 1.2% | 5.5% | 32.2% | 7.8% | 0.0% | 768 |
| Galatians | 50.1% | 5.3% | 4.8% | 33.3% | 6.5% | 0.0% | 417 |
| Ephesians | 53.0% | 1.2% | 2.4% | 37.8% | 5.5% | 0.0% | 328 |
| Philippians | 57.4% | 2.0% | 6.2% | 27.7% | 6.6% | 0.0% | 256 |
| Colossians | 53.8% | 1.3% | 2.5% | 34.3% | 8.1% | 0.0% | 236 |
| 1 Thessalonians | 55.2% | 1.3% | 2.5% | 33.5% | 7.5% | 0.0% | 239 |
| 2 Thessalonians | 53.3% | 2.5% | 5.7% | 33.6% | 4.9% | 0.0% | 122 |
| 1 Timothy | 68.4% | 0.0% | 2.7% | 22.6% | 6.3% | 0.0% | 301 |
| 2 Timothy | 38.9% | 0.0% | 10.5% | 39.3% | 11.4% | 0.0% | 229 |
| Titus | 67.2% | 0.9% | 0.0% | 25.0% | 6.9% | 0.0% | 116 |
| Philemon | 52.2% | 2.2% | 6.5% | 32.6% | 6.5% | 0.0% | 46 |
| Hebrews | 46.0% | 2.9% | 5.7% | 36.1% | 9.3% | 0.0% | 927 |
| James | 55.4% | 0.8% | 7.5% | 31.0% | 5.3% | 0.0% | 361 |
| 1 Peter | 50.3% | 2.8% | 4.2% | 37.2% | 5.6% | 0.0% | 288 |
| 2 Peter | 50.0% | 1.6% | 7.8% | 30.7% | 9.9% | 0.0% | 192 |
| 1 John | 66.5% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 15.0% | 14.8% | 0.2% | 439 |
| 2 John | 66.7% | 2.1% | 4.2% | 20.8% | 6.2% | 0.0% | 48 |
| 3 John | 68.0% | 2.0% | 6.0% | 18.0% | 6.0% | 0.0% | 50 |
| Jude | 48.2% | 2.4% | 1.2% | 37.6% | 10.6% | 0.0% | 85 |
| Revelation | 39.4% | 2.7% | 7.5% | 42.4% | 8.0% | 0.1% | 1,610 |
Verb Moods¶
Chart¶
Mood Data Table¶
| Book | Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | Optative | Infinitive | Participle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew | 55.9% | 7.0% | 7.2% | 0.0% | 6.4% | 23.5% |
| Mark | 57.3% | 7.7% | 5.6% | 0.0% | 7.6% | 21.8% |
| Luke | 54.8% | 5.4% | 6.4% | 0.2% | 8.9% | 24.2% |
| John | 70.7% | 8.1% | 3.5% | 0.0% | 4.0% | 13.7% |
| Acts | 49.7% | 1.9% | 3.1% | 0.4% | 12.3% | 32.5% |
| Romans | 57.0% | 6.7% | 5.2% | 1.0% | 8.5% | 21.6% |
| 1 Corinthians | 59.0% | 11.6% | 7.6% | 0.2% | 7.6% | 14.0% |
| 2 Corinthians | 53.0% | 9.2% | 2.9% | 0.0% | 9.2% | 25.7% |
| Galatians | 58.8% | 7.7% | 5.0% | 0.7% | 7.9% | 19.9% |
| Ephesians | 37.2% | 8.5% | 12.8% | 0.0% | 9.1% | 32.3% |
| Philippians | 45.7% | 7.4% | 9.8% | 0.0% | 16.4% | 20.7% |
| Colossians | 40.7% | 9.7% | 12.3% | 0.0% | 4.7% | 32.6% |
| 1 Thessalonians | 40.6% | 7.9% | 8.4% | 2.1% | 18.4% | 22.6% |
| 2 Thessalonians | 41.0% | 13.1% | 5.7% | 3.3% | 15.6% | 21.3% |
| 1 Timothy | 38.2% | 6.6% | 14.6% | 0.0% | 13.3% | 27.2% |
| 2 Timothy | 46.7% | 5.2% | 14.4% | 1.3% | 7.9% | 24.5% |
| Titus | 27.6% | 13.8% | 12.1% | 0.0% | 18.1% | 28.4% |
| Philemon | 54.3% | 10.9% | 10.9% | 2.2% | 6.5% | 15.2% |
| Hebrews | 45.7% | 7.0% | 3.0% | 0.1% | 10.1% | 34.0% |
| James | 50.4% | 7.8% | 15.2% | 0.0% | 7.2% | 19.4% |
| 1 Peter | 31.9% | 6.2% | 12.2% | 1.0% | 6.6% | 42.0% |
| 2 Peter | 40.6% | 2.1% | 3.6% | 0.5% | 7.3% | 45.8% |
| 1 John | 70.4% | 12.1% | 2.1% | 0.0% | 1.6% | 13.9% |
| 2 John | 45.8% | 12.5% | 6.2% | 0.0% | 10.4% | 25.0% |
| 3 John | 56.0% | 8.0% | 2.0% | 0.0% | 12.0% | 22.0% |
| Jude | 35.3% | 0.0% | 5.9% | 2.4% | 10.6% | 45.9% |
| Revelation | 56.5% | 5.3% | 5.7% | 0.0% | 6.7% | 25.7% |
Observations¶
Tenses: - Narrative books (Gospels, Acts) are aorist-heavy: Acts (50.9%), Matthew (49.0%), Luke (46.8%). The aorist is the default narrative past tense in Greek. - Mark has the highest imperfect rate (11.0%) among all NT books — consistent with its vivid, "historical present" narrative style and frequent use of imperfect for continuous background action. - The Pauline and General Epistles shift toward present-heavy profiles (50–68%), reflecting their argumentative/paraenetic register. Timeless truths and general commands favor the present tense. - 1 John stands out with the highest perfect rate (14.8%), reflecting its theological emphasis on abiding states — what has been done and continues to have effect (e.g., "we have known," "he has given"). - 2 Timothy has the highest perfect rate among the Pauline letters (11.4%) and a notable future rate (10.5%), consistent with its farewell/legacy tone.
Moods: - John and 1 John have the highest indicative rates (70.7% and 70.4%), reflecting their direct declarative style — "this is," "he is," "we know." - Acts and Hebrews have the highest participle rates (32.5% and 34.0%), consistent with their Greek literary style. Luke–Acts uses the genitive absolute and attendant circumstance participle extensively. - 1 Peter (42.0%) and 2 Peter (45.8%) and Jude (45.9%) have extremely high participle rates, indicating a Greek rhetorical style that relies heavily on participial phrases rather than finite verbs. - Titus has the lowest indicative rate (27.6%) and the highest subjunctive (13.8%) + infinitive (18.1%) combination, reflecting its concentrated use of purpose clauses and indirect discourse in pastoral instruction. - The Prison Epistles (Ephesians, Colossians) show elevated imperative rates (~12–13%), consistent with their extended paraenetic sections.
Source: STEPBible TAGNT (CC BY).