2o8 THEOKr of the 



The cafe of trie ifioods of verbs is exadlly parallel to that of 

 their tenfes, which is very accurately pointed out and happily 

 illuftrated by the learned author of the treatife on the Origin 

 mid Progrefs of Language. 



Almost every language has its own advantages and difad- 

 vantages in the expreiSing of the various divilions and relations 

 of time ', but the conception of thefe divifions and relations of 

 time muft be the fame in all mankind. So it is with the conception 

 and the expreflion of moods or e?!crgies, and indeed with the 

 conception of every thing elfe which can be expreffed by verbs, 

 or by any other words. As in one of his own inftances : " The 

 " Lord gave, and the Lord hatb taken awayj blefled be the 

 " name of the Lord." There is a precifion and a beauty in this 

 ufe of the fimple contrafted with the compound paft tenfe, which 

 cannot be attained in Latin. Dominiis dedit, et Dominus 

 ABSTULIT ; benediBum fit nomen Domini. But it might be at- 

 tained in Greek, by ufing the aorift for gave^ and the preter- 

 perfedl for hath taken away. On looking into the Septuagint, 

 I do net, however, find that this delicacy of expreflion has been 

 attempted. But the genius of the Greek language has led the 

 tranflators to another nicety and propriety of expreflion, which 

 cannot be attained in any other language, nor indeed explained 

 without a circumlocution : 'O Ku^;o; i'^amv, o Kv^io^ a^iiXctro- uti 

 TO cvoy.ot, Kv^iou iv'koyrii^ivov. In this pafl"age, llantv is the aorift of 

 the aclive voice of the verb fignifying to give; atpeiKccro is the 

 aoi-ift of the middle voice of the verb fignifying io take away. 

 The Greek fentence therefore exprefles, The Lord gave, the 

 Lord took away to himfelf took back to himfelf, or fimply took 

 hack. Dominus dedit, Dominus recepit. If the Greek verb 

 ct<ptt.t^ii) had a preterperfedl middle, and if this tenfe of the 

 middle voice had, like moft other parts of the middle verb, a 

 kind of reciprocal or refledled meaning, on which points I dare 

 not prefume to decide, but muft leave them to the judgment 

 of grammarians, it would be poflible to exprefs in Greek both 



the 



