Session 8

THE FOUR CLASS CONDITIONS OF “IF” (CONDITIONAL CLAUSES)

Another principle which will be very helpful in doing interpretation is a basic understanding of conditional clauses in the Greek language. A conditional clause is a suppositional statement which may or may not be true depending upon the fulfillment of certain, specified conditions. There are four class conditions of “if’ in the Greek:

  1. First class conditional statement
    • Reality: if . . . and it’s true.
  2. Second class conditional statement
    • Unreality: if . . . and it’s not true.
  3. Third class conditional statement
    • Probability: if . . . and it may be true.
  4. Fourth class conditional statement
    • Possibility if . . . it could be true but it is very doubtful.

In the Greek, a conditional clause is formed by combining a preposition (prepositions show direction, location, or time, or introduce an object. They are usually followed by an object — a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun) with a certain verb mood. Therefore, it is important to remember what each mood expresses. The indicative mood simply states a fact; the subjunctive mood expresses action that has some degree of uncertainty; the optative mood reflects even more uncertainty. Therefore, conditional clauses can be group into two types.

The first type is determined and assumes something to be either true or untrue. The first two class conditions have the indicative mood and view the situation from a standpoint of reality, assuming the premise is either true (first class condition) or untrue (second class condition). The speaker is simply making a declarative statement based on the assumption that what he is saying is either true or false.

The second type is undetermined and is made up of the third class condition and the fourth class condition. These two class conditions use the subjunctive mood and optative mood and, therefore, reflect uncertainty or doubt-this may or may not be true. The optative mood indicates more doubt of realization than does the subjunctive.

Class Condition

First

Expression

if … and it’s true (could be translated “since or because”). A true statement or fulfilled condition.

Construction

(ei=if) + any tense of the indicative mood or imperative imperfect

Second

if. . . and it’s not true. A statement which is contrary to fact or unfulfilled condition.

(ei=if) + past tenses of the
indicative mood

Third

if. . . may be true, may not be true. A supposition where the reality of the issue is uncertain.

(eav=if) + subjunctive mood
implying uncertainty

Fourth

if … it might be true,
but it is very doubtful. Same as third class, but expresses more doubt about the possible fulfillment.

(ei=if) + optative mood

Note: Further explanation of the Third Class Condition: The Greek word eav is derived from combining the word ei (if) with the particle aw which indicates uncertainty or indefiniteness.

Assignment: Look in John 11 for “If – Then” conditional clauses and determine which class it fits (try John 11:21, 32, and 48)