A More Accurate Look at

Matthew 28:19

By John A. Finton

            It is not uncommon to teach a “literal” rendering of the participle πορευθέντες in Matthew 28:19 as either “as you go,” “while you are going,” or “having gone.” This understanding appears to be the majority view. However, there is another view that takes πορευθέντες as an imperative based on Greek grammar. This view sees an emphasis on the imperative character which gives the sense of a strong “go” in the missionary command. This view appears to be the more likely one due to the following reasons.

I. Priority of the Original Language.

             The aorist participle πορευθέντες in Matthew 28:19 is considered to be what is known as attendant circumstance. Grammarian Daniel Wallace (Greek Grammar Beyond the Basic, 640) defines this as follows:

The attendant circumstance participle is used to communicate an action that, in some sense, is coordinate with the finite verb. In this respect it is not dependent, for it is translated like a verb. Yet it is still dependent semantically, because it cannot exist without the main verb. It is translated as a finite verb connected to the main verb by and. The participle then, in effect, “piggy-backs” on the mood of the main verb. This usage is relatively common, but widely misunderstood.

         Wallace (641) illustrates the importance of a proper understanding of the attendant circumstance:

Consider, for example, Matt 2:13. The angel is speaking to Joseph and says: εγερθεις παράλαβε το παιδιον και την μητερα αυτου και φευγε (“Rise and take the child and his mother and flee!”). There is really only one good possibility for εγερθεις as an adverbial participle--temporal. (The others, as you can think through them for yourself, make little sense.) If temporal, then it is more likely antecedent to the action of the main verb (though in close proximity). But such an idea would not convey the urgency of the command (“After you have arisen, take . . . and go . . .”). Such a translation would suggest that the time when Joseph was to rise was an option; it was only that once he did rise, he was to obey the angelic command. The attendant circumstance participle fits far better here—the mood of the two main verbs is picked up by the participle (“Rise and take . . . and go . . .”). It is apparent that Joseph was commanded not only to take his family and flee, but also to rise immediately.

             After further discussion concerning the attendant circumstance, Wallace (642) notes, “In the least, since virtually all aorist participle + aorist imperative constructions involve attendant circumstance participles, this casts the most serious doubt on translations of πορευθέντες in Matt 28:19 as ‘having gone,’ or worse, ‘as you are going.’”

             Wallace (645) further comments on Matthew 28:19 stating,

. . . there is no good grammatical ground for giving the participle a mere temperal idea. To turn πορευθέντες into an adverbial participle is to turn the Great Commission into the Great Suggestion! Virtually all instances in narrative literature of aorist participle + aorist imperative involve an attendant circumstance participle. In Matthew, in particular, every other instance of the aorist participle of πορευθέντες followed by an aorist main verb (either indicative or imperative) is clearly attendant circumstance.

         Cleon Rogers (“The Great Commission,” Bibliothecasacra, 130:258-67, 1973) is in agreement with this analysis stating, “. . . a closer examination of the grammar shows that the imperative idea is to be preferred.” Rogers presents several examples from the Septuagint that validates the imperative aspect of the aorist participle in Matthew 28:19. Roger uses examples where the Hebrew text has imperatives which are rendered as a participle in the Septuagint (259). His examples are where the Hebrew text is the base and the imperative force is clear from the Hebrew.

         Rogers presents several examples from Matthew as validation as well (259-60): “The first example is Matthew 2:8 (πορευθένες εξέτασατε). It could possibly be translated ‘when you go, search out’ but the urgency of Herod certainly demands an imperative ‘go and search out. . . .’” Other examples from Matthew include 2:13, 20; 5:24; 9:13; 11:4; 21:2; 17:21; 28:7. Rogers (261-62) continues: