Third (and Fourth) Class Conditions

Third class conditional sentences, a very frequent type of conditional sentence, are identified and characterized by their use of the subjunctive mood in the protasis. The subjunctive indicates potentiality, contingency, or simple futurity. It is the condition which points to a future eventuality. The common notion that it indicates a degree of probability is examined by inductive study of all the NT examples and is concluded to be totally incorrect. Also, the oftenmade distinction between present general and future particular conditions within this third class is shown to be neither helpful nor indicated by NT Greek texts. All third class conditions are essentially future contingencies. * * * THE third classification of conditional sentences in the Greek NT occurs almost as frequently as the first and five times more frequently than the second. It is designated by many names, reflecting different understandings on the part of grammarians of its basic significance.