Yet, I am still struggling to understand why, for example, I must use the perfect ( “ἕστηκα”-“I have stood”) to say “I stand”, instead of simply using ἱτ “ιστημι” withouτ a direct object. I guess the simple answer is “that’s the way it is”.
That’s not a bad answer. It’s not surprising that the logic of one language seems illogical in another. I’ve heard of a language where to say “I am wearing” you have to say “I have put on.” For another language, to say “I’m tired” you have to say “I have got tired.”
Sometimes when you get deeper in, you can see the pattern behind such things. But not always!
Asterisk, You might care to read my follow-up post to that somewhat misleading post of Joel’s. It’s unfortunate that in English “stand” and “set” are so ambiguous.
ἵστημι is active and transitive, “I am setting (something”).
αν-ἵστημι “I am setting (something) up” (e.g. a tombstone).
αν-ἔστησα is the corresponding aorist, “I stood (something) up.” This is the “weak” aka “1st” aorist.
αν-ἔστην, however (the “strong” aorist), is intransitive, “I stood up,” “I arose” (as Jesus from the tomb)
[Apparently Corderch gets these the wrong way round. The “weak” aorist is the sigmatic aorist, εστησα (transitive). The “strong” aorist, εστην (intransitive), had to be strong in order to survive the inroads of the sigmatic aorist.]
αν-ἕσηκα, the perfect, somewhat anomalously, is intransitive (unlike most -κα perfects), “I have stood up” i.e. “I am in a standing position.”
It can be confusing!* But it is consistent throughout the verb ἵστημι and all its many compounds.
So (all these intransitive):
ανισταμαι (middle) I am (in the prccess of) standing up..
ανεστην (strong aor.) I stood up.
ανεστηκα (perf.) I have stood up i.e. I am standing.
Very! And further confusing is the fact that some -μι verbs have both aorist and perfect in -κα, e.g. ἔδωκα ‘Ι gave’ aor., δέδωκα ‘I have given’ perfect (δεδ- reduplication).
Misleading? Please expand if so. I was going to comment that the above simple presentation is really due to Morwood, whose grammar is the best around for simplicity and straightforwardness. But if I’ve added an error somehow in transferring it, people should know.
Somewhat misleading, as I explained, inasmuch as “I set up,” which you (Morwood?) used to render both ἵστημι and ἔστησα, is ambiguous (unlike the Greek) and potentially confusing. It’s unfortunate, that’s all. Not worth getting worked up over.