QUestion
In John 12:27, "troubled" is tetaraktai in Greek. I'm trying to figure out the beginning te- in the Greek word. Can you help me?
Response
John 12:27
Νῦν ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται, καὶ τί εἴπω; πάτερ, σῶσόν με ἐκ τῆς ὥρας ταύτης; ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον εἰς τὴν ὥραν ταύτην.
Normally when you see the epsilon reduplication (like τετ or βεβ), the first guess is perfect. The Greek New Testament (GNT) has hundreds of these; so it is a good pattern to learn. This is confirmed by the third person perfect passive ending ται. Τετάρακται is perfect (5th principal part) from ταρἀσσω to disturb, meaning it has been disturbed, where the double σσ in the first principal part represents a guttural root like χ. (The noun is τάραχος)..
Why does it mean “is troubled” as though it were present ταράσσεται? Perfect refers to an event (a disturbance) that first occurred in the past but whose effect continues in the present; so although it refers to something started in the past, its main time is present. So translators often simplify it that way. Τετάρακται is more precise than ταράσσεται because it communicates to the GNT reader that the trouble has been going on for some time. Exact details like that are hard to capture in translation.