Bible Lexicons

";whenever,"; is construed (l) c. subj. pres. in such passages as P Fay 109.1 (early i/A.D.) ὅταν πρὸς ἀνάνκαιν (l. ἀνάγκην) θέλῃς παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ χρήσασθαί τι, εὐθύς σε οὐ κρατῶι, ";whenever you from necessity want to borrow anything from me, I at once give in to you"; (Edd.), P Oxy XIV. 1676.26 (iii/A.D.) τὸ σύνφορόν σου ποίει · ὅταν γὰρ θέλῃς ήμᾶς πάντοτε ἰδεῖν, ἥδιστά σι παραδεξόμεθα, ";do what suits you; for when you wish to see us always, we shall receive you with the greatest pleasure"; (Edd.), and (2) c. subj. aor. in such passages as P Lips I. 104.16 (c. B.C. 96–5) (= Witkowski.2, p. 116) ὅταν ἡμι ̣ͅν ̣ γ [ρ ]άψη ̣ς, ἔνψυχόν τι λαμβάνω, P Ryl II. 233.2 (ii/A.D.) ὅταν δὲ ἐπ᾽ ἀγαθῷ ἐκβῶμεν καὶ τὸ δῶμα ἀσφαλισθήσεται ἡ διαβάθρα καγγελωτὴ (l. καγκελλωτὴ) καὶ τὰ προσκήνια γενήσεται, ";but when we reach a fortunate issue and the house is established, then a balustrade will be added to the stairway and the porch"; (Edd.), and P Grenf II. 73.16 (late iii/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 118) καὶ ὅταν ἔλθῃ σὺν Θεῷ, μαρτυρήσι (= ει) περὶ ὧν αὐτὴν πεποιήκασιν, ";and when he arrives by the help of God, he will bear you witness of what they have done to her.";

Of ὅταν c. ind., which occurs quinquies in the NT, we can quote P Hamb I. 70.19 (soon after A.D. 144–5) ὅταν τὸν λόγον δίδομεν τῷ ἀφήλικι. In PSI IV. 434.6 (B.C. 261–0) ὅταν περιοδεύω, the verb is probably in the subj., and in P Par 26i. 14 (B.C. 162) (= Selections, p. 14) Wilcken (UPZ i. p. 247) now reads ὅτ᾽ ἀνἐβημεν for ὅταν ἐβημεν. See however P Ryl 233 ut s., where, with reference to ἀσφαλισθήσεται, the editors remark that ";the writer apparently forgot that ὅταν had preceded.";

For ὅταν c. imperf. (Mark 3:11, cf. Burton § 315) we may quote the curious anti-Christian inscr. in C. and B. 343.8 (= ii. p. 477) οὗτος ὁ βίος μοι γέγονεν (aoristic!) ὅταν ἔζων ἐγώ. In Mark 11:19 we may perhaps translate ";when evening fell,"; i.e. the evening before the πρωί of Mark 11:20 : in this way an awkward sequence is avoided, cf. Proleg, p. 248.