370 David J. Armitage connection, such a description is of limited value (25). However if the other conditions have implications in addition to “logical connection”, the first class could then function as a “basic” condition, with other forms being used given the need for particular additional nuances. Third class conditions, by using the subjunctive, communicate a greater degree of contingency than is implied in first class conditions. The protasis presents something which is not at the time of speaking specifically verifiable by the speaker, and attempts to draw out the consequences. The non-specificity implicit in the subjunctive is enhanced by the use of ejavn, with which, according to BDAG, the “probability of activity expressed in the verb [is] left open and [it is] thereby suited especially for generalized statements” (26). Boyer suggests that third class conditions can be described as “future conditions” (27), but futurity is not the only possible reason for non-verifiability. Wallace points out that third class conditions are used to express a range of ideas including logical connections in present time, hypothetical situations, and more probable future occurrences (28). The fulfilment of such conditions may happen (relative to the time of speaking) in the future, but to describe them as “future conditions” is not especially useful. The time reference is not necessarily of significance to the speaker, and in any case the present indicative when used in first class clauses may also encompass futuristic time reference. Pauline usage of third class conditions broadly conforms to these categories. He frequently uses them to make general points of wide applicability (e.g. Rom 2,25; 10,9; 1 Cor 11,14), to draw consequences from purely hypothetical situations (e.g. 1 Cor 12,15-16; 13,3, 14,8) and to consider the consequences of things that have not yet come to pass (e.g. Rom 11,23; 2 Cor 9,4). Paul does sometimes use first class conditions to make general points (e.g. 1 Cor 3,18; Gal 2,18), but also to make points based on protases which were (in principle) open to verification at the time of utterance (e.g. Rom 2,17; Gal 5,11). There is thus some overlap in the semantic field of first and third class conditions. In relation to first class clauses, time reference, particularity, and the relationship of the protasis to objective reality, or to the beliefs of the speaker, have to be inferred from context (29). Third (25) See PORTER, Verbal Aspect, 294. (26) BDAG, 267. (27) J.L. BOYER, “Third (and Fourth) Class Conditions”, GTJ 3/2 (1982) 167. (28) WALLACE, Grammar, 696. (29) Cf. PORTER, Verbal Aspect, 309, who notes that since no mood gram-