An Exploration of Conditional Clause Exegesis 371 class conditions express some form of potentiality which invariably entails futurity, although time reference will not necessarily be a primary consideration. Again, the degree of specificity can only be inferred from the context. 3. Comparison of semantics of third and fourth class conditions Third and fourth class conditions both use moods which express projection (30); it is thus of relevance here to consider what significance there may be in a writer preferring one over the other. The semantics of third and fourth class conditions are frequently presented as representing points on a continuum of probability, with fourth class conditions demonstrating a higher degree of contingency. This is thought to reflect the semantics of the mood forms used: subjunctive in third class conditions and optative in fourth class conditions. Wallace suggests (in terms which he himself acknowledges as simplistic) that the subjunctive can be thought of as expressing an idea that is “probable” or “desirable”, whereas the optative expresses something “possible” (31). Caution is needed in using these formulations, since describing the subjunctive as expressing that something is “probable” might imply that the use of the optative necessarily meant that what was being described was “improbable”, which is quite different to “possible”. Thus in 2 Thess 3,5, Paul prays thus: oJ de; kuvrio" kateuquvnai uJmw'n ta;" kardiva" eij" th;n ajgavphn tou' qeou'… The use of the optative kateuquvnai does not imply that the answering of his prayer was unlikely; merely that is was contingent on the will of someone else. The optative is actually used in two distinct ways (32), one expressing potentiality (perhaps with a higher degree of contingency than the subjunctive), and the other (“voluntative” (33)) expressing wish or desire. If the use of the optative (including fourth class conditions) implies —————— maticalizes absolute facts, it is possible for 1st class conditions to express contingency in much the same way as 3rd class conditions. (30) ROBERTSON, Grammar, 925, who suggests that subjunctive and optative are “really variations of the same mode”. (31) WALLACE, Grammar, 446. See also BROOKS – WINBERY, Syntax, 124, who likewise summarise the subjunctive as “the mood of probability” and the optative as “the mood of possibility”, with the optative making an assertion which is “more doubtful than that of the subjunctive”. (32) J. MILLER, Bad Moods and the Oblique Optative [online] http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1815 [accessed 1/4/06] (2004) (33) WALLACE, Grammar, 481.