86 Paul Himes in 4,553. Knight states, “The present tense is probably used for this one command in the midst of a series of aorist imperatives because the qualifying prepositional phrase ἐν πᾶσιν envisions various situations that would require the continued action that the present tense represents”54. Regarding 4,2, Lea and Griffin declare, “Five aorist imperatives in this verse set forth commands with the crisp forcefulness of a military order” while in 4,5, “the Greek present tense underscores the need for continuous alertness”55. Thorley argues, “The tenor is deliberately vigorous and a call for action, rather than the solemn exhortations to be pondered over that the present imperatives would have implied”56. It may be somewhat of a stretch (in light of the discussion in section one), to necessarily see the idea of “briskness” or “military crispness” in the aorist tense. Also, to this writer’s knowledge, no one has yet demonstrated that the aorist is somehow a more “solemn” or “serious” verb than the present (contra Mounce). Furthermore, Mounce’s statement that the shift to the present “is appropriate for a general admonition”57 seems to disregard the arguments that the aorist is actually the more general verb. Nevertheless, Paul’s usage of the tenses here is difficult to explain. Knight may be right with his statement, yet this writer is not convinced of the idea that a prepositional phrase alone would influence the change in a verb’s tense (and the rest of the verbs of 4,5 have just as much a right to be viewed with a continuous aktionsart as the first verb, νῆφε). From the perspective of verbal aspect theory, it is difficult to understand why out of all the verbs only the command to be sober would be foregrounded or viewed subjectively from an internal perspective. Is the call to soberness truly the command that Paul wished to highlight the most? In both 2 Tim 4,9 and 4,21, just as in 2,15, Paul uses the aorist imperative form of σπουδάζω, combined with an aorist infinitive. In 4,9 and 4,21 he urges Timothy to come to him soon. In 4,19, Paul uses the aorist tense to urge Timothy to greet certain people for him. It is difficult to see any significance here in the usage of the aorist, and it is somewhat odd that 4,9’s request for Timothy to come to Paul has an aorist, while the request in 4,11 to bring Mark and the request in 4,13 to bring his coat are both present tenses (ἄγε and φέρε respectively). 53 Hendriksen and Kistemaker, Thessalonians, the Pastorals, and Hebrews 308. 54 Knight, The Pastoral Epistles 456-457. 55 Lea and Griffin, 1, 2 Timothy 242, 245. 56 Thorley, “Aktionsart in New Testament Greek” 308. 57 Mounce, Pastoral Epistles 576 (emphasis added).