Reading Social Conflict through Greek Grammar 117 latter being a less probable, future contingency). After noting the absence of any complete fourth-class conditions in the NT, he argues, “if all future conditions in the NT are third class, that is, all are more probable, there is no longer any meaning to ‘more’”22. It is this dramatic shift that has caused Boyer to question the validity of a distinction between moods in conditional sentences. The real problem, in his mind, is that the degree of potentiality covered by the third-class condition spans the entirety of the spectrum from certainty to impossibility. That is, it covers not only its customary functions from the classical period but also the tasks once performed by the fourth-class condition. Consequently, he would say, “degree of potentiality is a factor within all moods, but it is not a distinguishing factor between the moods . . . The mood used does not in any sense indicate how confident one can be that something will or will not happen”23. Such concerns are certainly warranted considering the wholesale transfer many have made when moving from classical to Hellenistic Greek. Conditional sentences in the NT are often approached without the realization that the subjunctive had, for the most part, taken over the duties of the optative. Nevertheless, Boyer swings the pendulum too far in the opposite direction when he rules out any applicable carryover into the NT. In essence, any significance brought about by the presence of the optative (even though it may only be in either the protasis or apodosis) is removed. As a result, it attributes little to no value to a consciously selected form24. It is true that there was overlap between moods. Distinction between moods, therefore, might not be as hard and fast as once believed. However, what must be taken into account is that this overlap took place in only one direction—the subjunctive encroached upon the optative. Since the optative was on the decline, its employment would signal a definite shift from what would have been communicated by a more elastic form. This is due to the fact that encroachment upon the duties of a form does not in any way annul the form’s meaning when it is employed25. In fact, the exact opposite would seem to be the case since the usage becomes more pronounced. The aspect of the optative (and thus the fourth-class condition) that would likely be most pronounced is that which set it 22 J.L. Boyer, “Third (and Fourth) Class Conditions”, Grace Theological Journal 3 (1982) 171 (original emphasis). 23 idem, “The Classification of Optatives: A Statistical Study”, Grace Theological Journal 9 (1988) 138 (original emphasis). 24 See the critique by Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 700 n. 40. 25 Ibid., 700.