time, for what is ongoing and has not ceased, and for what has yet to come”—meaning the past tense, the imperfect, and the imperative. The imperfect was thus assigned to time that is ongoing and has not ceased, and it may encompass both the present and the future.

The words “I do not worship” therefore negate his worship of their object of worship in both the present and the future. The words “what you worship” encompass what they worship in the present and the future. Both verbs are in the imperfect.

In the second statement, he says of himself:

“Nor am I a worshipper of what you worshipped.”

He does not say, “I do not worship,” but rather, “Nor am I a worshipper.” Nor does he say, “what you worship,” but rather, “what you worshipped.” Thus, the wording describing his action and theirs differs from that in the first statement. The negation in this second statement is more comprehensive than that in the first, for he says, “Nor am I a worshipper of what you worshipped,” using the past tense. This encompasses what they worshipped in the past, because the polytheists worship various gods. What they worship at one time is not necessarily what they worship at another, just as each group has an object of worship different from that of another group.

Thus, the words “I do not worship what you worship” constitute a disavowal of everything they worshipped in times