The aorist can be a one time event in the past if used in the indicative or it can be used to show as a simple, collective whole.
For example: "God...made us alive together with Christ." Eph 2:5 = indicative - which means a one time event in the past
"He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil 1:6 = not indicative = which means it's 'Punctiliar' in this sense means 'viewed as a single, collective whole"..
2. Aorist Tense
The aorist tense is the Greek grammarian's term for a simple past tense. Unlike the other past tenses (imperfect and perfect), the aorist simply states the fact that an action has happened. It gives no information on how long it took, or whether the results are still in effect.
Aorist is an ideal tense to describe an action that happens at a particular point in time. This is why some grammar books describe it as "punctiliar." Aorist verbs describe the entire action as a single event.
This does not mean that aorist tense always describes actions which are over in an instant. John 2:20 says, "This temple was built (aorist) in forty-six years. Forty-six years is a big point in time!
When you find the aorist tense in the indicative mood, it routinely communicates two ideas: (1) past tense and (2) simple type of action.
When you encounter an aorist participle, it still describes a simple action, but it may not refer to action in the past. Most often, an aorist participle describes an action that takes place before the main verb of the sentence. [There are exceptions to this rule.]
When you see an aorist anywhere other than indicative or participle, there is no time frame involved.
You should focus exclusively on the type of action: simply the fact that an event happened, with no extra information about continuing action or completed action.
Aorist is the default tense, especially when a writer is describing the past. If in doubt, Greeks would use aorist. If you see any other tense, you should suspect that it was deliberately to make a point.
