The Doan hearing: An in-tense debate

One of the debates running through the Lurita Doan hearing is a question of tenses, specifically the hortatory subjunctive tense.

We'll use it for a sidebar to the Doan story for Monday's issue. To be honest, I don't know what the hortatory subjunctive tense is. I've even Googled it without much help so far. The best definition I've found so far is this one:

Hortatory subjunctive
a) This is a statement urging others to join in some action (commanding oneself and one's associates). It is roughly the same as first-person imperative, which does not exist in Greek.

b) It is easily identified because it will always be the first-person plural form of the subjunctive mood. This verb form will often come near the beginning of the sentence.

c) It is usually translated "let us…." Thus, as a mnemonic device, it can be referred to as the salad subjunctive.

d) Examples:

i) Hebrews 10:22
"Let us come forward to the Holy of Holies with a true heart in full assurance of faith."

ii) Hebrews 12:1
"Let us run the race that is set before us."

iii) 1 John 4:7
"Beloved, let us love one another."