Conscience and Construction: The Future Passive in 1 Corinthians 8:10

Posted on August 10, 2022 by New Testament Greek
Ἐὰν γάρ τις ἴδῃ σε, τὸν ἔχοντα γνῶσιν, ἐν εἰδωλείῳ κατακείμενον, οὐχὶ ἡ συνείδησις αὐτοῦ ἀσθενοῦς ὄντος οἰκοδομηθήσεται εἰς τὸ τὰ εἰδωλόθυτα ἐσθίειν; (1 Corinthians 8:10)

For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, reclining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, being weak, be built up to eat things sacrificed to idols?

The Ethics of Visibility

This verse explores a scenario of moral influence and perception: what happens when a believer with “knowledge” is seen by a weaker brother engaging in questionable behavior? The grammar plays a crucial role in conveying Paul’s concern. A conditional structure, participles, and a rare use of the future passive come together to create a rhetorical question that warns of the unintended consequences of liberty exercised without love.… Learn Koine Greek

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The Prepared Banquet and the Unworthy Called: A Greek Exegesis of Matthew 22:8

Posted on August 3, 2022 by New Testament Greek

Matthew 22:8 is spoken within the parable of the wedding feast — a climactic parable told by Jesus in Jerusalem, following his triumphal entry and escalating confrontations with the religious authorities. The parable (Matthew 22:1–14) portrays a king preparing a wedding banquet for his son. After the invited guests refuse to come — even violently rejecting his messengers — the king delivers this pronouncement to his servants. Verse 8 marks a dramatic narrative turn, opening the way for new guests to enter. Theologically, this verse serves as both judgment and invitation.

Structural Analysis

τότε λέγει τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ· ὁ μὲν γάμος ἕτοιμός ἐστιν, οἱ δὲ κεκλημένοι οὐκ ἦσαν ἄξιοι·

The verse opens with the temporal adverb τότε (“then”), situating the speech in the aftermath of rejection.… Learn Koine Greek

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Declensions Guarding Against Deception: Morphology in Colossians 2:8

Posted on August 2, 2022 by New Testament Greek
Βλέπετε μή τις ὑμᾶς ἔσται ὁ συλαγωγῶν διὰ τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης, κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου καὶ οὐ κατὰ Χριστόν· (Colossians 2:8)

Paul warns the Colossians with a vivid grammatical construction: a present imperative “watch out” followed by a complex chain of noun phrases, each in a declension form that reveals the anatomy of the threat. The verse is not merely a doctrinal caution; its very morphology shapes its urgency.

Declension Analysis Table Form Morphology Syntactic Role Notes τις Indefinite pronoun, nominative masculine singular Subject of ἔσται General, undefined agent—anyone who might ensnare. ὑμᾶς 2nd person pronoun, accusative plural Object of συλαγωγῶν The intended victims of the deceptive capture.… Learn Koine Greek
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Falling and Hearing: Grammatical Encounter and Divine Address in Acts 22:7

Posted on July 22, 2022 by New Testament Greek
The Voice on the Road: Literary and Theological Context of Acts 22:7

Acts 22:7 — ἔπεσόν τε εἰς τὸ ἔδαφος καὶ ἤκουσα φωνῆς λεγούσης μοι· Σαοὺλ, Σαούλ, τί με διώκεις; (“And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’”)

This verse is Paul’s retelling of his Damascus road experience to a hostile Jewish crowd in Jerusalem. It portrays the dramatic moment of divine interruption—physical collapse and personal address—through coordinated aorists and a genitive construction that introduces a moment of divine speech. The Greek grammar intensifies the theological shock of the moment: a persecutor is arrested by the voice of the one he is harming, and the narrative tension builds through verbal and participial sequencing.… Learn Koine Greek

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Educated in Egypt: Passive Voice and Descriptive Contrast in Acts 7:22

Posted on July 22, 2022 by New Testament Greek

καὶ ἐπαιδεύθη Μωϋσῆς πάσῃ σοφίᾳ Αἰγυπτίων, ἦν δὲ δυνατὸς ἐν λόγοις καὶ ἐν ἔργοις. — Acts 7:22

The Grammar of Formation and Power

Stephen’s speech before the Sanhedrin offers a rare insight into the early Christian view of Moses’ upbringing and abilities. Acts 7:22 presents Moses not merely as a Hebrew, but as someone shaped by the wisdom of Egypt and gifted with remarkable influence. The Greek grammar balances a divine passive with a descriptive contrast, giving us both the process of education and the character it produced.

ἐπαιδεύθη… πάσῃ σοφίᾳ Αἰγυπτίων: The Divine Passive of Education

The verb ἐπαιδεύθη (“he was educated”) is in the aorist passive, indicating that Moses underwent a process of instruction at a point in the past.… Learn Koine Greek

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Dying to the Law, Belonging to Another: Aorist Passives, Purpose Clauses, and Union with the Risen Christ

Posted on July 17, 2022 by New Testament Greek
ὥστε, ἀδελφοί μου, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐθανατώθητε τῷ νόμῳ διὰ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι ὑμᾶς ἑτέρῳ, τῷ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγερθέντι, ἵνα καρποφορήσωμεν τῷ Θεῷ. (Romans 7:4) Dead to Law, Alive to Fruitfulness

In Romans 7:4, Paul uses a striking metaphor to describe the believer’s transition from the dominion of the Law to life in Christ. The grammar of the verse is rich and theological: we see an aorist passive verb, a telic infinitive, a relative clause, and a final purpose clause that brings it all together.

This verse is a theological masterpiece, and its Greek syntax is the frame that holds it in place.… Learn Koine Greek

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Made Alive Together: Grammar and Grace in Colossians 2:13

Posted on June 13, 2022 by Νέα Ελληνικά
Καὶ ὑμᾶς, νεκροὺς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς παραπτώμασι καὶ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν, συνεζωοποίησεν ὑμᾶς σὺν αὐτῷ, χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν πάντα τὰ παραπτώματα, (Colossians 2:13)

Modern Greek Pronunciation: kai ymâs, nekroùs óntas en toîs paraptṓmasi kai ti̱ akrobystía ti̱s sarkòs ymōn, synezōopoíi̱sen ymâs syn autó̱, charisámenos hi̱mîn pánta ta paraptṓmata.

Literal English Translation: And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made alive together with him, having graciously forgiven us all the trespasses.

Koine Grammar Breakdown Καὶ ὑμᾶς – accusative plural pronoun, “And you,” object of the main verb. νεκροὺς ὄντας – accusative plural participial phrase, “being dead”: – νεκροὺς: accusative plural adjective, “dead”; – ὄντας: present participle of εἰμί, “being.”… Learn Koine Greek
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The Red Horse and the Grammar of Chaos: Verbal Force in Revelation 6:4

Posted on June 4, 2022 by New Testament Greek

καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἄλλος ἵππος πυρρός, καὶ τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἐδόθη αὐτῷ λαβεῖν τὴν εἰρήνην ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἵνα ἀλλήλους σφάξωσι, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ μάχαιρα μεγάλη. — Revelation 6:4

A Horse of Fire: Unleashing Judgment through Grammar

This dramatic apocalyptic verse unleashes the second horseman of the apocalypse: a fiery red horse symbolizing conflict and bloodshed. The Greek grammar in this single sentence orchestrates a chain of violent outcomes, structured through strategic use of aorist verbs, infinitives, subjunctives, and divine passives that build momentum from heavenly decree to earthly destruction.

ἐξῆλθεν…καὶ ἐδόθη: The Structure of Divine Permission

The opening verb ἐξῆλθεν (“went out”) sets the apocalyptic scene in motion.… Learn Koine Greek

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When the Verb Speaks Judgment: Future, Aorist, and the Theology of Response in Isaiah 65:12 LXX

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Biblical Greek
Ἐγὼ παραδώσω ὑμᾶς εἰς μάχαιραν πάντες ἐν σφαγῇ πεσεῖσθε ὅτι ἐκάλεσα ὑμᾶς καὶ οὐχ ὑπηκούσατε ἐλάλησα καὶ παρηκούσατε καὶ ἐποιήσατε τὸ πονηρὸν ἐναντίον ἐμοῦ καὶ ἃ οὐκ ἐβουλόμην ἐξελέξασθε (Isaiah 65:12 LXX)

 

A Chain of Clauses with Grammatical Progression

This verse unfolds as a sequence of clauses that move from a future prophetic threat to a retrospective indictment. The transition of tenses—from the future indicative to multiple aorist indicatives—is not random; it serves to contrast what will come with what has already transpired. The grammar sharpens the theological edge of the prophecy: the future judgment is certain because the past responses to God’s calls have been persistently disobedient.… Learn Koine Greek

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When Case Endings Heal: Declensions and Mercy in Mark 3:5

Posted on May 3, 2022 by New Testament Greek
Καὶ περιβλεψάμενος αὐτοὺς μετ’ ὀργῆς, συλλυπούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, λέγει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου. καὶ ἐξέτεινε, καὶ ἀποκατεστάθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ὑγιὴς ὡς ἡ ἄλλη. (Mark 3:5)

And having looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their heart, he says to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored, sound as the other.

Setting the Scene with Declensions

The verse unfolds in three movements shaped by morphology: (1) Jesus’ stance toward the crowd (μετ’ ὀργῆς; ἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει), (2) his address to the sufferer (τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ), and (3) the result reported with precise agreement (ἡ χείρ αὐτοῦ ὑγιής ὡς ἡ ἄλλη).… Learn Koine Greek

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