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Greek Lessons
- The Hour Had Not Yet Come: Divine Timing and Aorist Action in John 7:30
- Because of This Word: Perfect Tense and Power at a Distance
- The Greatest and the Least: Superlative Contrast and Kingdom Inversion in Luke 7:28
- Who Made You Judge? Participle and Aorist in the Voice of Rejection
- “To Be Thus Is Good”: Verbal Infinitives and Temporal Crisis in 1 Corinthians 7:26
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Category
Tag Archives: 1 Thessalonians 3:10
Overabundant Longing: Participles, Purpose Clauses, and Pastoral Theology in 1 Thessalonians 3:10
νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ δεόμενοι εἰς τὸ ἰδεῖν ὑμῶν τὸ πρόσωπον καὶ καταρτίσαι τὰ ὑστερήματα τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν; (1 Thessalonians 3:10)
The Syntax of Pastoral Burden
In this emotionally charged verse, Paul reveals the unrelenting weight of his apostolic concern. His syntax is not merely informative—it embodies the pastoral heart through grammatical intensity, verbal choice, and structural layering. Every phrase builds toward a deep yearning to complete what is lacking in the faith of the Thessalonians.
This analysis will explore:
The function of the present participle δεόμενοι in sustained supplication The emphatic adverb ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ and its expressive role The articular infinitives εἰς τὸ ἰδεῖν and καταρτίσαι as purpose clauses The theological nuance of τὰ ὑστερήματα τῆς πίστεως Night and Day: A Temporal Framework for PrayerThe verse begins with the genitives νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας, an idiom for continuous duration, often inverted from the natural order (day and night) to stress the nocturnal burden of intercession.… Learn Koine Greek