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Greek Lessons
- The Grammar of Good Ground: Parsing Luke 8:15
- The Fever That Met the Word: A Greek Look at Matthew 8:14
- Temporal Precision and Aspectual Framing in Genesis 8:13
- Warnings in Participles: The Grammar of Subtle Caution in Deuteronomy 8:12
- Knowledge and Sacrifice: Koine Clarity and Classical Nuance in Paul’s Admonition
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Category
Tag Archives: Matthew 23:5
To Be Seen: Infinitive Purpose and Public Display in Matthew 23:5
πάντα δὲ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν ποιοῦσι πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, πλατύνουσι γὰρ τὰ φυλακτήρια αὐτῶν καὶ μεγαλύνουσι τὰ κράσπεδα τῶν ἰματίων αὐτῶν, (Matthew 23:5)
Doing Religion to Be Watched
Matthew 23:5 comes from Jesus’ rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees for their performative religiosity. The verse is a grammatical snapshot of ostentatious piety: they do works not for God, but πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις — “to be seen by men.”
Jesus exposes their inner motives through Greek constructions, including:
– A purpose clause with the articular infinitive – Present active verbs expressing habitual, ongoing action – A revealing use of the accusative neuter plural to show totality – Object elaboration through accusative noun phrases with possessive pronouns
Let’s examine the grammar through a detailed table.… Learn Koine Greek
Visible Righteousness: The Morphology of Matthew 23:5
Three Verbs, One Hypocrisy
In this sharp critique of the Pharisees, Jesus uses three present tense verbs to reveal a pattern of behavior centered on visibility and pride. Let’s examine the verbs:
ποιοῦσι — present active indicative, “they do” πλατύνουσι — present active indicative, “they broaden” μεγαλύνουσι — present active indicative, “they enlarge”All three verbs reinforce the idea of habitual, ongoing religious performance aimed at public attention.
Grammatical Dissection of the Verbs Verb: ποιοῦσι Lexical Form ποιέω Tense Present Voice Active Mood Indicative Person & Number 3rd Plural Aspect Imperfective Semantic Force Ongoing behavior—they habitually do these works Verb: πλατύνουσι Lexical Form πλατύνω Tense Present Voice Active Mood Indicative Person & Number 3rd Plural Aspect Imperfective Semantic Force They habitually enlarge their phylacteries to appear pious Verb: μεγαλύνουσι Lexical Form μεγαλύνω Tense Present Voice Active Mood Indicative Person & Number 3rd Plural Aspect Imperfective Semantic Force They repeatedly and actively increase the size of tassels as visual signals of holiness
The Imperfective Aspect: A Pattern of Display
Each of the three verbs is in the present tense, emphasizing continuous or repeated action:
ποιοῦσι: They continually do their deeds—not as a one-off event but as a pattern of religious performance.… Learn Koine GreekReligious Display and Externalism in Matthew 23:5: Purpose Clauses and Public Performance in Greek Syntax
πάντα δὲ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν ποιοῦσι πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, πλατύνουσι γὰρ τὰ φυλακτήρια αὐτῶν καὶ μεγαλύνουσι τὰ κράσπεδα τῶν ἰματίων αὐτῶν,
Main Clause and Intentional Motivation: πάντα δὲ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν ποιοῦσι πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις– πάντα: Accusative neuter plural of πᾶς—”all.” – τὰ ἔργα: Accusative neuter plural of ἔργον, “deeds” or “works.” – πάντα τὰ ἔργα: “all the deeds”—complete inclusion. – αὐτῶν: Genitive plural pronoun—”of them,” modifying ἔργα. – ποιοῦσι: Present active indicative, 3rd person plural of ποιέω, “they do.” – δὲ: Mildly contrastive—”but,” continuing from v. 4. – πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι: Preposition πρὸς + articular infinitive—”in order to be seen.”… Learn Koine Greek
