| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the dative phrase chariti de theou {χάριτι δὲ θεοῦ | chá-ri-ti dè the-oû}, where “by grace” with the genitive “of God” foregrounds divine initiative. The emphatic clause eimi ho eimi {εἰμι ὅ εἰμι | eí-mi hó eí-mi} positions the verb before the neuter relative pronoun to assert Paul’s present identity. The coordination kai hē charis autou hē eis eme {καὶ ἡ χάρις αὐτοῦ ἡ εἰς ἐμὲ | kaí hē chá-ris au-toû hē eis e-mé} uses repeated articles to specify “the grace of Him” and marks Paul as the recipient. The predicate ou kenē egenēthē {οὐ κενὴ ἐγενήθη | ou ke-nḗ e-ge-nḗ-thē} combines an aorist passive verb with an adjective to affirm that grace did not prove empty. The adversative alla perissoteron autōn pantōn ekopiasa {ἀλλὰ περισσότερον αὐτῶν πάντων ἐκοπίασα | al-lá pe-ris-só-te-ron au-tôn pán-tōn e-ko-pí-a-sa} intensifies the comparison “more than all of them,” with the comparative functioning adverbially to describe Paul’s effort. The final antithesis ouk egō de alla hē charis tou theou hē syn emoi {οὐκ ἐγὼ δὲ ἀλλὰ ἡ χάρις τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ σὺν ἐμοί | ouk e-gṓ dè al-lá hē chá-ris toû the-oû hē sún e-moí} contrasts Paul’s “I” with “the grace of God” as a sustaining presence. |