| 47. Linguistic Exegesis The verse presents two parallel noun phrases in antithesis. The first noun phrase, ho protos anthropos {ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος | ho prō-tos án-thrō-pos} “the first man,” is introduced by the prepositional phrase ek gēs khoikos {ἐκ γῆς χοϊκός | ek gēs kho-i-kós}, where the genitive gēs indicates origin “from earth” and the adjective khoikos underscores composition “earthly, made of dust.” Greek omits an explicit verb; English supplies “was.” The second noun phrase, ho deuteros anthropos {ὁ δεύτερος ἄνθρωπος | ho deú-te-ros án-thrō-pos} “the second man,” is similarly qualified by ex ouranou {ἐξ οὐρανοῦ | ex ou-ra-noû} “from heaven,” with ex as the vowel-enhanced form of ek. The repetition of the structure—definite article plus ordinal plus noun plus prepositional qualifier—creates a deliberate contrast between earthly and heavenly origins. |