| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is constructed as a chain of nominative participles describing the false teachers. The participle adikoumenoi {ἀδικούμενοι | a-di-koú-me-noi} ‘being wronged’ links with the phrase misthon adikias {μισθὸν ἀδικίας | mis-thón a-di-kí-as} ‘reward of unrighteousness’, where the genitive specifies the nature of the compensation. The clause hēgoumenoi hedonēn {ἡγούμενοι ἡδονὴν | hē-goú-me-noi hē-do-nḗn} ‘considering pleasure’ takes the accusative hedonēn and the phrase en hēmerā truphēn {ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τρυφήν | en hē-mé-ra tru-phḗn} ‘in daytime luxury’ to mark their shameless indulgence. The nouns spíloi kai mōmoi {σπίλοι καὶ μῶμοι | spí-loi kaí mō-moi} ‘spots and blemishes’ serve as appositional descriptors. Finally, the participles entruphōntes {ἐντρυφῶντες | en-tru-phô-n-tes} ‘reveling’ and syneuōkhoumenoi {συνευωχούμενοι | sy-neu-ō-khoú-me-noi} ‘feasting together’ form coordinated actions: entruphōntes takes the dative phrase en tais apatais autōn {ἐν ταῖς ἀπάταις αὐτῶν | en taîs a-pá-tais au-tôn} ‘in their deceptions’, and syneuōkhoumenoi governs the dative hymin {ὑμῖν | hy-mîn} ‘with you’, highlighting the communal setting of their deception. English renders these participles as finite clauses linked by conjunctions and punctuation to express both consequence and corrupt behavior. |