| 27. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the subject group οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες αὐτῶν, where κατοικοῦντες {κατοικοῦντες | katoikoûntes} ‘dwelling’ functions as a substantival participle meaning “those who dwell,” coordinated with οἱ ἄρχοντες {ἄρχοντες | árchontes} ‘rulers’ by καί {καὶ | kaí}. These form a compound subject for the circumstantial participles ἀγνοήσαντες {ἀγνοήσαντες | agnoḗsantes} ‘having not known’ and κρίναντες {κρίναντες | krínantes} ‘having judged,’ as well as for the main verb ἐπλήρωσαν {ἐπλήρωσαν | eplḗrōsan} ‘they fulfilled.’ The participle ἀγνοήσαντες takes two objects in asyndetic coordination: τοῦτον {τοῦτον | toûton} ‘this one,’ referring to Jesus, and τὰς φωνὰς τῶν προφητῶν {τὰς φωνὰς τῶν προφητῶν | tàs phōnàs tōn prophētôn} ‘the voices of the prophets.’ The phrase τὰς … ἀναγινωσκομένας {ἀναγινωσκομένας | anaginōskoménas} is a participial modifier with a repeated article τὰς {τὰς | tàs}, forming an article–participle construction that specifies these voices as “the ones being read.” The prepositional expression κατὰ πᾶν σάββατον {κατὰ πᾶν σάββατον | katà pân sábbaton} uses κατά with the accusative to indicate distributive time, “every Sabbath.” Syntactically, κρίναντες is best taken as a participle of means, “by judging/condemning,” explaining how they “fulfilled” the prophetic words. Thus the flow is: subject (inhabitants and rulers) + causal participle (because they did not recognize) + specification of neglected prophetic voices + participle of means (by condemning Him) + main verb (they fulfilled), highlighting the paradox that their act of rejection accomplished what was foretold. |