τοῦ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 τοῦ

   tou

   of
2. sentence🔊 ἀλλὰ ἐπιστεῖλαι αὐτοῖς τοῦ ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν ἀλισγημάτων τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ τῆς πορνείας καὶ τοῦ πνικτοῦ καὶ τοῦ αἵματος

   al-LA e-pi-STEI-lai au-TOIS tou a-PE-khe-sthai tôn a-lis-gê-MA-tōn tôn ei-DŌ-lōn KAI tês por-NEI-as KAI tou pni-KTOU KAI tou HAI-ma-tos

   but to write to them the to abstain from the pollutions of the idols and of sexual immorality and of the what is strangled and of blood

Exegesis

The articular infinitive tou apekhesthai {τοῦ ἀπέχεσθαι | toû apékhesthai} substantivally conveys the directive “to abstain from,” and it governs a coordinated series of four genitive nouns—each with its own article and joined by kai {καὶ | kaí}.

The first genitive, tōn alisgēmatōn tōn eidólōn {τῶν ἀλισγημάτων τῶν εἰδώλων | tōn alisgēmátōn tōn eidólōn}, denotes “the pollutions of idols” (genitive of relationship), while the subsequent genitives—tēs porneías {τῆς πορνείας | tês porneías}, tou pniktoû {τοῦ πνικτοῦ | toû pniktoû}, and tou haímatos {τοῦ αἵματος | toû haímatos}—specify objects of abstention. The repeated coordination creates a balanced tetrad, emphasising the equal binding force of each prohibition. In English, the articular infinitive is rendered with “to abstain from,” and each genitive appears as “from …” to capture the sense of separation implied by apekhesthai.