| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence begins with the infinitive apekhesthai {ἀπέχεσθαι | apé-khe-sthai} ‘to abstain’, which functions as the core directive governing a series of genitive complements. The coordinated genitives eidolothytōn {εἰδωλοθύτων | ei-dō-lo-thý-tōn} ‘things sacrificed to idols’, haimatos {αἵματος | haí-ma-tos} ‘blood’, pniktōn {πνικτῶν | pni-ktôn} ‘things strangled’, and porneias {πορνείας | por-neí-as} ‘sexual immorality’ are linked by repeated kai {καὶ | kaí} ‘and’, forming a catalog of binding requirements for Gentile believers. The prepositional phrase ex hōn {ἐξ ὧν | ex hōn} ‘from which’ introduces a relative clause whose participial construction diatērountes heautous {διατηροῦντες ἑαυτοὺς | di-a-tē-ROUN-tes he-au-TOUS} ‘keeping yourselves’ conveys a conditional nuance: separation from these practices leads to the promised outcome. The main verb praxeite {πράξετε | PRA-xe-te} ‘you will do’ expresses the result, with eu {εὖ | eu} ‘well’ summarizing the moral benefit. Finally, the imperative errōsthe {ἔρρωσθε | é-rrō-sthe} ‘farewell’ serves as an epistolary closing. In translation, the participial structure is rendered with “if” to clarify the condition, the genitives are presented as a clear list following “abstain from” or “keep away from,” and errōsthe is rendered as “Farewell” to reflect its conventional sense. |